"Villandry -- Fabulous Chateau and Gardens" Villandry by Beausoleil

There are many lovely Loire Valley chateaus but Chateau Villandry is more famous for its gardens than the chateau. There is a small canal that has begging carp, a tower that you can climb. On the other side of the fruit, vegetable and flower garden is a grape arbor and past that directly behind the chateau is the famous "Love Garden" made of hedges planted in symbols of love.

There is a lovely lake with fountain and swans, espalliered fruit trees, private arbors covered with roses where you can sit and rest and fountains at every turn.

Garden flowers inside the chateau

They use fresh flowers from the gardens to decorate the inside of the chateau. It is well furnished and lovely and certainly worth a visit inside.

You can climb the old tower and the views are delightful from the top.

Chateau bed chamber

This is one of several charming bed chambers. The beds are set into the wall and curtained off, presumably to deflect cold winter winds seeping into the castle.

The bed hangings are different in each room and all reflect the lovely gardens outside that may be viewed from nearly all the chateau windows.

• Pros:For lovers of architecture and gardens it's perfect
• Cons:I can't live there forever!
• In a nutshell:Lunch outside the chateau entry, visit and have a lovely peaceful day.