I’ve been to the Loire Valley in France a few times but never seen anything like the Château de Villandry’s magnificent gardens!
I would like to share this with my friends so let’s start: the Loire region is a few hours from Paris and the roads are bordered by poppies in May/June:
I love poppies and I got spoiled!
I had a reservation to stay at this “château/hotel”, Château de Ternay, that much to my delight turned out to be a gem:
Affordable château living for a couple of days and catered by a genuine Count and Countess! The hallway leading to my room reminded me of my childhood school, Jeanne d’Arc:
My room was right out of a fairy tale,
I was so inpired, I kept taking pictures like this one which is my favorite:
The next morning, a copious breakfast was prepared for my friends and I:
What a great way to start the day:
I can tell you that with all the good coffee that I drank that morning, I had a long night ahead of me!
So let’s go to our enchanting gardens now in Château de Villandry which is the last of the great chateaux of the Loire built during the Renaissance. The charm of its outstanding gardens make this one of the jewels of the region.
A sea of Lavender greeted me and it kept going, wave after wave,
after wave,
after wave…
After this first Ornamental Garden, it was time to delight in the Kitchen Garden:
herbs and vegetables and of course fruits:
This is actually how it looks like:
This is the village of Villandry and its 12th century church from the vantage point of an antique petunia vase:
And now the second of ornamental gardens, Love Garden:
These gorgeous parterres were forming hearts, masks which were worn at balls, blades of daggers and swords used in duels caused by amorous rivalry. In summer, the flowers are red to symbolise the blood shed in these combats! Breathtaking…
If I was riding a balloon, I would have taken this picture (from their site) – the Château is quite elegant but the gardens are otherworldly:
It was impossible to overdose on this much beauty but my legs were complaining so one more look to the Water Garden,
and one last stop at wisterias:
and one coffee for the road:
and I went back to the hotel; this is the view outside,
that became little by little like this:
and of course Snoopy is waiting for me in the room,
Tomorrow will be another full day visiting Loire!
Visit Villandry here
My hotel, Château Ternay, here
Beautiful!
I just love traveling with you like this .
This brought back a great trip through the Loire region in the 80s, Michele. Staying in Chateaux, eating in amazing restaurants, drinking a delightful array of great wines. Still one of my favorite travel experiences. Thanks for sharing your wonderful trip!!!!
Beautiful pictures !! Enjoy your time in the Loire Valley Michèle !! Kisses !
Always enjoy going through your wonderful postings. Thanks Ajay Zaveri for sending these.
Un rêve délicieux…exquise promenade à travers l’histoire d’un batissement qui s’est confondue de la nature qui l’aborde…
Endearing images , so beautiful. My favorite photograph was the sunlight coming through the window on the chair.
The Gardens are surreal for us. it reminds of my trip to the region Pays de la loire and having a luncheon at a friends 18th century Family estate. Lunching and wining for 5 hours and than playing petanque and visiting their family estate and the wine cellars…
Oh am in love with that silver Coffee pot and the Hotel.
Amities
Nimesh
Dear Michele
Breathtaking Photographs, Charming & Quaint Place ..
I especially loved the picture of The hallway leading to your room..
Thanks for sharing such beauty
Beautiful! We must do it again 😉
Thank you for taking us to this dream like trip with you.
Hi Michele,
I’m an Iranian graphic design student from Chicago.I just stumbled upon your work and I love it. I love photography too, especially from flowers. Just wanted to say that your work inspires me. I will totally recommend your work to my classmates. 🙂
–Best