Monday 13th August 2013, Exeter. Writing about our travels homewards on and after 21st May 2018
Next morning we continued westwards across upper Normandy from St. Valery en Caux crossing the Seine by the Pont de Bretonne. It was hot and lunch time so we turned off and made our way down to the banks of the Seine for a picnic lunch at Saint-Nicolas-de-Bliquetuit on the banks of the river opposite the town of Caudebec.
During the afternoon we made our way along the rural byways of lower Normandy, passing through small villages of thatched houses set in pretty gardens, hidden away deep in the countryside. Here it has been the custom to plant the ridge of the thatch with irises to absorb any wet or damp that may seep into the roof covering. At Aizier we stopped for a stroll along the rural stretches of the Seine, inland from the sea but way below Paris. Aizier is a typical country village with its houses of half-timbering, known as Colombage or Pain de Bois. Many of its cottages are traditional to the region covered by chaume (thatch) with irises planted, some still in flower.
Writing this three months after our return to Exeter I do not remember in great detail the last few days of our time in Normandy. I recall we arrived in Caen on the Monday with the intention of taking the ferry on Wednesday. However, when we went to book we discovered that Wednesday is the one day in the week when there is no morning ferry! So poor Geneviève was lumbered with us for an extra day before we finally left her in peace on the Thursday morning.
Actually we spent a delightful couple of nights in Caen and, with the aid of Ian's beautiful photos, we can recall that the outstanding discovery of our last voyage to Normandy was our visit to the Chậteau de Brécy, a winding drive through deepest France along the lanes and backways of the countryside of Lower Normandy.
Brécy is a typical 17th century French château (1650-1675) and is a listed National Monument. It is a rare example for that period and is believed to have been designed by François Mansard. How such an impressive building and gardens came to be built hidden away in the countryside is something of a mystery.
It is set behind high walls with ornate railings pierced by an imposing stone gateway. While the château is in private hands and not open to the public, the owners have opened the terraced gardens behind the house to visitors for a couple of afternoons a week.
We visited on a warm, bright sunny afternoon when there were very few visitors. Indeed, most of the time we were the only ones around and it was easy to fantasise that we were the actual owners!
Intended to be viewed from the château there are four formal gardens of great charm rising in a terrace up to a huge iron gate at the top of the steps with only the sky visible beyond. Each garden reflects a different style and each is surrounded by stone steps and balustrades, formal ponds and statues. They are laid out with high stone walls and straight, paved pathways. There are knot gardens, formal sculptures, statues, archways and stone stairs linking the different gardens. There are arbours and seating where one can sit with the warmth reflecting from the high stone walls, sheltered amongst fruit bushes or flowering shrubs, looking down onto the façade of the château. The formal style of the gardens is an early example of the French mania for symmetry that later became the passion and hallmark of French classical garden design.
The formal garden style of knot gardens (known as "parterre de broderie"), statues, water features and stone balustrades is matched by the abundance of immaculately clipped, pruned, pollarded and contorted greenery. Not a leaf is misplaced and it must be an unending task to maintain. Nearby there is an agricultural college where students are taught Landscape gardening and design and we understand that the gardens at Brécy are used by the students as a training ground for perfecting the art of tree culture and care in the classical garden. (I think we should point this out to our friend with the 19th century château and secret garden near Bayeux. They may need a few extra trees to practise on and she has more than she can possibly maintain!)
Returning to Caen after a delightful afternoon we stopped at Fontaine-Henri to gaze at the magnificent château from the entrance gates. It was closed, as it usually is when we pass by. We have visited it several times in the past and it never fails to charm and impress.
