9/12/17 Chateau Villandry

The day promises to be a nice one.  Party sunny and not as chilly as it has been.  We decided to drive to Chateau Villandry, about an hour's drive from Amboise.  One of John's fellow students recommended a visit to the gardens.  They are thought to be second only to the gardens of Versaille.  So off we go!

We stopped for lunch at a little cafe just outside the walls of the chateau.

John had a simple, little stuffed tomato:

The sun was out, but the clouds were gathering, so we toured the gardens before entering the castle.  The gardens are planted on two levels.  The lower level is basically a vegetable garden.  It is vast and contains many species of plants and vegetables brought over from "The New World".  In total, both gardens contain about 100,000 plants.

This is a map of the vegetable garden as planted this Summer, 2017: Each section s color-coded by type of plant.  The names (common and botanical) are carefully recorded and easy to pick out.

A pear tree is planted at each corner of every section:

I wish I could have taken a better picture of this section.  The dark plants in the center are called "Black Pearls".  They have beautiful black berries growing on them that glow like jewels.  Absolutely breathtaking!

 Wild flowers amidst the veggies:

The castle as seen from the vegetable garden:

Punkins!

Taking a break in one of the beautiful little garden seats:

Steps up to the grape arbor:

You can walk inside the arbor around two sides of the gardens.  It's hard to describe just how lovely and peaceful a place this is AND the feeling you get imagining all the people who have taken the same walk for hundreds of years.  Thrilling!

If it hadn't been for the sign, we would never have known this was the herb garden.

This part of the garden is huge.  The trees are fun!

Just when you think it can't get any more fun - A MAZE!

We made it to the center, but the tower isn't tall enough to give a very good view of the layout. There were two mazes in old times. One, a contemplative, circular maze (like those found in the old cathedrals i.e. Chartres) and the other - I think - just for fun. In this maze, there were low archways cut into the hedges that allowed for a quick exit.   It was about twice the size of the modern day one we went through and I am sure a lot harder to figure out.  For those of you who watch "Endeavor" - do you remember the series 3 episode with the tiger in the maze? That was what was running through my mind.  Absolutely terrifying!

On to the decorative gardens!