Does anybody remember the old Monty Python sketch about the Ministry of Silly Walks? This diverting bit of absurdity came to mind when Judy and I visited the International Garden Festival at Chateau Chaumont back in September. The Festival contained a number of gardens which, like the Ministry, took themselves very seriously but were in …
You may remember from the last post that after Henry II died, his widow Catherine de Medici moved into Chenonceau, forcing out the King’s mistress. (There is a soap opera aspect to these dynastic histories.) Catherine made her own garden, also with a view of the Cher River (not the Loire, as I previously wrote). …
While staying near Amboise we drove to the castle at Chenonceau, about 10 miles. We got there late in the afternoon, as we were warned the place would be very crowded earlier in the day. In the 16th Century King Henry II gave Chenonceau to his long-time mistress, Diane de Poitiers. Reversing the usual pattern, …
Amboise is a small market town on the Loire. It is also the site of the Chateau d’Amboise, which was the royal residence in the 15th and 16th Centuries. Judy and I spent an entire day in early September exploring Amboise by foot, but left much unseen. In fact we never even made it inside …
In order to ignore the fact that it is dang cold out, I’d say it’s time for some more reminiscences from our September trip to France. After Chartres we spent several days in the Loire Valley. We stayed at a bed and breakfast called Chateau de Nazelles, a castle built in 1518, and less than two …
We travelled mostly by train during our September trip in France. And in general, we found travelling by train to be a pleasure. However, in Chartres we discovered that there was no practical way to take the train to our next stop: Amboise, in the Loire Valley. So we rented a car. Turns out that …
Back to our trip. The thing that really grabs your attention inside Chartres Cathedral is the stained glass. Most of the windows date to the 12th and 13th Centuries and have been scrupulously preserved. These are called rose windows, for obvious reasons. They are so high up it is difficult to see the detail, …
In the late afternoon our train pulled into the station in downtown Chartres. Our hotel was just a couple of blocks away. Though it was pretty basic, from the window of our room we could view what had drawn us here: Chartres Cathedral, which we would see for the first time. One thing that absolutely …
First of all, Giverny is really tiny. The population is only about 500. This seems surprising for a place that is so well-known, but there it is. So it is not surprising that you cannot take the train directly from Paris to Giverny. Instead you have to get off at the somewhat bigger town of …
In recent decades many garden designers have sought to de-emphasize flowers and pay more attention to form, foliage, and structure. Giverny’s upper garden, on the other hand, is first and foremost about flowers. There are no hedges, no ornamental grasses that I can remember, and not much in the way of plants used primarily for …
gardeninacity 