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| The amazing gardens at Villandry |
It’s been a great day with a lot of variety as we have been
“doodling” around in the Loire Valley. A rather crisp start to the day and the
mist was hanging over the river when I opened the blind. Grabbed my camera and
popped out for a few early morning shots before breakfast.
Wandered over the bridge into town and along the river a bit
later on and checked out the Brocante (antique fair). Impressed with the size
of it and the quality of goods on offer, evidently these stools are from people
in the antique trade not just car boot sales. Some great items on sale and only
wish we had room to bring home. Enjoyed watching the people attending, some
interesting sights!
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| French flower shops are a delight |
Meandered into town, picked up some bread at the Sunday
market then sat outside at a café in the sun and enjoyed a good coffee, before
heading back to the van. Had Jilly set for an Aire in Villandry but she was
going to take us on a boring route along the main roads, so I redirected her to
follow the lesser roads. It was such a lovely autumn day, and it ended up being
a wonderful drive. Looked for a spot to stop for a late lunch and came across a
large parking area that was quite busy, and when we turned around could see
why. We were beside the Chateau d’Usse, a real fairy tale castle. Enjoyed the
view from the road while we had our lunch but decided not to visit as we were
heading for Villandry.
After settling into a very nice Aire I left Ian with his
feet up and I walked up the road to the Chateau Villandry, a place recommended
to us by Cliff and Bonnie. I had a wonderful afternoon firstly wandering
through the stately home and climbing up to the keep with great views out over
the gardens. They are so impressive, with miles of box hedging surrounding the
different gardens. Evidently if all the hedging was joined together it would go
for 52 km’s! Even though it is autumn there was still a lot of colour and
surprising to see so much still happening in the kitchen gardens, including peppers,
aubergines of different colours and lots of grape tomatoes. Certainly a great
place to visit and an excellent end to a beautiful autumn day.
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| A real fairy tale chateau |
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| Chateau Villandry |
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| Quite the bedroom |
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