Chateau Villandry is in the Loire Valley of France built on the banks of the Loire River.
We visited Villandry in 2011 and were pleasantly surprised by the geometric gardens and the chateau itself.
The Villandry estate has been in the Carvallo family since 1906. At the beginning of the 20th century, Joachim Carvallo rebuilt the Renaissance gardens which had been previously replaced by an English landscape park in the 19th century. The Château of Villandry is a friendly, family property.
If the start of the tour was anything to go by then it was going to be great. We parked, walked up to the entrance and found a lovely tent area with a restaurant serving the most delicious foods. Well it was lunch time so to fortify ourselves for the tour we decided to stop and eat. On the wall behind us was an espaliered Pierre de Ronsard rose, not bad for a tourist restaurant. The wine was so nice I had to take a photo. The French really do know how to treat a tourist. It was lovely!
With renewed strength we were enthusiastic about the upcoming Chateau.
There are four garden areas to wander through, the most striking is the ornamental garden. In this garden the boxwood forms different shapes from hearts, spirals, fans and more. This garden is also called “Allegories of Love”. I must admit I was really fascinated with this garden and how magical it looked in contrast to the whiteness of the chateau.
There is also the Chateau’s kitchen garden which is decorated with both flowers and vegetables in a checkerboard design.
The water garden “Haven of Peace” is in the most relaxed setting and gives you a sense of calmness. You could just sit here and relax all day without a care in the world with the sound of the fountains surrounding you.
The last garden is the sun garden which has culinary and medicinal plants. There is also a hedge maze for the kids to rummage through although I must admit I really enjoyed it.
I recommend to anyone that has the chance to visit France, to go to the Loire Valley, a magical visit.
This is part of Eds Sunday Stills. Press the link here to see more of this weeks challenge photos: Flower Gardens.
What an amazing place! Wow…a gardener’s delight!
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It was amazing 🙂
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Lovely photos. We visited Villandry a few years ago too and were struck by how fabulous the gardens were. My favourite was the fruit and veg in the formal gardens – exquisitively presented but still able to be harvested.
Alison
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Thanks Alison, yes it was an outstanding garden so much so that I still remember it so well today. Weren’t we lucky enough to go there 🙂
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this is amazing! How many gardeners are there to make this happen? They are fully employed there. 🙂
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He he you are so right. The gardeners would be the last worried re losing their jobs 😆 I’m not sure how many but an interesting question!
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those formal gardens and mazes are “amazing!” So beautiful!!
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Wow. What a wonderful place. 🙂
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It really was Sue, highly recommend a tour of the Loire valley and the wonderful chateaus and their gardens, truly works of art.
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One day….
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Älä siis anna minkään tekosyyn olla esteenäѕi, kun mietit miten voisit päästä
painamaan naisia jjo tänä iltana. Minkälainen оn sinun mielestäѕi seksikäs nainen oikeastaan. Hе
odottavat yleensä, että olet sinkku, mutta ߋn eivät aina.
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