3 days in the gardens of the Loire Valley

Centre-Val de Loire - Pays de la Loire/2023

A stroll through Touraine will give you an idea of its wealth of gardens. From the Middle Ages to the present day, the region has cultivated know-how and transformed the need for food into an art form dedicated to the pleasure of both the eye and the table.

3 days in the gardens of the Loire Valley

Why here, more than anywhere else? The "fault" lies in a combination of factors: a temperate climate, fertile soil nourished by alluvial deposits from the Cher and Loire rivers, and the river itself, a navigable waterway bringing wealth from elsewhere. Historical reasons too, since the banks of the Loire were at the heart of the Hundred Years' War between the English and the French. Medieval fortresses were gradually replaced by elegant Renaissance châteaux. Each king had his own, from Charles VII to Louis XIV, followed by a cohort of nobles and notables who also wanted their own. The monks' and Ronsard's kitchen garden The walk begins at the Prieuré de Saint-Cosme, known as Ronsard's last home. All that remains of the monastery and its medieval church are the monks' refectory and part of the walls. It's the landscaping, which was completely redone in 2015, that allows us to understand the uses of the place. The Priory's kitchen gardens are an eloquent tool for understanding the life of the monks. They grow the food and medicinal plants that were essential to them: wild chicory, rocambole onion, cardoon, artichoke, Job's tears (used to make rosaries)... "The organization of the garden and the plant palette were recreated based on the results of excavations and ancient writings," explains Vincent Guidault, manager of the Prieuré Saint-Cosme, "the Capitulaire De Villis, in which Charlemagne recommends the cultivation of around 100 plant species, then later the first treatises on cooking and of course the poetry of Pierre de Ronsard, in which we have identified 350 plants that are not simply cited but whose uses he knew. The Renaissance kitchen garden If there's one place that epitomizes the art of the Renaissance garden, it's Villandry. Thousands of visitors converge on the château for its gardens. Before being restored to their original appearance, the gardens were transformed into an English park in the 19th century. It was Joachim Carvallo who, after acquiring them in 1908, decided to restore their authenticity. The kitchen garden is the centerpiece, primarily decorative, comprising 9 squares with different motifs. Headed by Anthony Coué, the team of gardeners planted varieties chosen above all for their aesthetic qualities. "We play on the criteria of shape and color," explains the head gardener, "so that from the tower, the château or the various terraces, the geometric shapes are highlighted. For example, we play with three colors of eggplant: white, purple and striated, and from one year to the next we change the colors of the squares". Most of the vegetables will remain in the garden. If some are picked, it's primarily to lighten and embellish the squares, and they are made available to employees and visitors who are lucky enough to come on harvest days. For others, the opportunity to taste Villandry's vegetables is the Journées du Potager, held at the end of September, when you can meet the gardeners and leave with the fruits of their labor. Le potager conservatoire et collection Rivau, Valmer, La Bourdaisière...châteaux which also have one or more vegetable gardens to visit, but which have given themselves another mission, that of collecting rare species or as many varieties of the same species as possible. At Château du Rivau, a collection of 43 varieties of cucurbits is cultivated. Since 2000, Alix de Saint-Venant, a seasoned botanist and owner of Château de Valmer, has created a conservatory garden of old fruits and vegetables and Loire Valley grape varieties.At La Bourdaisière, tomatoes take pride of place, a passion of owner Louis Albert de Broglie. The walled kitchen garden, built in 1840 and protected from animals, proved to be the ideal place to grow tomatoes, even if this seemed incongruous in the region. In 1998, it officially became the Conservatoire National de la Tomate. "At the time, there were 400 varieties in the collection," says Nicolas Toutain, head gardener at La Bourdaisière. "Today, there are 700. But thousands of varieties are grown all over the world. Even those of limited gustatory interest have their place. Because they have genetic, historical or visual value. Today, while the collection is very well stocked, we're focusing more on original colors and shapes. The best tomatoes can be enjoyed from July to September in the château's restaurant or tomato bar. When tomatoes first arrived in Europe in the 17th century, they were considered poisonous ornamental plants.