GARDENS AND CHATEUX

There are over a hundred unique and lovely gardens to visit in Normandy, and nearly half of them are concentrated in this area. Some are famous, such as Claude Monet’s garden at Giverny, or Le Bois des Moutiers near Dieppe; however most of them are little known and consequently treasures to be enjoyed in peace, blissfully free of crowds of visitors. You will find little of the traditional formal and geometric style, usually associated with French gardens; instead the style anglais is very much in evidence as inspiration for their designs. Three of our favourites are situated about 20 minutes away near the town of Saint Saens:

Les Jardins Agapanthe - between Dieppe and Rouen is a garden designed by an architect and landscape designer who has deliberately eschewed the traditional French style to create a series of individual settings enhanced by strong architectural features, yet linked together luxuriantly and harmoniously. Sit and contemplate on the chairs placed around the garden for the visitor’s benefit. For further details : www.jardins-agapanthe.fr (a superb website).

Le Clos du Coudray – situated not far from Agapanthe, boasts over 8,000 varieties of plants in 25 themed gardens. A stream winds its way past rockeries, exotic gardens and gardens of roses, dahlias and grasses. A nursery sells seeds and plants. www.leclosducoudray.com

Jardins de Bellevue – again close to Agapanthe at Beaumont-le-Hareng; this 15 acre site looks across to the Forest of Eawy and has trees, shrubs and flower beds full of interest all year. The gardens are noted for two national collections of hellebores and meconopsis. Open daily from 10am to 6pm.

Another of our favourite places, about 15 minutes from here near Aumale, and just over the border in Picardie, is the Jardin Floral du Chateau de Digeon. Enjoy tea in the chateau after a wander around the English parkland and the walled kitchen garden where flowers, fruit and vegetables all play a part in creating colourful geometric shapes. A profusion of roses growing up the stable walls leads you through the archway to an old cart shed and a garden full of shaped rose trees and rampant roses smothering the cart shed. This garden is linked to Pashley Manor in Sussex. www.jardinfloralgoisque.free.fr

Near Dieppe, just 30 minutes from here, there are several gardens, notably Le Bois des Moutiers, the result of a collaboration between Sir Edwin Lutyens and Gertrude Jekyll in 1898. Behind the house and the walled gardens is a park which dips down through a wooded valley to the sea. In a succession of clearings you will find rhododendrons, azaleas, roses and hydrangeas. www.boisdesmoutiers.com

Inland from Dieppe is the Chateau and park of Miromesnil where Guy de Maupassant was born. 200 year old cedars and other magnificent trees dominate the grounds and there is a fine example of a traditional kitchen garden. You can visit the château, the old chapel in the park as well as the gardens. www.chateaumiromesnil.com

Another exceptional garden in the grounds of a chateau is the sculpture garden of Bois-Guilbert. For twenty years this garden has been, and still is, the creation of the sculptor and landscape gardener Jean-Marc de Pas. In the grounds of the chateau, inherited from his ancestors, more than 70 sculptures enhance and complement the gardens, described as a “hymn to life and nature” and inviting reflection on man, time and space. Website address is somewhat long … http://perso.orange.fr/le.jardin.des.sculptures

Le Parc de Clères is a zoological garden created in 1919 by a naturalist to accommodate his collection of animals and birds. The park consists of 32 acres of woods; lawns and a lake where many of the animals and birds wander freely. On the site are a renaissance chateau and outbuildings, a XVth century manor house and the ruins of a medieval keep.

These are just a few of the gardens and chateaux near here.

There are many more to discover …..

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Other places of interest in the area are :

• Lyons-la-Forêt - on the list of the 40 prettiest villages in France

With its traditional market hall and houses; one of which belonged to the composer Ravel

• Chateau Gaillard, at Les Andelys, built by Richard the Lionheart to dominate and control the river Seine, with its stunning views.

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• Gerberoy – a delightful and historic village with its well preserved buildings

which date from the XVth, XVIIth and XVIIIth centuries. Around the middle of June there is a festival of Roses.

• Veules-les-Roses – which is on the coast to the west of Dieppe, has the shortest river in France, only 1.1 km long. Follow it from its source to the sea along a pathway and through a delightful little town.

• Amiens – just 45 minutes away with its beautiful cathedral, and les Hortillonages (the gardens, formerly market gardens, linked by 60 kms of small canals which can be seen from a punt). Jules Verne lived here and you can visit his house and museum. At night, from June to September, the cathedral is lit up with the colours originally painted on the stonework.

ACTIVITIES

The Pays de Bray is a paradise for those who enjoy walking, cycling or horse riding.

As well as hundreds of kilometres of marked circular paths through beautiful countryside and beech forests, there is the Avenue Verte or Green Way, a former railway line which runs from Dieppe to Forges-les-Eaux, a distance of 45 kms. The route has been resurfaced and the edges planted. Picnic tables, sculptures and information boards are located along its length. It is ideal for walkers, cyclists and those who enjoy roller blading; and it is particularly good for children. Bicycles for all sizes can be hired in Neufchatel, or from a camp site situated beside the GreenWay. Website:

http://www.voiesvertes.com/htm/departement76_av.htm

For golfers, there are golf courses in the park of the Chateau du Vaudichon at Saint Saens,

http://www.golfdesaintsaens.com/pages/accueilpag.html

There are also golf courses at Dieppe, Rouen and Etretat.

For those who enjoy horse riding there are many centres to choose from in the area and plenty of safe places to ride, free of traffic. Fishing is available close by; and in Neufchatel there is a centre with two swimming pools, one indoor and one outdoor.

GASTRONOMY

After all this activity, you will want to sample the many delicious local products; and try out the restaurants. Normandy is famous for its dairy and apple products. The local Neufchatel cheese has been made since the year 1035 in various shapes, the best known being the heart shape. Cider, calvados and pommeau (calvados and apple juice) are made from its apples and used in many of the local dishes. Lunch time is a good time to eat in France since the menus are of very good value then. There are several good restaurants in the area and, for lovers of fish, Dieppe has plenty of fish and crustaceans on the menus. There is a herring festival in the autumn and the smoked fillets are particularly good.

In conclusion, you can see that there is a wide range of activities and places to visit and enjoy in this delightful part of Normandy. It’s so easy to get here; it takes only 30 minutes from Dieppe, and an hour and a half from Calais. Spend a week or a long weekend here at the Moulin de l’Epinay, relax and treat the senses. It’s so near - yet so France !