Fairy garden in Villandry

Article and photos: Thu Giang

Since I was a child, I dreamed of one day walking in fairytale castles because I was attracted by movies and stories that my mother often told. I knew about the valley with castles in the Loire River region of France through the words of a friend studying abroad in Poitier, the land of ancient castles hundreds of years old, famous wine cellars, romantic gardens gradually appeared vividly through my trip to the land of dreams.

It takes just over an hour by train from Paris to Tours, the main city of the Loire region. My college friend picked me up at the train station, from where it was only a 5-minute walk to the hotel. Having planned in advance, we were excited to visit the famous Chateau de Villandry – built in the Renaissance style and recognized by UNESCO as a world cultural heritage.

According to documents, from the 14th to the 16th century, the castle was owned by Jean Le Breton, a French general under King Francis I. This was also the place where King Philippe II of France met and discussed with King Richard I of England. In the 19th century, Napoleon bought it to give to his younger brother, Joseph Bonaparte. At that time, the castle was still quite simple and the garden was not as unique as it is now. It was not until Joachim Carvallo, a Spanish doctor, bought it and renovated it that Villandry truly became a masterpiece of garden architecture.

The most attractive and also the most famous point of the castle is this unique garden. It is designed into two major themes: the love garden and the music garden. Each garden scene is built in a square block, with pieces put together, simulating the art of stained glass. The garden is also built according to 4 aspects of love: gentle love, passionate love, fickle love and tragic love. Gentle love with hearts and masks, passionate love with bleeding hearts, fickle love with horn-shaped blocks and tragic love with blades. Inside each garden are countless types of flowers and different colors expressing the emotional nuances of love from yellow, orange, pink, red to purple. All levels of emotions seem to be expressed in each work, each angle.

Inside each garden are countless types of flowers and different colors expressing the emotional nuances of love from yellow, orange, pink, red to purple. All the ranges of emotions seem to be expressed in each work, each angle.

We continued to visit the vegetable garden, the main source of the castle's food, through a grape corridor with vines and clusters of grapes laden with beautiful fruit. I could not imagine before coming here, and when I saw this place with my own eyes, I could not believe that all the unique sculptures were made from vegetables and fruits. The large, round purple cabbages were arranged in such an order that from afar I thought they were some kind of flower! When I got closer, I realized they were cabbages. Then the herbs and tomatoes were also arranged in neat rows, showing all the meticulous, careful, and patient care of the gardeners here, or above all, of the owners who lived in Villandry. It also reflected their personalities, full of love for art and nature. That is why Villandry attracts so many tourists.

And once coming here just to look at this garden, it also gives people a sense of peace, love of life, love of art through each flower bed, each work in this unique garden. When Christmas comes, when the weather is cold, many visitors come here to warm up their love feelings while bathing in the romantic space of flowers and flowers at Villandry.

More information:

+Go there

From Vietnam, there are direct flights of Vietnam Airlines to Paris. The round-trip ticket price is about USD 1,200. You can also go with Qatar, transit in Doha, the ticket price is USD 900. From Charles de Gaulle airport in Paris, there are bus and metro routes, TGV to the stations. From Paris at Paris Monpanase station, you take the TGV train to Tours city for 1 hour. Or: you can rent a self-drive car right at the airport with cars from reputable companies such as Sixt, Hertz, car Europe. Just need a passport and visa card to pay the deposit.

+ Attractive attractions in the Loire Valley:

There are over 50 castles to visit here, you should only choose the castles you like or the famous castles that tourists often visit if you do not have much time: Azzay de Rideau Castle, Chambord, Chenonceau, Royal Bloist... You should learn a little about the history, construction time, and owners of the castles if you do not want to make your visit boring. Spending some time exploring the forest and villages around the castles is also quite interesting.

+ Local specialties:

Try some wines from the Loire region.

The Thanh