Famous for its extensive and elaborate gardens,
Villandry is one of the must-see châteaux of the Loire Valley. The chateau complements the garden – buy a combined ticket for maximum effect!

I am not the greatest fan of the French style of regimented gardening but when you see it on this scale it is rather breathtaking. Even if you think you are not interested in the actual château, I would argue that it is essential to include it in your ticket: the multi-faceted views of the gardens through its many windows and from the tower are superb and an essential way to appreciate the whole.

Villandry wasn’t always like this and indeed it was a Spanish nobleman and his American wife who are responsible for the gardens as you see them today – and indeed for saving the derelict château when they bought it in 1906.

There was a fortress on the site in the 12th century and it’s keep survives to this day. Known then as ‘Colombiers‘, it was the shameful site of the signing of the ‘Peace of Colombiers‘ when Henry ll, the Plantagenet King of England, recognised his defeat by Philippe Auguste, King of France.

Although there was later a name change, curiously the locals are still known as ‘Colombiens’. The fortress was razed in 1532, although the keep was retained, and the first gardens were built along with a new château.

In 1754, an ambassador to Louis XV redesigned the interior and built the farmyard, the caretakers lodge and several pavilions. A French style garden was added with a large pool.

In the 19th century, the place passed through various hands until the financier Pierre Laurent Hainguerlot created a large English style park. I am all for low maintenance but when Joachim Carvallo and his wife Ann Coleman moved in in 1906, they decided to redesign the gardens in the style of the 16th century.

The result requires 10 full time gardeners to prune 1,015 lime trees plus 30 kilometres of box hedging and edging, and to grow and look after 115,000 flowering and vegetable plants. Their great grandson has heroically carried on the estate and it has become one of the must-see places of the Loire.

Inside the Château

We spent a pleasant day wandering through the chateau which is an interesting visit in itself. Near the invisible Cher River, one approaches through a 3 sided colonnaded courtyard with steep slate roofs and high roof windows with flamboyant sculptured gables.

The visit wends through the drawing room, the study in the keep and a beautiful salmon pink dining room with a tinkling fountain to one end. It was here in October 1943 that Joachim’s two sons, Edouard and François, were arrested by the Gestapo for resistance activity. Edouard was sent to the Langenstein work camp in Germany where he was executed on April 15th 1945.

After a rustic kitchen, an 18th century staircase leads to the first floor, where several bedrooms and a library reveal wonderful views over the gardens as well as a superb array of 18th century parquet flooring and furniture.

The Louis Vuitton trunk in Ann’s room speaks of the trail of American heiresses who crossed the Atlantic to Europe. Throughout the rooms there are fabulous floral displays and smatterings of family photos which are a nice touch.

The tour finishes with the children’s bedrooms on the next floor and a visit to the top of the keep for superb 360° views over the gardens. This is really the best spot to fully appreciate the intricacy and design of the Love Garden with all its hidden symbolism.

Around the Gardens

And what gardens! From the cool greenness of the Water Garden, where a pair of swans float serenely on a lake shaped like a Louis XV mirror, to the completely bonkers Ornamental Kitchen Garden where even aubergines and cabbages grow in serried ranks, only separated by artfully spaced petunias and pear trees, there is an unending sense of amazement.

The highlight is probably the Love Garden where 4 rooms highlight Tender, Passionate, Flighty and Tragic Love – in the latter daggers are depicted by the jagged box designs and red flowers symbolise bloodshed. The similar Garden of the Crosses behind depicts the Maltese, Languedoc and Basque crosses.

It is easy to while away a sunny day with plenty of scenic benches and even deckchairs under the trees to the far end of the gardens. A nearby niche offered sweet white grapes for free. Servez Vous! We had earlier watched the gardeners picking them from the trellises above the waterway that runs through the gardens.

There is a decent open air restaurant and an ice cream kiosk near the entrance as well as a couple of jolly shops, with spacious free parking opposite the château.

A short stroll away the little village has a pleasant strip featuring a couple of hotels – the Hôtel de Cheval Rouge is the pick of the two and has a good restaurant – and the excellent L’Atelier du Pain bakery which unusually is open all day for snacks and coffee. The tourist office opposite sells tickets to the châteaux at a slightly reduced price, as well as various bundles for combined visits.

We had a great day amongst all the flamboyance and I really would recommend the visit – you will certainly never look at a vegetable garden in quite the same way ever again!

NOTES

Villandry enjoys an unusually long opening season and judging by the photos of the gardens in the winter, they are just as spectacular when the snow sits on top of the box highlighting the designs. It is reasonably priced by English standards too at only 14 euros for a combined ticket.