Gardens of France with Marty Wingate: Itinerary

July 21st to August 1st, 2012

Day 1 (Saturday, July 21st)

Depart Seattle in the morning to Charles De Gaulle Airport in Paris. Meal service will be provided en-route.

Day 2 (Sunday, July 22nd) Paris

Arrive at Charles DeGaulle Airport in Paris in the morning. The group will be met at the airport and taken by coach to the Paris hotel, located in the center of Paris. The afternoon is free to explore the historic center. You’ll have a Paris Metro and Museum Pass with instructions on how to use them. We’ll meet for a welcome cocktail at the hotel before dinner this evening (D)

Day 3 (Monday, July 23rd) Paris

We have a morning tour scheduled with our guide of Paris. In the afternoon we will tour some of the suburban gardens in the city. We’ll discuss the ins and outs of the Paris Metro system for anyone not familiar with this efficient mode of transportation. Dinner is on your own this evening. (B)

Day 4 (Tuesday, July 24th) Paris

The day is free to explore the city. We have included a museum pass and metro card for easy access to the sights of Paris. These passes have not yet arrived, so they will be distributed to you prior to our arrival in Paris. There will be a lesson in the ins and outs of the Paris Metro prior to turning you loose for the day. Do not miss the Impressionists at the Orsay Museum, the Louvre can take a day in itself, the Catacombs are well worth a few hours, and Notre Dame Cathedral should be on everyone's list. Mass is held at 8:00 am, noon, and at 6:30 today.

The Rodin Museum is a short metro ride away, or just take in the view at a café in Montmartre. Don't wear yourself out too much because tonight we will be taking a dinner cruise on the Seine. (B, D)

Day 5 (Wednesday, July 25th) Chenonceaux

After breakfast we travel south to the Loire Valley. We’ll arrive at Chaumont-Sur-Loire just about lunch time where you will have free time to dine and explore the castle and grounds before our afternoon tour of the 21st season of their annual Garden Festival. Described as their version of the Chelsea Flower Show, the estate grounds offer visitors a wide selection of display gardens, all with a particular theme.

The theme for 2012 has not yet been announced. Previous themes have included “eroticism in the Garden, Curiosity in the Garden, Water, Only Water, Gardens of Color and, most recently, Gardens of the Future.

We’ll travel on the short distance to this village of Chenonceaux, where we will tour the chateau garden after checking into our hotel, the Bon Laboureur. This historic coaching inn, dating back to 1789, is known for its country cuisine. We’ll have a wine event prior to dinner this evening. (B, L, D)

Day 6 (Thursday, July 26th) Chenonceaux

For our morning garden tour, we continue on to the Castle and Gardens of Villandry, arguably the most fascinating gardens in the region. Villandry's ornamental, herb, water, and kitchen gardens are known around the world. The café at this garden is a perfect place to break for lunch. We’re then off to visit an incredible chateau of d’Azay-le-Rideau, a masterpiece of 16th century architecture, situated on an island in the Indre River.

We’ll return to Chenonceaux in time to visit the grounds and garden of the chateau. Dinner is at the hotel this evening. (B, D)

Day 7 (Friday, July 27th) Brittany

We’re on our way to Brittany this morning. We have a garden tour stop planned just south of le Mans at Jardin du Petite Bordeaux. Winner of the “Best Park in France 2007” Award, this 1.5 hectare garden was designed and planted exclusively by a husband and wife team. After a break for lunch, we will continue to the medieval town of Fougeres for a stroll through town and a visit to the fortifications above the town. Tonight we stay in a charming hotel, converted from an 18th century working mill on the Selune River. We’ll have the late afternoon to explore the village before dinner this evening. (B, D)

Day 8 (Saturday, July 28th) Brittany

We will be touring a baroque garden this morning, known as Chateau la Ballou. This garden is just a short drive from Ducey. After our tour here, we will drive to Mont St. Michel. We’ll break for lunch with plenty of time to explore, shop and enjoy this unique monument. In the late afternoon we’ll meet again for a tour of the cloister gardens at the top of the mount. Dinner is on your on this evening. (B)

Day 9 (Sunday, July 29th) Honfleur

We’re off early this morning to meet our D-Day specialist for a morning tour of the invasion beaches. This will include Point-du-Hoc, Omaha Beach, and a visit to the American military cemetery at Colleville-sur-Mer. After a break for lunch, we will have an afternoon visit to Plantbessin, a themed garden, selected as one of France’s “Remarkable Gardens” and winner of the “Best Garden in France” Award in 2009. We’ll arrive in the small port village of Honfleur late in the afternoon with time to look around town before dinner close to the hotel. There are many options for dining in Honfleur this evening. (B)

Day 10 (Monday, July 30th) Honfleur

After breakfast, we begin the day with a visit to Les Bois des Moutiers, commissioned in 1898 by Guillaume Mallet, designed my Gertrude Jekyll and Edwin Luytens. Gunneras, rhododendrons, hydrangeas, and other acid-loving plants thrive in this seaside woodland, maintained by the Mallet Family to this day.

After lunch nearby, we continue on to le Vasterival, the garden designed by Norwegian-born Princess Sturdza. Princess Sturdza passed away in 2009, but the garden has been taken over by a group dedicated to the work she started. We will follow the coastline on the way back to the hotel with a stop in Fecamp to sample the a nector of the gods, Benedictine. (B, L)

Day 11 (Tuesday, July 31st) Honfleur

We leave Honfleur this morning and head inland to our first stop, the gardens at Agapanthe. This contemporary garden takes the form of a series of sharply contrasting intimate spaces. The area displays diverse scenery with the yew trees alongside liliaceae, ceanothes, magnolias, azaleas as well as a large variety of shrubs alongside floral bursts of penennials through the seasons. We continue to our second garden of the (they are quite close together) morning, Clos Du Coudray. Begun in 1976 and surrounding a thatched cottage, this garden covers an area of 15,000 square meters and boasts 6,000 different species of plants. The plants are separated according to their culture medium (e.g. the rock garden and the pastoral gardens), or theme by theme (e.g. the rose gardens, the exotic gardens, the white gardens and the borders).

After a break for lunch in the nearby town of Saint-Saëns, we will visit the garden of Clos du Coudray. This 100% green garden is a nursery as well as a garden extraordinaire. The Clos du Coudray is a family garden begun in 1973 by Jean and Marie-Christine Lebret and is now a wonderfully mature series of gardens, each of which has been set up with a fantastic eye for color and form.  Return to the hotel this evening and our farewell dinner, which will take place at a restaurant nearby. (B, D)

Day 12 (Wednesday, August 1st)

This will be an early departure from the hotel this morning. We’ll arrive at Monet’s Garden in Giverny just as the gates open at 9:30. This garden is a very popular destination, particularly with bus tours from Paris and hoards of school age children. By arriving early we can appreciate the quiet and calm of the garden. From here, we are driving to Charles de Gaulle to check in for flights home. We will arrive there about 12:30 pm. Please schedule flights departing from Paris for the U.S. for 2:00 pm or later.

Updated: Tuesday, February 7, 2012