The oriental garden at Maulevrier

We have been to this garden once before, and decided at the time that it was worth re-visiting.   We went to see it again on Wednesday, a one-night trip, back today.  It was once part of the grounds of a local château, now a hotel, where we stayed overnight.   

The planners have been creative in the use of the various slopes, and a water feature has been created by damming the small river that runs through the park.   Much of the colour is provided by azaleas and rhododendrons, so at this time of year the interest is in the forms of the trees and leaf colour.   Almost every vista offers something of interest: leaf shapes and colours, topiary, or just the natural shapes of the trees and bushes. 

We were lucky with the weather.  There was a light drizzle as we were leaving, but it seemed like we had the only rainless few hours in a wet week.  As an aside, the river did look like it could use a bit of rain.

It's hard to do justice to the park in just a few pics, but here's an idea.   The chateau you can see is the hotel where we stayed overnight.

A surprise!  Who should we bump into but Marie-Claude, our old French teacher, who eased us into the language during our first years here.   She was on a a holiday touring trip with her husband.  We chatted, swapped news and wished each other well.