Tales from my Garden

This is Chateau de Montreuil-Bellay! (well, a part of it)

I am much more attracted to the exteriors and grounds of chateaus or castles and rarely go inside.

Here's a closer look at the same shot.

We were able to climb some of the towers and thoroughly enjoyed the narrow, circular staircases.

The grounds were diverse and stately,

dotted with ornaments, spectacular trees and lavender!

This one tree caught my eye.

How wonderful to have thought in advance that the petals of this climbing scarlet rose, planted on the outside of this small tower, would fall in through the open window to decorate the white steps.

So romantic...

Next, we climbed incredibly steep algae covered stairs to an elevated walkway that joined one section of the chateau to the other

...giving us a bird's eye view of the top of the chateau and the area around us.

The view from a different walkway.

This Chateau also produces its own premium wine which we were thrilled to be able to taste and purchase!