Visiting the castles of Loire Valley this May was like sneaking into a fairy tale. Though we couldn’t decide which is our favorite castle, castle gardens definitely have a winner: the gardens of Château de Villandry.
Actually, our main reason to visit Villandry was its gardens. They shine in their original Renaissance design and oh, they are glamorous! Who would have thought that a vegetable garden could be interesting or beautiful? Or that those shapes in the gardens are carefully planned symbols? Or that a garden can feel like sunshine?
Here’s a taste of the amazing gardens of Château de Villandry in this photo essay from our favorite pictures.
Kitchen Garden
The colorful Kitchen Garden surprised us the most. That’s how you plant veggies in style! All the patches are of the same size, but different shapes and motifs are made of the different vegetables and flowers. About 40 species of vegetables are used each year.
Another interesting fact is that this kind of vegetable garden has its origins in the Middle Ages. Because monks liked planting their veggie patches in geometric shapes. Guess it reminded them to harmony… At least it reminded us to harmony.
And it’s also funny to admire a wonderful and elegant garden from the distance then go closer and meet with cabbages and broccolis.
Sun Garden
Sun Garden is the only reason why the Kitchen Garden is not our very favorite of all the gardens in Villandry. It’s so different and it enchanted us immediately. It’s one of the smallest gardens with the warmest atmosphere.
Ornamental Garden
This is what we call classic. The shapes of the Ornamental Garden are best seen from above. And guess what they all mean something.
Part of the Ornamental Garden is the Love Garden where we could see hearts for tender love, broken hearts for passionate love, fans and love letters for flighty love and blades of daggers and swords used in duals for tragic love.
Water Garden
A peaceful garden dominated by blue and green colors. Sitting under the trees with a view of the ponds and small fountains is what we call relaxing.
Herb Garden
Another garden with its origins in the Middle Ages. It’s the smallest garden full of aromatic, culinary and medicinal herbs and we could sense its specialty rather with our nose than with our eyes.
Do you like carefully designed gardens? Any favorites?
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