Tuesday, April 23, 2013

Meanwhile...Back at the Chateau


We just finished our second immersion weekend of French at the Normandy chateau. The weather was great! Flowers were blooming! And I did much better with my French!

It violates an Alaskan's weather-sense to sit inside learning French when the sun is shining. My husband made a request that we do some excursions and although we may have learned a little less French...we learned much more about our surroundings. My favorite site was a small but gorgeous public garden in Avranches.


This is a bulb...but I have never seen this plant before...very pretty. If you know the name of this flower please tell me.


There was a circular flower bed of massive daffodils...with poppies getting ready to open.


White daffodils!!! I wish  I could naturalize daffodils like this in Alaska but it just doesn't work.


Huge areas planted with heather.


This is a hillside with many varieties of azaleas on the verge of blooming.


And at the entrance, a giant Sequoia brought from California and planted in 1853.


More photos of the town tomorrow...

5 comments:

Donna quilts said...

As I await another day of snow flurries here in northern Alberta, it was good to see your photos of sunshine and spring flowers! I think that beautiful flower might be a Fritillaria.

Sarah said...

The gardens are so pretty! I kind of wish our trip to Paris was a little bit later in April so we could have enjoyed the gardens a bit more. While we were in Paris, there were only a handful of bulbs flowering and they were all typical ones that we would see here in the states.

Cathy said...

Oh wow!! Those flowers are gorgeous!! All we have blooming here so far are a few crocuses.I'm glad to hear the french is getting better. How are you going to keep in practice when you are back in Alaska?

Lynette said...

So pretty! Oh, you're lucky. :D

NancyA said...

Yes, I think it is a fritillaria, too. Actually, to be technical--Fritillaria imperialis (Crown imperial or Kaiser's crown) This grows from a bulb and has a strong odor that keeps animals from nibbling on it. Unfortunately, I think it is a zone 5 plant, so wouldn't do well in your area of Alaska.