June 2: Although some rain is forecast for the afternoon, the early morning sky is mostly sunny. It is a very brief ride to the chateau and garden.
There are similarities between Villandry and Chatonniere. Both are owned by Spanish families. A Moroccan gardner, Ahmed Azeroual, worked 20 years at Villandry and has spent the last 20 years building the Chatonniere gardens. And they both occupy the same amount of space. But Villandry is strictly French; the rows are perfectly straight and everything meets at a right angle. Chatonniere is much more British; lines are curved and there are no right angles.
The design of Chatonniere is by the owner of the Chateau, Madame Beatrice d’Andia. From the descriptions we heard from her great nephew (more on him later) concerning the garden’s design she is not only intelligent but also a brilliant and talented person. She was formerly the French Minister of Culture under Jacque Chirac.
We had a most interesting talk on the history of the chateau and the design concepts of the gardens by the nephew of the owner, Rodrigo, Duke of Salins and grand nephew of Madam Beatrice. This 45 minute talk took 2 hours; the Duke is enthusiastic about the garden and obviously our leader Jane is a special friend of the family.
Left below is a table made by and a gift from the Duchesse de Wuttenberg (also Princesse of France) to Madam Beatrice. On the right is Chateau Usse. Brenda and I ate lunch in it’s shadow. We did not visit it because Jane advised us it was a tourist trap.
Each day we pass many cycle tourists. Today we passed one wearing a Texas jersey; he was from Houston. The roads continue scenic, well paved and with no traffic. What more could you ask for? CLICK HERE TO SEE TODAY'S ROUTE.
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