A cloistered garden

The first week we were in France the weather was gorgeous and one of the warmer days coincided with the day we celebrated our ninth wedding anniversary. A day after the actual date, but a cycle-free day so lunch with some bubbles was our plan. One bottle of bubbly down we hatched a plan to have a mini picnic in the pretty garden we'd walked through to get into town.

So with provisions we settled ourselves on one of the benches in what can be best described as a cloistered hedge, with this as our view for the next few hours. 

A cloistered view of Blois

Captivating isn't it?  

Through an archway of hedges

And tranquil too. And here it's easy to see what I mean about cloisters, isn't it?

Arches everywhere

The garden itself was quite formal with oblong beds full of lavender and irises, which were sadly past their best. Not by long, a week or so perhaps. But it was easy to imagine how they'd transform the place. Even as they were dying back though they had a certain charm.

The irises were just past their best

We had the garden to ourselves for much of the afternoon, which was amazing but every so often people would hurry down these stairs, across the garden and down into the lower garden using it as a very pretty cut through to the centre of town. I think it'd be a cut through I'd use regularly too.

Stairs to make a grand entrance

Just imagine the kind of entrances you could make with stairs as grand as these.  Hopefully, most of them upright too!

I decided to see where these people were heading so I followed their path through the upper part of the garden and enjoyed the glimpse of the lower garden. From the top of another set of stairs, I could see the drama of the diagonal hedges alternated with planting.

Looking down to the lower level

As I returned to the cloistered hedge I did find a couple of irises hanging on, not many though.

I did find some iris in flower though

It was wonderfully cool to sit under the cloistered canopy, and the view up was none too shabby either.  

The tree canopy was fantastic and the shade was welcome too

There were more flowers in the lower garden; foxgloves, dahlias, cosmos and more lavender, as well as a pink mystery plant.  

The foxgloves were a welcome sight
a mystery plant, but pretty
A cosmos with some support
The white flower *almost* looked out of place
a flower unfurling

And nestled among all the flowers were vistas to stunning French architecture, and of course the hedges! 

And ah what a view
hollyhocks on the way
Time to move on and we left through the lower part of the garden
Post Comment Love

Pink, green, blue and gold and some dancing ladies too

We've already had a look around the Jardin Potager at Cheverny and seen how they cut the grass banks and now we're having a look inside. It was the most elaborate and opulent chateau interior we'd seen to date, and the rooms were set out in rooms in much the same way as the National Trust does here. The colours were on the whole bright, and there was a lot of gold.

Each of the rooms I'm sharing here were on the first floor in the private apartments and each are said to convey the French "art de vivre" or the joy of living. And I think they've got a point there, as they're all great. I know they're from the first floor as that's when I realised that you could take pictures as long as it was without flash. Doh!

PANELLED WALLS

PANELLED WALLS

AND DOORS TOO

AND DOORS TOO

AND EVEN THE CEILING MATCHES

AND EVEN THE CEILING MATCHES

They definitely like things to match. But doesn't it work? It's a striking way to decorate rooms and clearly these are larger than our average modern day room, but wouldn't it be great to have a ceiling like that?

At first this room, potentially a music room but one with a lot of books, looks a much simpler room. But then the more you look, the more you see. 

The detail on the piano - or possibly pianoforte - is stunning and a masterpiece in its own right. The panelling on the book cases too is very detailed.

And those curtains, I could quite easily have them in our house. They'd need to be a lot shorter, but the material looks great here but would look equally good in a more modern setting, don't you think?

A DECORATED PIANO

A DECORATED PIANO

A VIOLIN AND A MUSIC SCORE

A VIOLIN AND A MUSIC SCORE

So pink and green done, both with touches of gold. Now for the blue. When I walked into this room the opulence just struck you. Not in a bad way, but there was just so much to see. I can't even begin to describe it.

Opulence everywhere you look
Opulence galore and with a harp too

Did you spot the dancing ladies, either side of the portrait? I didn't to start with, and then I was captivated by them. And wondering why the one on the left is showing quite so much leg...

At first I didn't notice them either side of the portrait

I think they're one thing though, that doesn't really translate into modern living. I can't see these working either side of the fireplace can you?!

Post Comment Love