Bloomin' June !

Before I carry on with the Traveller's Tale, I just want to tell you about my second visit to these gardens .  I promised myself that I would try and go back at least once a year at different times to see the changes that take place with the seasons.  This year I really wanted to see the roses, and it didn't disappoint !

Roses of  every colour

 

and not just roses...

colourful borders.....

Lilies, poppies, peonies & camellias .....

and those hidden, secret places !  The black petunias were really stunning, and just look at the black arum lily in the centre of the planting !

Lastly, just take a really good look at this

I played about in Picasa so that you could see the fish more clearly - they were actually coming to the surface of the water with their mouths wide open !  Yes, the orange circles just above the words 'fish' are their mouths  - don't know if they were catching flying insects or gasping for breath as it was the hottest day we've had so far this year.  Whatever they were up to, they were all at it :-)

 

Signs of Spring ?

On the banks of a very muddy canal

Just the one

Small but perfect

Proof indeed that Spring is just around the corner !!

Episode 2......

........Jardins du Botrain.  I promised more photos of these delightful gardens, and these are just a few of those we took.

Not to keep stating the obvious, I'll let the photos speak for themselves, and then you can decided yourself if this is rather a special place or not !

As this post is, yet again,  getting photo heavy, I'll leave the lake until next time -  just one more and I'll see you soon -:)

Spring Sunshine

Actually, last week's  weather was more like Summer than Spring - cloudless blue skies and glorious sunshine, which was a lovely change to the grey skies we've had to endure for most of February.  Not being quite warm enough to brave a trip to the coast, where else  would we go but back to one of our favourite walks along the Brest to Nantes canal !

Josselin is one of the most picturesque towns in our area, and is only a 15 minute drive away from home .  No matter how many times we walk the canal bank around the town, the  dramatic setting of the chateau towering above the town and canal never fails to impress.

Weirs and locks

Walkers, cyclists and avenues of trees

There's even a small jump course for those wanting to place the odd bet or two !

Not quite Aintree, but lots of  fun on race day.

An afternoon out wouldn't be complete without seeing some flowers would it?

Finally let me show you one very brave cat

I certainly hope she's a good swimmer :-)

Sadly, our weather took a turn for the worse over the weekend and we are back to the cold, grey stuff, but fingers crossed that it doesn't stay too long.

Hidden Treasures

Since relocating to Brittany, we 've visited most of the Province, as well as many other parts of France, and Spain & Portugal - after all there isn't much point in living in this part of Europe without making the effort to see as much as we can of our surroundings! On our travels we've passed through so much lovely countryside it would be hard to pick a favourite area, but what is amazing is that we've failed to notice something practically on our doorstep!

Today is Ascension Thursday, a National Holiday here in France, everything is closed and the sun is shining so we decided to just take a little run out to get away from the building site our home has become lately !! Nothing too far away, just a little wander around the back roads to see what turned up, and maybe get a walk in en route .

What we found was this

Just minutes away from a main road that we 've used so often and only a 15 minutes from home, this lovely lake was nestling in a small valley , surrounded by magificent trees and we didn't know it was there!!

A line of oaks that must be very old given the girth of their trunks

Silver Birch & Copper Beech

fields of daisies......





...and bushes of Rhododendron

If you look closely at this next one , you may be able to see the bumble bee on the tip of the left hand blossom !!

There were just a couple of houses dotted around the area, but something to suit all tastes I think!

Tiny but perfectly formed and complete with its own bread oven - bet it's cosy on a winter's day - and who wouldn't be happy to live in this lakeside house !!!!

An unexpected, but thoroughly enjoyable afternoon !! Isn't it surprising what is hidden around those corners if we just take the time to make a little detour instead of rushing from A to B !!!

Changing Seasons

It must be some 6 weeks since we last walked on the Voie Vert,certainly it was well before we left for the UK and we've been back home a month ! These weeks seem to have rushed passed us in a blur of 'catch up' from our trip and trying to get the garden in some sort of order before the summer ! Yesterday , however, we decided that a little exercise was well overdue and in spite of it being a very grey, but dry, day off we went !


On our last visit, even though the day was bright enough, everything was still looking a bit bleak and very bare !

What a difference a few weeks makes !

Mother Nature has worked her magic yet again and turned the whole world into the most beautiful shades of green everywhere you look!!

You really have to keep looking very closely though because the magic doesn't stop with the treetops!!

An abundance of wild flowers on the banks, under trees and clinging to the rocky outcrops
turned our whole walk into a springtime wonderland! Even the river Yvel was no longer a raging torrent after the winter storms, but back to its normal sleepy self but getting more difficult to see through all the new growth!

Birdsong followed us all through our walk, the cheeky chirping of the chaffinch mixing with the crystal clear notes of the blackbird and to finish it off, we heard our first cuckoo !!

...and just to proove that it wasn't all in our imaginations, when we got home I even managed a (very poor!) snap of one of our first swallows! So not a lot of sunshine, but lots of brightness after all!!

Don't you just love the Spring !!!!!