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May 2025 (Part 03)

France Trip: Day 1: Amboise and Chateau De Chaumont

From Orleans, we headed on to our hotel, the Best Western Loire Valley in Amboise.

We then back-tracked to the Chateau De Chaumont.  Should have done them in reverse order, but we were concerned about getting to our hotel by the required check-in time.  The chateau was known for its exquisite gardens.  We didn't have a lot of time and the guide directed us to go there first, rather than heading into the chateau.  The gardens were indeed amazing, featuring a series of 22 small, themed gardens each produced by a different artist as part of an annual competition.  This turned out to be our nearly unanimous vote for the favorite gardens.

The first garden, Fantastico Pinocchio, had wooden statues of Pinocchio and Jiminy Cricket. 

The next was an interesting take on a Zen sand garden titled Rhapsodie Himalayenne, celebrating Tibet and the Himalayas.  The garden description stated the mountains are often celebrated as the point connecting Earth to the Heavens.  "Himalayan Rhapsody is an ode to these majestic mountains and to the intangible cultural heritage they have embodied over the centuries. A powerful glacial river, its bed formed from fine gravel, flows along a path of bare stones between mossy mounds. A series of brass temple bells, hanging from indigo-coloured poles, marks the entrance to this kingdom. Boats, in the same shade of indigo, float on the winding riverbed, towards a large circular mirror. These traditionally crafted boats, an allegory of introspection, each symbolize the journey of someone searching for themselves, as far as the mirror’s reflection on their own life."

Unsure which of the gardens these were from.

Loved the huge bull frog in this one.

The first two images are from Forxcaliber, which featured a number of small habitats using both traditional and innovate methods.  "At the bottom of the garden looms a striking sculpture, Forxcalibur, an enormous garden fork made from an eclectic combination of tools. Each gardener and each tool, no matter how small or humble, contributes to a larger collective movement conducive to change. The sculpture is both a symbol of unity and a call to action, symbolizing the legendary Excaliber, somehow showing the ability to change the world does not lie in the hands of just one hero, but in the joint efforts of individuals united around a common goal and driven by shared determination."

The next garden fascinated all of us.  The display was called Le Jardin Des Songes (the Garden of Dreams).  Inspired by a 1499 work of the same name, the garden "merges reality with that of fantasy, visions and apparitions.  Sculptures fashioned out of white wire netting change the architectural ruins of the original novel into allegories of Nature.  The water appears behind a pergola inspired by Leonardo da Vinci, symbolizing knowledge.  All around, perched on branches, suspended in the sunshine, emerging from the water and bursting forth from the aquatic or climbing plants, between mist and dappled light, hybrid beings appear (winged nymph, butterfly-amphibian, epiphyte-bird, root-insect) — half-plant, half-animal, almost human figures. The sculptures celebrate the four fundamental elements of our existence: earth, water, air and fire. Thanks to their gossamer, faint outlines, the sculpted apparitions flit between the real world and the world of dreams, just like the visions of Poliphilus. Trickles of water (symbolizing rain) and evocations of mist (symbolizing evapotranspiration) accentuate the haunted atmosphere of the garden. The spirit of Mother Nature lurks within."

The first of what would become hundreds of pictures of bees that Alexa took.

We grabbed a quick dinner at the restaurant in the gardens then headed over toward the chateau, only to discover the last entrance was a while ago.  Oh well.

Here is the visitor pamphlet from the chateau.