It is dark, freezing, and miserable here in Virginia, so I'm bent on scheming for my trip this summer. I will be taking my mother with me for two weeks based out of Pontlevoy in late June.
As I looked at the website for the gardens at Villandry, I wondered what other slowtravelers regarded as their favorite gardens in this region. Remember, we're traveling very slow, so we've got plenty of time for day trips to some of the farther out chateaux and villages in the region.
I always love hearing what you all think and if you've got photos to back it up, then I'd love to see them, too.
There aren't gardens per se, but two pretty villages full of flowers south of where you'll be are Chedigny and Montresor. You'll see flowers everywhere, including on every bridge that crosses the Indre. Loches has a municipal garden with a great view of the towers above.
I've mentioned Apremont sur Allier's Parc Floral before. Here's a link. It looks like a bit of a hike from Pontlevoy, but it's so worth it! Not much in this little village other than adorableness--I think there's a restaurant and a gift shop and that's it.
Thanks, Chabichou! Montresor has captured my eye more than once as I read and dream of my trip. Glad to hear someone else also thinks it is worth a lovely walk or two. I'll look into Chedigny as I haven't come across it yet and sounds like another wonderful way to spend some time in a village.
Villandry is stunning! Locals told us to be sures to see the gardens, the chateau "not so much". So we did the garden entry and are so glad that we did!
Posts: 915 | Location: Edmonds, WA | Registered: 01 April 2006
Chaumont-sur-Loire, between Amboise and Blois, is especially known for its gardens. There's an "international garden festival" there every year from the end of April until October. The theme is for 2009 is Garden Colors.
Near Vouvray, there's also the Château de Valmer in or near the town of Chançay. It's well known for its flower and vegetable gardens, and for the Vouvray wine made on site.
Not far from the Château de Chenonceau (which also has good gardens), toward Tours, there is the Château de La Bourdaisière, which has extensive tomato gardens. In June though, it might be a little early for the tomatoes.
Ken, thanks for the tip on the garden festival. I'll be coaching my mother on how to use her new Nikon digital SLR, so that'll be a fantastic opportunity. We're planning on visiting St. Aignan, as well. It'd be nice to have even the smallest meet up!
And I do think Villandry is the pinnacle of gardens that we compare to as we dream this trip. Thank you everyone for your tips on how best to enjoy our time there!
Paula, I agree entirely. I think we'll be in shock for our entire trip in this area. It's making it so hard to choose. Thankfully, in the end, my mother and I are very laissez-faire travelers, so we're sure to just enjoy being.
We only visited the Chateaux gardens on our Loire visit. We were there mid-June and they were lovely. We also enjoyed seeing the fields of coquelicots (red poppies).
Here are a few sites that list various gardens to visit in the Loire and Center region. Some of these may be smaller gardens which are a nice variation from the more formal Chateaux gardens.
L'Atelier Vert (Click on Centre at the bottom of this page for more gardens in the region) Parcs et Jardins region Centre (click the British flag for a listing of gardens in English).
My husband received his copy of the RHS Garden magazine yesterday. It included a copy of the RHS member's handbook. It includes a listing of gardens in the UK and overseas. There were quite a few Loire/Centre area gardens listed in the booklet. They list the Parcs et Jardin site I posted above as main resource. Many of the gardens listed have free entrance for RHS members during a certain time period such as May-June.
This has definitely caught my husband's eye. I have to find some type of garden or plant to get him interested in travel. Unfortunately, we can not go in the Spring since he is in the nursery business but he said maybe in the Fall. I doubt if we will but it is at least something he 'knows' about now.
I didn't think of Bouges-le-Château when I posted earlier, but yes, good gardens. If you are going there, go to Valençay as well, where the château also has fine formal gardens as well as a more wildflower-type field (at least it did last year).
This is why I love Slow Travel! No one just gives a single opinion, everyone nurtures an idea and it just begins to sprout (ha! ha!) in the most amazing way.
Now I'll have to do you all justice and make sure to write a mini-guide in addition to any trip report!
Do you think the gardens there were good enough to merit a special visit? We enjoyed the chateau and the laid-back atmosphere of the village, but we would not think it worth going far out of our way for the gardens. On the other hand, we very much enjoyed watching the owls which were roosting in the pollarded trees in front of the chateau!
Posts: 962 | Location: West Sussex, England | Registered: 08 February 2007
If you want to make a day trip out of it, Valençay and Bouges along with the village of Levroux with its gothic church could be nice. Have lunch in Valençay at the Hôtel-Restaurant Le Lion d'or.
If you haven't yet been to Chaumont, Chenonceau, Villandry, Amboise, Cheverny, and Chambord, you probably want to see those first.
The Château du Moulin near Romorantin also has nice gardens.
Just reviving this thread to say thank you to everyone for your wonderful suggestions. While the intense heat has made the roses and some other plants a bit tired, we have certainly been treated to some of the most beautiful gardens in the Loire.
So far, I think that the Chaumont festival has taken the cake. We saw it early last week before the heat really set in. There truly were some other gems and my evenings are busy catching up with all of the photographs that found their way onto my camera.
Tomorrow I get to delight in Ken's own garden and see how those tomatillas are progressing!
See you tomorrow, Alana. I've been busy weeding today. The hot weather is conducive to garden-tending. It really is hot, compared to the summers of 2007 and 2008.
We were at Villandry, today. The spring garden was still in but the gardeners were preparing to transition to the summer/fall garden. The spring plants in the potager were quite vibrant but the roses were looking tuckered out.
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In the potager, at the far end of the covered garden "shed" you can find some of the "extras" the gardeners have picked or thinned. You can take them if you leave some coins in the coin box....I don't know if this works for you or not. Sometimes it is a plant, sometimes it is vegetables.
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Posts: 915 | Location: Edmonds, WA | Registered: 01 April 2006
And I want to hear what your favorites are and what interesting discoveries you find.
