Six days In Brittany, starting with a frightening early flight from Edinburgh to Charles de Gaulle airport ensured my group had plenty of time to visit and immerse themselves in Monet’s famous garden ‘Giverny’. I have visited the garden in all seasons except winter and the spring garden was a mass of colour, filled with annuals and perennials planted very thickly in a grand mixture which looked quite random but indeed wasn’t. The historic flag irises lining the borders were all over, but the sensuously smelling roses hung from the grand garden arches and were planted in each border to blend with the colour scheme.
There were bus loads of little children and many came away with their own colourful painting of the lily pond. The chatter of children is something that doesn’t change world wide and it was lovely to see and hear them so happy in the garden. Today was warm, sunny and calm so the reflections on the pond, full of floating water lilies showed off beautifully for them.
Bayeux, which was the first town liberated by the soldiers after the D Day landing’s in 1944 is our resting place for 4 nights. Our luxuriously spacious rooms are in an annex a little walk away from Reine Mathilde Hotel, in our own gated community. Bayeux escaped the bombings which destroyed many of Normandy’s towns and with the help of my guide Claire we had a morning walk through the town finishing at the worlds most exquisite historical embroidery the ‘Bayeux Tapestry’. Everyone was enthralled with this masterpiece and wanted to walk past again. David, my lovely farmer from Methven, said it was his highlight for the week. It’s a very busy time of the year and the town is preparing for the Commemoration of the D Day landings starting the next day – 6th June . Sadly the sun has gone and the coast is foggy and wet. The American cemetery at Omaha is crowded with visitors and school groups from all over the world. The Normandy coast has a momentous history that changed the direction of the 2nd world war. Today it is not so so visible, but life here is a daily reminder of what happened during this devastating time for the people who survived the horrific bombings nearly 75 years ago. There are many museums, visitor centres and sombre cemetaries which portray the events of the Overlord Invasion, but a new museum in the very badly bombed town of Falaise is dedicated to the 20,000 civilians killed during this time.
We arrived after a morning visitant tasting to a local cheese factory making the regional Pont L’Eveque, Camembert and Liverot cheeses and a very ‘nice‘ long lunch in a beautiful countryside restaurant with our Dunedin French friends Jacques and Anny.
We didn’t like the fact two large buses arrived at the Falaise museum ahead of us, along with a pipe band from Scotland. However, this turned out to be a very unforgettable visit. The museum was soon filled with British war veterans who chatted with us freely and were keen to tell us where they fought or about their war time jobs- like one man I spoke to who was responsible for the assembly of the huge bridges at Sword beach to transfer soldiers from ships to the beach. They were all smartly dressed wearing black jackets and adorned with lines of medals and were just delightful. I think also still brave like the man in the wheelchair who fell down the stairs on the trip but was insistant he kept going.
Another village spared of the bombs was Honfleur. – a photographers delight full of high rise ancient buildings surrounding the old fishing harbour . Today luxurious yachts fill the berths and the historic tourist town has become famous not only for its beauty but many art shops.
Two of my most favourite gardens are close to Bayeux -The restored formal garden facing the De Becy Chateau looked impeccable even on a wet afternoon. Layers of immaculately clipped topiary and hedges step up a hillside away from the chateau and provide a perfect vista all year round. I have fallen in love with Fench roses and even in the damp weather they were still smell amazing .
But my all time favourite is the garden of Castillon. It is also set behind a Chateau hiding in the trees but created and developed over the past 40 years. We met Collette and her husband, the now very elderly couple responsible for the garden. He told us how he remembers the Nazi soldiers leaving the Chateau, where he lived with their grandmother on the 7th June 1944, one day after the landing at Omaha after they occupied their house for 4 years..
Their creativity and expertise is evident as you walk from one room to another, each filled with different plantings and bound together with the neatest yew, box and hornbeam hedges.
I am indebted to Pam who is taking the rather heavy book full of photographs of the garden back to NZ of me.
Once again visiting Normandy has been a treat and encompasses everything I love about traveling. Delicious meals using fresh regional foods, stunning garden visits, while all the time learning about the lifestyle, history and unique settings that make each region distinctive.
Wow amazing gardens ! Fantastic photos Judith