Salignac Things to Do

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Well, our last stop in the garden is nice, I wonder what is through the Archway?

And so we walk through, and find another two buildings in the same stone. One, is a small Cottage, rather quaint, and the other looks to be a Barn with living Quarter's. On the pamphlet, it says they are the Service Quarters.

Time to head back now, so we walk up the right hand side of the garden, finding Bird cages and a Lover's room on the way. I can't tell you if the "lover's room" was open or not!

Checking out the other side of the footpath, and I find a lovely long pond, surrounded by trimmed hedges, with many pots along the edge. A pity the water was green! It still was nice though, and it is called the "Alley of Madonna."

Walking a little further up the hill, I found what looked to be a room and another small pond. On reading the notice, I found it was the old Washroom! An open air one at that! How things have changed!

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Continuing on after my rest in the Outdoor room, I am now entering where the Artaban Manor and the small Romanesque Chapel is located.
The old, double storied house, built in a golden coloured stone, with a white Rose and the entrance, surrounded by stone built wall that was covered in ivy, well, it was a lovely setting!
Across the courtyard, was the Chapel, and I was able to go inside. It was pretty plain, but that was to be expected! A nice part of the garden!

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So, we have paid our entrance fee, and paid a visit to the Toilet, so now we are beginning our walk.

First, we pass some Horse's Heads sitting on post's by the large oval lawned area, and then head into the Chinese garden and Maze. Nice!.... and some garden seats hidden in the Maze, guess that is incase you get lost, or want time alone!

On the other side of the path, is the Hornbeam Alley, an area of lawn, with shrubs and trees pruned into various shapes. There is NO WALKING allowed on the lawn.
Following the steps, we head down the hill, passing by some nice alcoves, and then into the Large Outdoor room. What a nice spot for a rest, so I took the opportunity to sit on one of their garden seats for a while.

Well, I can't sit there for ever, so time to move on and see some more of this garden!

I head out through the pretty neo-gothic arcades and into another part of the garden..

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These gardens are known as one of the "MOST BEAUTIFUL IN FRANCE."

As I enjoy seeing different gardens around the World, and this one looked pretty good on their website, a visit was a must!

We went to Salignac, and drove to the Gardens from here. I did take us a little while to find the sign post, not the easiest to see!
Along a country road we went, enjoying the sights of good farmland and field's of red Poppies.
We kept on wondering if we were on the correct road, and as it turned out, we were.
The Garden is located at the end of a '"no through road."

There was a huge Car park, so parking wasn't a problem, and we noticed picnic tables scattered about under the Tree's, that was good, as we had brought our Thermos with us for morning tea, which ended up Lunch!

Walking into the entrance area, we noticed straight away how well kept it was, the Lawn's were dark green and lush, there was a nice looking Restaurant, a Rotunda to sit and enjoy the far reaching view, plus the Entrance/Gift shop. All of these can be accessed without going into the gardens.

It wasn't the cheapest, prices being in 2011........
ADMISSION.....Adults 10.50 euro's. (*With your ticket, 2€ discount for 1 meal at the restaurant) Children under 6 FREE
Children from 6 to 12 years 4.50 euro
Teenager from 13 to 18 years 6.80 euro
Winter ...........Adult..........from November 15th to end of February 9.50 euros

OPENING HOURS..........................
The gardens are open Every Day Whole Year Without exception.

1st January to 31st March : from 10.30 to 12.30 and from 2.30PM to dusk.
1st to 30th April : open all day from 10.00 to 7PM
1st May to 30th September : open all day from 09.30 to 7PM
1st to 31st October : from 10 to dusk.
1st November to 31st December : from 10.30 to 12.30 and from 2.30PM to dusk.

On admission, we were given a map of the garden by a couple of lovely people, and we were about to begin our walk.........