The Gardens of La Petite Rochelle, Rémalard
The gardens of La Petite Rochelle at Rémalard have just re-opened for the first time this year and we took advantage of an empty house on Easter Monday to pay a visit – after we had cleaned and changed the rooms and after the guests had left that morning. Well, everyone deserves a break once in a while!
So shortly after lunch, armed with a thermos of coffee and a bag of cookies and chocolates, we wound our way by a scenic back route to Rémalard, arriving at la Petite Rochelle just before it opened on Monday afternoon.
Over the winter the owners have started work (still in progress) on two new garden areas – one an open “prairie” area with a circular pergola and climbers in the centre, looking onto open countryside; the other a new formal garden with an interestingly shaped pond and gazebo. Both of these are still works in progress, so it will be interesting to see how they develop, assuming we get a chance to revisit as we hope to do later in the 2012 season.
On the way back we made a detour to explore the “Circuit des Manoirs et Traditions” of the Perche, part of which we had not been around before – it was very pretty and the roads were deserted, just as we like them 🙂
During the rest of this year this charming garden will be open 2 to 7pm on the following dates:
12 and 13 May 2012
23 and 24 June 2012
In the summer La Petite Rochelle gardens will be open every afternoon, 7 days a week, from 14 July to 16 August 2012.
I do wish we had time to go a-visiting! There are so many ‘hidden’ gems out there.
You should become a gentleman of leisure, like me, Stu – all I do is sup wine on the terrace and make the occasional sightseeing foray. 🙂
I’ve noticed your gentleman-of-leisure-like ways, Phil! 😉
You should have stopped for tea!
I did think of you as we went through Rémalard 😉 We came in from direction of Bellême and left along the road to Boissy-Maugis (sp?).