Andrea, here. Sharon & Bill asked us to help describe our adventures in France. We had such a nice time. I’m very glad we chose the Loire valley as our destination. In all, we visited four chateaux in two days. 
The castle and gardens at Villandry were our first stop. Having bought our tickets at the tourist office, (per their suggestion) we chose to skip the chateau and focus on the gardens. Words don’t really do the gardens justice, (I don’t think the pictures do either), 
however I will say that I felt June was the perfect time of year to see them. The roses were in bloom and everything was quite lovely. We thoroughly enjoyed the views, especially from the New Belvedere, in spite of a little rain shower that passed through.
There are fours types of gardens at Villandry: the Ornamental gardens, the Water garden, the Herb garden and the Kitchen gardens. Kevin’s favorite were the “Gardens of Love”, pictured here on the right. The heart-shaped bush patterns all represent different degrees of love. You’ll have to ask him for details 
about the garden of “Fickle Love”. By far, these were the most extravagant gardens I’ve seen. I’m glad Villandry made the cut. It was well worth the trip.
