DETAILS
Day 1, Tuesday, August 8: ARRIVAL
Tour members arrange their own transportation to Paris and to the Sheraton Paris Hotel, where a reservation has been made (included in tour price).
We will gather for a welcome dinner this evening at the hotel restaurant (included in tour price).
Day 2, Wednesday, August 9: EVREUX, CHAMPS DE BATAILLE
We’ll leave our airport hotel and travel to the historic town of Evreux, where we’ll enjoy some free time and lunch on our own.
In the afternoon, we’ll visit Champs de Bataille, a 17th-century chateau that French designer Jacques Garcia began restoring in 1992. The formal gardens were recreated from original sketches, and new additions maintain the spirit of the baroque designs. Here we’ll find terraces, a grand canal, temples and arches. This garden is listed by the French Ministry of Culture as one of the Notable Gardens of France.
Day 3, Thursday, August 10: CHATEAU DE BRECY, BAYEUX, JARDIN DE CASTILLON
We’ll start our day at Chateau de Brecy, a masterpiece of a garden that grows around a historic 17th-century castle. Here meticulously pruned yew and boxwood hedges and topiary extend for miles in a series of terraces that each feature a different style of planting. Formal gardens at their best.
We’ll spend midday in the medieval city of Beyeux, on the Aure River. Visit the cathedral built in Romanesque and Gothic styles, the 19th-century botanical garden, take a walk along the river, or see the famous UNESCO World Heritage tapestry depicting the conquest of England by William, Duke of Normandy, in 1066.
We’ll spend the afternoon in Jardin de Castillon, a more contemporary garden created by plantspeople Colette and Hubert Sainte-Beuve. The design is mainly formal, and it features eight themed garden rooms, each separated by a yew hedge. See beautiful combinations of ornamentals and perennials throughout the property or sit down for a cup of tea or peruse the attached plant nursery.
Day 4, Friday, August 11: HONFLEUR, LES JARDINS D’ETRETAT
We’ll start the day in the picturesque Honfleur, where the Seine meets the English Channel. It’s easy to see why so many artists have made this beautiful city their home. We’ll be able to check out galleries and shops, enjoy the view of the water and have lunch on our own.
In the afternoon, we’ll visit the enchanting Jardins d’Etretat, a magical landscape that combines contemporary topiary and art elements with the dramatic coastline views. Visitors walk through seven parts of the garden, each designed to elicit different responses. This is an experience you won’t want to miss.
At the end of the day we’ll move to our hotel near in the center of Rouen, where you’ll be close enough to walk to shops and restaurants and explore on your own in the evenings.
Day 5, Saturday, August 12: MIROMESNIL, JARDIN AGAPANTHE
Author Guy de Maupassant was born at the Chateau de Miromesnil in 1850. The property’s large working potager should be in full of both vegetables and flowers when we visit in late summer. Elsewhere we’ll see beautiful flower gardens and a lovely park on this 35-acre property. Don’t miss the 16th-century chapel hidden in the woods.
In the afternoon, we’ll visit much smaller 1.4-acre Jardin Agapanthe, the garden laboratory of designer Alexandre Thomas. Pathways, terraces, walls, watercourses and pools lead you through different experiences in this always-changing garden. Prepare to be surprised by the unique and playful plant combinations.
Day 6, Sunday, August 13: JARDINS D’ANGELIQUE, LE JARDIN PLUME, ROUEN
Today we’ll start at the beautiful and intimate Jardins d’Angelique, which were planted in memory of the owners’ daughter, Angelique, and feature plants in the restful colors of white, pink and blue. They have a particularly large collection of roses and hydrangeas. One side of the house features lawn and a large more casually planted flower border while the other side has a garden planted in a more formal style and displays a profusion of white roses and perennials inside clipped boxwood hedges.
After lunch we’ll visit Le Jardin Plume, a unique garden installed on the site of a former orchard. Owners Patrick and Sylvie Quibel have incorporated grasses and fine-textured perennials with more traditional and whimsical hedges to create a very interesting mixture of contemporary ideas with more traditional ones. They’ve designed it so that no matter when you visit, you’ll find something to enjoy, but we’ll get to see it in late summer, when the grasses and late summer perennials should be at their most magnificent.
In midafternoon we’ll return to Rouen for some free time and dinner on our own there.
Day 7, Monday, August 14: JARDIN DE VALERIANES, MONET’S GARDENS AT GIVERNY
Jardin de Valerianes is the tale of two gardens: Traditional English cottage-style borders bursting with perennials, and a serene Asian-inspired garden complete with bamboo, cloud-pruned trees and a beautiful water garden. It’s the best of both worlds in one very charming private garden!
Our final garden in our time together is artist Claude Monet’s Gardens at Giverny. This garden also has two very different parts: The Flower Garden around the famous Grande Allee, and the equally famous Water Garden and Japanese Bridge. But there is much to explore on this 2½-acre property. And be sure to wander through the home and stroll through the village of Giverny.
Day 8, Tuesday, August 15: DEPARTURE
Our time together has ended, but garden lovers always find fresh inspiration wherever they are. Tour members can choose to return home or carry on the adventure.
