The blaze of colour-fresh, bright, luminous-literally blooms with a vengeance. I instantly realised I’d come to the right place at the right time. For this was truly a special place.
By Inder Raj Ahluwalia
Built in 1536 by Jean le Breton, Francois the Ist’s Minister of Finance, on the site of a razed medieval fortress, Chateau de Villandry has a unique claim to fame. Arguably, among France’s most beautiful gardens!
A flashback…! In 1754, the Marquis de Castellane took possession of the chateau and remodelled it according to 18th Century comfort standards. In 1906, it was purchased by Dr. Joachim Carvallo, who created French-style gardens that were in harmony with the chateau’s architecture.
I’d arrived in the morning, with the sun’s rays lighting up everything. Confronting me were arcaded galleries, mullioned windows flanked by richly ornate pilasters, dormer windows with sculpted gables, and steeply sloping slate roofs of imposing amplitude, together framing a ‘cour d’ honneur’ with proportions of rare elegance. Each room offers a different view of the site.
In charge of things, was Joachim Carvallo’s great grandson, Henri Carvallo, an engineer by profession, who had concentrated on keeping the property beautiful. 350,000 annual visitors, with equal numbers of French and foreigners, indicated he was doing a good job.
A personal guided tour of the premises by Henry unfolded its history. Traversing several generations, one by one, we saw all sections of the building. From ‘The Hall’ with its view of the vegetable garden and church of Villandry, to the ‘Model Room’ that shows the gardens’ layout, namely the vegetable garden, ornamental garden, and water garden. Also housed here are photographs that show the chateau’s architectural evolution, from Medieval times to the present. Next was ‘The Salon’, Villandry’s reception room, with XV111th Century furniture.
Located in the tower, ‘The Study’ was Dr Carvallo’s workplace. Then there’s ‘The Dining Room’ – listed in 1934. Designed by the Marquis de Castellane according to 18th Century tastes, it features Louis XV style panelling, marble floors, and bay windows overlooking the ornamental gardens.
Henri paused at the tufa ‘Main Staircase’ built by Michel-Ange de Castellane-also listed in 1934. Well, it was worth a pause. Five large bedrooms constitute the first floor’s west wing. And then we were in ‘The Kitchen’ which with its large terra cota floor tiles, imposing chimney, stone walls, and array of cooking utensils, is the chateau’s only rustic room.
Built in the memory of Napoleon Bonaparte’s younger brother, Jerome, ‘Prince Jerome’s Room’ features Empire style furnishings, mahogany furniture, watered silks, and views of the ornamental gardens. From the ‘Vegetable Garden Room’ with its wood essences that blend to form a beautiful cameo of brown tones, we got a new panorama of the vegetable garden. Paintings by Miclcendeau of Carvallo’s children adorn the walls of the ‘Moat Room’ that belonged to his wife, Ann Coleman.
‘The Gallery’ displays Carvallo’s collection of Spanish paintings. And then there is the (mudejar style) ‘Arabic Ceiling’, one of four from the palace of the Ducs de Maqueda, and brought by Carvallo to Villandry in 3,600 pieces, which blends decorative elements from Christian and Moorish arts.
We ended up in ‘The Keep’, the oldest part of the chateau, and the only surviving part of the original fortress, and the site of the Colombiers Peace Treaty in 1189, between Henry 11 Plantagenet, King of England, and Philippe Auguste, King of France. Hauling ourselves up several winding steps, we reached the tower. Below us was a beautiful panorama of the entire garden and valley where the Cher and Loire rivers flow parallel to each other for fifteen kilometers, a landscape included in UNESCO’s World Heritage List.
The chateau done, we entered the famed gardens.
The first four squares of the Ornamental Gardens represent an allegory of the ‘Gardens of Love’. ‘Tender Love’ is symbolised by hearts separated by love flames, and domino masks worn at balls. ‘Passionate Love’ shows the same hearts, this time broken by passion. The box hedges are criss-crossed and form a maze. ‘Fickle Love’ features four fans that symbolise the volatile nature of feelings, and also the horns of the jilted lover. The dominant colour is yellow, the colour of jilted love. ‘Tragic Love’s design represents the daggers and swords used in lovers’ duels. In summer, the flowers are red to symbolise the spilt blood. There are also the ‘Maltese Cross’, the ‘Languedoc Cross’, the ‘Basque Cross’, and the stylised ‘fleurs de lys’.
Located on the other side of the canal is the second box garden which symbolises music, with large triangles representing lyres, candelabras, and harps.
Designed in the Classical spirit, and centred around a lake in the shape of a Louis XV mirror with a cloister of greenery, is the restful Water Garden. Between the Kitchen Garden and the Church, is the Herb Garden, with thirty varieties of aromatic, medicinal and cooking herbs.
Between the chateau and the village is the Renaissance Kitchen Garden, created in the Middle Ages, when the Monks in their Abbeys liked to grow their vegetables in geometrical patterns. Featured are nine equal size squares with different geometrical patterns, planted with contrasting coloured vegetables, notably, the blue of the leek, the red of the cabbage, and the jade of the carrot tops, which makes it resemble a multi-coloured checker-board. Several crosses and roses are indicative of monastic origins. The second influence came from Italy and inspired the ornamental features, namely, the fountains, bowers and flower-beds.
The tour was over. It was two hours well spent gazing at former French aristocracy.
“That’s about it”. Henri smiled as he saw us off…
Fact File (In a box)
- Villandry is an hour’s drive from Tour, which is an hour by train from Paris. In Tour, one can rent a car or join a conducted tour.
- A slide show with sound illustrates the gardens’ evolution through the four seasons. Brochures are also available.
- Normally it takes an hour to see the gardens and two hours to see everything. A half day stop is recommended, including a visit to the in-house shop, and lunch.
