One gray morning we visited the gardens at La Chatonnière (link to English version of the website). This had multiple themed gardens. I like the idea of themed gardens, but having been to a number of them, now, I’m aware that they require a lot of maintenance to be done really well. 

This is the château (described in our tour brochure as “small”).

Here is an older tower in the back.

This garden is the signature garden of La Chatonnière. The colors, in the spring planting, come from different lettuce varieties. If you get high enough up, you can see that it’s shaped like a leaf. Sometimes, there are tethered balloon rides in that field which would be a fun way to get a bird’s eye view of the place.

It’s Paris in July! There doesn’t seem to be much activity from the host sites, but there is a list of participating blogs in the sidebar of Thyme for Tea so take a look if you don’t get enough of France today.

For a more actively hosted event, check out Dreaming of France at An Accidental Blog. Paulita talks about soaps today and there are links to several other French-themed posts.