Out of Paris - to Chaumont-sur-Loire

I decided to have a day out of Paris and visit Chaumont-sur-Loire, on the recommendation of my Australian friend, Glenn Thomas. It was a great suggestion, because this small village on the banks of the River Loire is a real treat.

There's an annual international garden design festival for themed design of small gardens, and this year's theme is "Body and Soul": lots of Zen-type influences. The small gardens are linked by delightful walkways and general garden areas.

About a two-hour train trip from Paris to Onzain, plus a half-hour walk, the gardens are alongside the castle and its surrounding woods. The original farm buildings have been turned into art display areas.

Setting out ...
I love the asymmetry in the paved walkway below - not stones, but metal pavers set into beaten earth ...

The garden below was my favourite: a lake with chairs that "stand" on the surface of the water, and a greenhouse containing hanging plants, plus lots of lovely water plants ...

Moving on ...

A delightful combination of trees, stone, wood, moss, grasses and water ...

Moving on again ...

It's not just the plants providing colour ...

My next favourite - panels of textured glass set among the grasses, bamboo, trees and water features ...

This section was interesting but I'm not sure about durability - the pattern is created by twigs wedged between two sheets of glass. Sculptures in the same section - many of them with glass features ... A wonderful place for a day out for some littlies ... Some practical potting ...

Very relaxed ... Creative potting on a large scale ...

Curving walkways ... A very unusual garden - and scoring points for me as a jazz-lover: this is a tribute to jazz singer Billie Holiday - called the Lady Day garden. There are sofas and a soundtrack of the Lady's voice. Heading for the vines ... Lavender in the scented garden:

Some giant pottings ...

An odd one ... Some asymmetrical walkways ... Bright steppping stones, and a mirror effect ...

Even the toilets are environmentally friendly and allow the breezes to flow through:

Heading into the forest: Passing a view of the Loire ... Painted trees in the forest:

I know this is art, but I found it very disconcerting. It disturbed me because it reminded me of a mass grave. Listening to the birds ...

... among flowers, vegies and herbs ...

A cooling lily pond ... A marriage of timber and plants ...

Moving now from the garden exhibition to the original farm, which has been renovated into art display spaces ...

The photographs below are "Winter". Leaving the farm area to go to the woods near the castle: Looking across the River Loire towards the Chaumont-sur-Loire Castle ...

Looking from the castle and surrounding grounds back towards the River Loire ...

The castle as we emerge from the Chaumont-sur-Loire Farm ...

The River Loire from the castle grounds ... In the castle grounds ... The following two shots are a sculpture of ladders in a tree - intended to make us look up and see the space in a new way ... And now another sculpture - a timber spiral within a cluster of trees ... I guess the people in the middle of it in the photo below couldn't read the sign that said "Fragile: Do not touch".Above - a children's end-of-term outing in the woods.

Below - heading into the woods on one of the paths ... Rest chairs along the edge of the River Loire ... Camping grounds beside the River Loire ... The edge of the River Loire ... This is my first attempt to load a video - in the middle of the castle woods, listening to birdsong. You may be able to hear the shouts of children playing, in the background.