wisteria over french gates

 In our valley,  people like to have high stone walls around their homes.  The walls make you feel safe, and private and ..... 

 they are great for training climbing plants like wisteria,  clematis and Virginia creeper.

 Many houses have  wisterias over one hundred years old twisting

 and turning their way around gates and pillars.

and the great thing about wisteria, is that it can make even a ramshackle fence 

look romantic,  especially when the wall beneath is covered in a pink flowering weed.

Wishing you a fragrant weekend,

 thank you for reading my blog, you are the best!

french sunflowers

Normandy is not traditional sunflower country, but the warm summers over the past few years have made local farmers feel brave and we can now enjoy fields of these generous blooms.  Not being abig fan of yellow, I can't say they are my all time favourite flower, but there is something startling in their sheer size and strength, the patterns in their seed heads and the sea of colour they produce.  What do you think, is it a flower you like to have in your garden?

we don't do tornados!

The good thing about being a blogger is that you get into the habit of driving around all day long with a camera to hand.  Now and again the elements reward your vigilance by throwing something unexpected in your direction.

So it was this evening on the way back from school.  France is not tornado country, and Normandy even less, so we have no idea what this baby was doing over our wheat fields, but we thought it was really cool and the colours contrasting the wheat and the clouds were just stunning.

This not-a-real-tornado faded away as discreetly as it appeared, without danger or threat, just for fun I guess!

 

Easter weekend kicks off

Our Easter weekend got off to the most wonderful start this week, the youngest children on holiday from school,  the eldest son home from university, the remaining child back from Paris and  my mother here to visit.

Add to that daughter number 2 who organises a photo shoot in the garden, then the youngest son who returns from a bike ride with three friends and everyone wants to stay over ..... the solution - tents !!  This has to be the first year that tents have been out at Easter, I love it.

Added to that the amazing warm sunshine and the colours in the valley., I'm quickly typing this then I'm off for a horse ride in the forest -  we know we're lucky, we love every minute of it!

absente pour le weekend

Away from this computer screen today, I leave you with  pictures I took at the end of the  summer of one of my favourite places in the valley.

This pretty scene is two villages away from us.  What you see is the outbuildings and surroundings to a small château. 

The advantage of being in the middle of a deep valley is that there are waterways everywhere.  This certainly used to serve as the washhouse to the château.

 Wishing you a bon weekend!

a house to dream about

We have moved our horses to greener  pastures for the summer, which makes them extremely happy  ... and fat, so that's all good.   For me this means a long bike ride, or ten minutes in the car to go and check on them each day.

I drive along the valley, following the river, and always slow down at one particular village where there's a house that makes me dream.

The property looks pretty old to me, maybe older than ours, I should guess at least 180 years.  I don't know the owners, and I've never been inside but I always feel compelled to stop and gaze.  As you know, I have a secret longing to live beside water.

Somebody has planted two tall cypress trees rather too close to the corners of the house, and then forgotten to keep the virginia creeper under control, but don't you think the whole thing is so romantic?   Of an evening, the light beside the river is beautifully soft, the garden is quite big with an old outbuilding at the end.

There are signs of people coming now and again, but I don't think it's lived in full time.  I'm afraid I didn't even ask permission to show you these pictures, so I hope I don't get into trouble.

The house looks across the river to this view.  A small road with a couple of very attractive houses sheltered behind tall gates.

And at the  end of the road, leading into the village is this rather sweet house; small, neglected and .......

FOR SALE - any takers?!

visiting our valley - the rose gardens of miserey

You know how sometimes you come across a place or a person that is so totally delicious you're torn between telling everyone about it or keeping it greedily just for yourself?  Well, that's how I feel about Monsieur and Madame de Roumilly and their beautiful château and rose garden.

 

 

If it wasn't all uphill, I would cycle to their home, they live in a village just above our valley.  His family bought this sweet doll's house of a château many years ago, and have lovingly restored it , and created gardens that people come from afar to visit.

 

 

I adore their old greenhouse with it's unusual rounded roof and generous roses climbing all over.

 

When Madame was creating the gardens, she wanted an idea for planting up a field; she thought of the very catholic theme of heaven, purgatory and hell!  Not one to be easily scared, she researched plants worldwide to fit into her theme.  The result?  A fascinating walk between rose bushes displaying  fiery reds and oranges, huge thorns and fierce prickles, a walk through hell.  Cross the path of purgatory, lined with 12 yews representing the 12 apostles, and you enter Eden, pastel coloured roses, mostly thorn less, smooth stemmed.

It takes almost 2 hours to walk around the park and gardens.  I have done this walk many times  in the company of Madame de Roumilly who never seems to tire of telling people about her rose collection, or the origins of the more unusual plants.

These pictures were taken just as their fantastic rose border was coming  into flower.  Many of the unusual roses are from America, others from Italy

Back at the château I love to chat to the charming owners.  Monsieur de Roumilly has always supported his wife's plans for the château and gardens, and through the years has turned his hand to many a project.  From rebuilding stone walls to hand painting door panels.  The restoration of this lovely family sized château has been a real labour of love.

There is so much more to say, but in the end I have to let the pictures talk for me.  Maybe one day you'll come this way and we'll be able to wander around the park together.  We'll ask permission to let ourselves in  early in the morning - it might mean getting our feet wet in the grass, but it will  be worthwhile simply for the joy of seeing colours at their very best.