Villandry is THE French garden of France. The is the most complete example of French Renaissance gardening in existence with themed gardens, fountains, walkways, a labyrinth, and miles of trimmed hedges in all directions. If you see pictures of a 'classic French garden', they were most likely taken here.
It was peaceful to walk along the stone paths and look out over the trimmed shrubs. Later in the season the many plants will blossom and make this a festival of color, but in late May all was simply green.
Many of the gardens are designed to have themes played out in the shapes of the arrangements as well as the selection of the flowers themselves. For some of us, this language was as secret as the symbology used in the Revelation Tapestry and we could but enjoy without much in the way of understanding.
While we adults enjoyed the walk and the vistas, the children loved the playground and the fountains--wonderful places to run and explore. And when all was finished, we all enjoyed a hand-dipped ice cream at the entrance café.
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Page created on 02 Aug 2001