Water gardens

This morning we walked through the gardens of Villa Melzi on Lake Como for our morning walk.

The spectacular setting makes it impossible to replicate.

The garden is set on a steep hill flowing down to the  lake.

Pictures cannot adequately capture the magnificence of this garden.

Lunch in Como

You may be forgiven for thinking all I do on holidays is lunch. 

We are now staying on Lake Como in Italy and had lunch today with good friends who are now locals in the area, they recommended this restaurant in Como Pane e Tulipani. The food was divine and the interior was relaxed and rustic with an abundance of roses and local produce displayed on window sills.

Definitely worth putting on your list if visiting Como.

Photos from Just one suitcase.com

Lunch in Avignon

A favourite restaurant we love to visit in Avignon is Vernet 83,

The setting is divine in a central courtyard surrounded by beautiful architecture.

It appears to be where the smart French "do" lunch. The food is as good as the people watching and the fashion is always stylish.

The interior dining areas are also very beautiful with cleverly understated design.

Photos from trip adviser.

Provençal retreat

What a treat to return to Provence. I think I am definitely a country girl at heart and appreciate again the privilege of living in the wide open spaces in Australia.

We are enjoying exploring the region around Les Baux, wandering the streets of St Remy and driving through the Camargue.

We discovered a wonderful hotel here designed in the Cote de Bastide style.

Lots of faded linens set against chalky stone.

All this with Les Allpilles in the background. what a backdrop !

All photos from their website. Benvengudo.com

Favourite garden in France

Erignac in the Dordogne region of France would have to be one of my favourite gardens ever visited.

We were inspired 6 years ago by this magnificent family owned garden and decided to return again on our trip to France.

The very simple manoir house sits at the bottom of the garden, in unadorned beauty surrounded by a clay colored gravel which is raked each morning to perfection.  Generations of the same family have lived here for 500 years.

The owner describes this avenue of hornbeams as the Champs Élysées of the Perigord.

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we were fortunate this time to have a private tour of the garden by the owner who took us onto the magnificent lawns cared for like precious carpets and see breathtaking vistas of the garden.

The white garden holds white picnics in summer with musical recitals amongst the roses and clipped box hedges.

Again Erignac has inspired us to return to our own garden and continue with our work and aim towards an even highly level of detail and excellence. 

Photos from Erignac.com and tripadviser

Designer gardens in the Loire valley

Today we visited Chateau Chambord in the Loire valley.

The gardens feature installations of art work and display gardens created by various designers each year. We were particularly taken with the beds near the chateau which combined grasses with annuals and perennials in blues, pinks, purples and white.

A large gravelled area was broken up with spheres of irregularly spaced buxus adding contrast in both color, texture and design.

The parklands included touches of whimsy with cleverly suspended works of art and sculpture in sympathetic materials.