8 Day Tour of The Gardens of Northern France

Contact Tony Arnold, Chairman of the Professional Gardeners’ Guild, for more information.

Programme

Day 1 We depart in our private executive coach with our tour manager from our designated pick up points and travel to Portsmouth for our overnight Brittany Ferries crossing to St Malo.

Day 2 We arrive early at St Malo this morning. Mont Saint Michel is our destination today, where the old town and Abbey are perched on a rock island in the middle of a huge sandy bay. Perched on the rock, the abbey dates back to 708, whilst the museums, shops and houses on the Grand-Rue were built in the medieval era. We then continue to the 3* Mercure Caen Centre – Port de Plaisance Hotel (or similar) for an overnight stay on half board basis.

Day 3 Château de Brécy is our destination this morning, where we see one of the few remaining French examples of an early 17th century garden. Renaissance in inspiration, the walled garden ascends over five different levels and each terrace is a separate garden and a work of art in its own right. This afternoon we visit the gardens at Chateau de Canon, a classical formal French garden from the mid 17th century. On arrival in Rouen, we check in at the 3* Mercure Hotel Champs De Mars (or similar) for a three night stay. Dinner is included in our hotel on the first evening, and the remaining two nights are on bed and breakfast basis.

Day 4 This morning we visit the Shamrock Gardens. This is owned by Corinne & Robert Mallet who have amassed the fullest collection of Hydrangea species and cultivars anyway. Corinne frequently travels out to Japan in search of even more so for those interested in Hydrangeas it is worth spending an hour or so learning about the differences. After some free time for lunch in Dieppe we visit Le Bois des Moutiers Château, a Sir Edwin Lutyens design and our tour of its Gertrude Jekyll gardens explores an extensive collection of rare trees and shrubs in a series of valleys running down to the sea.

Day 5 Le Vasterival is our destination this morning, one of the finest private gardens in Europe. Created in 1957 by Princess Sturdza, sweeping paths, long vistas and a huge variety of plants makes this garden breathtaking in its scope. L’ Elang de Lavnay Garden is our destination this afternoon. Jean Loius Dantec has created a brand new garden out of farmland overlooking the coast which is certainly worth a visit and note what can be down in a short time, hard work and the love of plants. Time permitting we visit Les Jardins Agapanthe, the creation of the landscape architect Alexandre Thomas. Very different from classical French gardens, highlights of the visit include a scented walk, the sunken garden with its lavenders and the Mediterranean garden.

Day 6 Le Jardin Plume is our destination this morning, created in 1997 by Sylvie and Patrick Quibel. This is a stunning contemporary garden combining structure and nature set in a typical Norman orchard, and the garden includes huge plantations of grasses and perennials as well as a central square pond, seasonal gardens and a vegetable garden. We visit Monet’s Gardens at Giverny this afternoon where the artist painted his Waterlillies series. The Water Garden is asymmetrical with an exotic Japanese feel to it and Monet came here repeatedly through his life, letting his imagination rove amid the complex interplay of water and light. We continue to the 3* Holiday Inn Versailles Bougival Hotel (or similar) for a two night stay on half board basis.

Day 7 The morning is spent in the splendour of the Palace of Versailles. Built by Louis XIV in the 18th century, we see the magnificent King’s Apartments, the bedroom of Marie-Antoinette and the Hall of Mirrors lined on one side by 70m mirrors. In 1661, Louis XIV commissioned André Le Nôtre with the design and laying out of the gardens of Versailles which, in his view, were just as important as the Château. The works were undertaken at the same time as those for the palace and took forty years to complete. This afternoon we visit the Arboretum National de Chevreloup. This is a well developed Arboretum with many noteworthy specimens, some originally raised from seeds collected in China (1750), and other natural sources.

Day 8 This morning we visit Château de Chantilly, comprising of the Petit Château that was built around 1560 for Anne de Montmorency, and the Grand Château, destroyed during the French Revolution and rebuilt in the 1870s. Andre Le Notre’s majestic formal water gardens balance the Chateau and blend in so well with the wooded countryside. We continue to Calais for our P&O Channel crossing to Dover and then onwards travel back to our original pick up points.

Cost

£869.00 per person sharing a room. (£150.00 deposit to secure a place). Extra for a single – please contact Tony Arnold for more information.

Booking

Download more information, terms and conditions and a printable booking form by clicking here.

For more information

Contact Tony Arnold, Chairman of the Professional Gardeners’ Guild, for more information.

Organisers

Tailored Travel (ATOL 5605), 12 Jamaica Road, London, SE1 2RN
Tel: +44 (0)20 7064 4970 | Fax: +44 (0)20 7064 8378
info@tailored-travel.co.uk | www.tailored-travel.co.uk