Remarkable French Gardens: The Garden of the Priory of Notre Dame d'Orsan

[Music] hi I'm Stephanie and this is my home the sixteenth century château de la la-la land was owned for hundreds of years by a family of marquis who were at the heart of french royal life one of them even had the honour of being sent by King Louie the fifteenth to greet Marie Antoinette on her arrival in France but far from being a stuffy Museum this Chateau is a living home I live here all the time and I'm regularly joined by my mother my family my friends and wonderful volunteers from all over the world who helped me to lovingly restore this historic home welcome to Lalande a chateau filled with life love and laughter big day today for the first time in six weeks mummy is leaving the gates of the Chateau and we're going to get garden inspiration in a local garden that is one of the most beautiful in the world and it's just reopened this is it she's out and about the first time in weeks and weeks and weeks I love the fact you have lipstick on underneath that mark yes I dress myself up you look superb and you too also looks superb and you made an x mark this morning you're like a bandit Antoine really cool we have arrived at the most beautiful garden it's going to give us a lot of inspiration isn't it mummy wonderful absolutely wonderful the Priory of Nevada medicine was founded in 1107 by Robert of a Blee cell he was an a tenant preacher and hermit who founded the abbey of Fontan Ville in 1101 Fontan Paul went on to become so important that even King Richard the Lionheart is buried there Robert of a Blee cell died here at oxen and as his death approached all of the local Lords sent men to bring a piece of his body back to them because he was considered a saint his own lifetime and they wanted a part of his body as a relic as he heard the clamoring men outside he made the decision that his body would go to font of Hall for burial but that his heart would stay here at awesome and today wandering around the gardens you can see heart motifs everywhere that represent the heart of Hoeber of a Blee cell after his death this Priory became an important site of pilgrimage for over 500 years but like many monasteries in France it was sold off after the Revolution and became a farm and a near ruin it was saved in 1990 by the architect Patrice Taha Vella he created its magical garden inspired by medieval monastic gardens which opened to the public in 1994 over five years ago he explained that creating and maintaining a garden like this costs about a hundred and fifty thousand euros a year Patrice finally sold the Priory in 2017 to go on to a new project in Tuscany and everyone in the local area was so worried that this garden would be lost but it was bought by Gareth Casey and Cyril Pearson who've decided to maintain the garden and keep it open to the public everyone is so relieved and I am very happy to be here to support them with our entrance fees Gareth Casey is a fashion designer who created the brand Casey Casey specializing in hand dyed fabrics all made in France they have a timelessness inspired by French rural life so I can see why he was drawn to this place the Instagram account shows photos of their clothes and of these wonderful Gardens oh my goodness wow it's so beautiful [Applause] Maddy spotted one of Roberts hearts medieval inspired it's gorgeous it really is here we're in the portage here aren't we it makes me so wanting to put our stroll around the plants look at this mind is that high and as somebody said you see if you want made you've got to put it in squares the onions yes our onions are still tiny but it must have a lot of manual here which we do not have this extremely productive with your hedges yes mind yours is a walled garden it's rather protective this one I think you might be searching for excuses now mummy you're stretching a little that's what we need in our garden more Rosemarie that still needs beer is it it's the hops I wonder what they're going to grow at the foot of those very very tall canes this garden is entirely reserved for the planting of this sampler which were the medicinal herbs and plants that were grown in the medieval times especially in monasteries to heal people who came there as a hospital in a ninth century charlemagne you made a decree saying there were 88 different plant species that should be planted by people to look after their health and now all of that knowledge is lost I look at you I would have no idea what to turn to if I was feeling a bit cheeky what about you mummy whatever immortal oriental so maybe if we eat this we will become immortal and live in China oh I wonder what it is it's just sort of a type of cardoon Maddie is cartoon and this is maybe not that this we still use camel meat meat in France very much very much taken I remember in my childhood I would always be offered a cup of chamomile tea I can't no office well but I've known deep which part of the plant they used flowers root leaf no be wonderful to look all this up yes alchemy no so he's grown in everybody's garden practically because he's so lovely but why did the monks use it for a party they used it for mild diarrhea or swelling and isn't this absinthe behind you this looks very well we know exactly what the monks must have used the absinthe for and this is mallow DeMuth is the French name for marshmallow marshmallows were originally made from the SAP of this plant but in medieval times it was used to treat coughs and bronchitis plantain was used to treat skin conditions and insect bites throughout the garden there are windows looking into other parts of the garden just opens up vistas it's magical it's beautiful you feel as though you're in a secret garden or you're peering into another world well I am you know I need to address here yes we should have brought long dresses and a couple of little sheep to follow us around mmm-hmm now that is a gorgeous alleyway oh and I love this head this is what we planted around the chapel isn't it mummy yes you tease I love the fact that the leaves are striated yes it's so pretty they look frilly that the doing very good steak here yeah they look a little bit different haven't Aloysius took against ours didn't he yeah the next part of the garden is the apple orchard but I'm a little bit too ashamed to go considering the state of our orchard let's let's embrace this let's learn well now that is an orchard and they're still blossom they've managed to make every single tree the same shape but you know I just thought that was steak so I didn't notice oh wow it is trees well now that is an entrance arch yes it's heaven it's beautiful and then I shoot in the corner sir it's very much relieving orchard and it island at the moment in the vegetable garden we're working on exactly there's creating beautiful sight lines I love the fact that looking out of the orchard into the garden beyond you see a lovely fountain exactly in our line of sight and I want to make things like that throughout our vegetable garden it's just giving me so much inspiration this area is known as the promenade and it's next to the field I like this I like the sudden stop between the formal garden and the wild garden with this area to walk through we could do something like this and there's the field oh and I spot a couple of wood nymphs this would be wonderful against the wilder parts of the garden yes just a lovely alleyway like Jax we could make it so beautiful because beyond the wall of the orchard either oh I know we have so much luck at La Land with the land that we have but we're not making the most of it no it's like a maze through the grass loop this is a wonderful idea what are we going to find if we go through the maze of grass see someone lives here but who there's a little house I see movement in the grass mummy dead ahead the grass is so long who are you living in there I don't believe it yes I do believe it how did you get here it's the same as ours they didn't have these last time I visited well there you go mummy it's official the gardens of the peel here Dawson a copying legend have called pedo yeah well word was going to get out just do you have the best garden yes you are gorgeous they look very happy and from the field with the Sheep there is the prettiest view of the old Priory mummy it's time for us to go into the labyrinth let's go we want one don't we Nikolas really really wants a maze ok after you mummy you sure oh yes will we ever come out we're not making much headway mummy Oh mummy in Christian symbolism mazes represent the difficulty of attaining salvation which is why a lot of monasteries had them I think we've come to a spiritual dead end CiCi's where we reflect on the bad choices we have made yes I get back onto the right path yes well mummy if you stop to smell every plant we're never going to get to the center and as it is it doesn't look as though we're going to get to the center anytime soon we've got I can hear Matty I can even see Matty on occasion but can I get everything in this maze is edible so the walls are created with plums and then all of the spirals that you see are pears at the base well hello oh we can't get to each other we found you need to find the little Malian Antoine have told us the secrets of the maze so we think we'll be able to get to them mm-hmm straight straight this way straight the other way we'd be lost without them I feel like we're nearing them now mummy even though it feels as though we're getting farther away is it is it we've had each so vicious oh thank goodness salvation was proving very hard to find there are the two angels that we find in have been waiting for us it's so no getting out is a lot easier than getting in because antoine remembers the way thank you thank you Antoine for leading us well away from salvation according to the symbolism I think we're going to have to drop the symbolism it's getting confusing you well Antoine just led us away from salvation back to normal life no you carry your salvation in the normal life okay you take it with you we've brought our salvation with us to the next part of the garden which is another orchard or mummy like this that's what I want mummy yes popular choice this is the pear orchard so it's a square garden with a circle within the square and the lavender filling in the edges exactly I think we need this yes we need this I really want that we need to talk to you Monsieur nickel exactly and kick him into shape exactly a note when you're gonna help figuring the square and the cycle inside geometry will help in fact it could be seen as a homeschooling project I'm sure in medieval monasteries the monks would be buried in the orchard which might explain why they had such excellent fruit designed into cider this is the garden of money this is your garden this is I think my favorite so far look at the rosy [Laughter] because we're in an ancient Priory here there's a lot of religious symbolism in the design of the gardens and the garden of Maddy is of course celebrating the Virgin Mary the colors are all white yellows and pinks signifying her different virtues white roses for her purity pink roses for her gratitude and peace and yellow roses signifying her glory to come the roses are all ancient roses and the garden itself in its own garden room symbolizes the walled garden in the song of songs that's the rose that you brought back from England and that's planted at the back of the orchard yes have you found the name of it I've never known what it was there we go we now know what we had all this time what do you think of this one Antoine it's great well I accept this give me a bit of an idea because somebody recently sent a parcel for Antoine saying he could only open it on st. Anthony's day so why don't we have a couple of gardens one of which is Maddie's garden and one is a Sun tantony garden and in st. Antony's garden in the middle in a waterproof beautiful wicker basket you know what I mean but water proof we can put the lost-and-found of the Chateau that would be perfect in the middle of st. Anthony's garden you love something checks in tanta nice garden big box there's such a lot of socks a lot of odd socks I wonder what the next garden is it's hard to leave the roses oh no that's why it's sad because our dailies haven't even arrived yet exact course this is going to be splendid it's interesting to see this garden because we're about to make our cut flower garden and this is just a very very simple way of doing it and they've put squares the beds we could do squares if you wanted yes those dahlias and loop ends but goodness I don't know we're not daily as we look I know I don't know if there will be doing much this year well hopefully next year we have just stepped around the corner into heaven we're in heaven this is the vegetable garden the first vegetable garden we saw was just their decorative one this is the vegetable garden that they use for the restaurant that they have here when obviously that isn't locked down and also to preserve ancient species Oh mummy mummy it's heaven I can't imagine the hosts of being use I think that's more for beauty but look how beautiful even funds this is just the most gorgeous vegetable garden I can imagine compared with our rhubarb doggery Bob's more like this rhubarb yes don't worry Bob's a little bit bigger than this but mummy the aliens I love Ali amis and we've never had them look at those happy bees buzzing around the aliens they've got huge strawberries already we've only had the little wild ones so far their vast yes mummy that is just embarrassing our poor struggling artichoke we need this but look this is the same region of France if they can do it here at the same climb at the same soil we can do it at home we need manual yes we'll have an understanding with the farmer why don't you have a little understanding with the farmer mummy all of these is mints but all different type of men oh there's one which is mints grapefruit mint banana no means apple where's meant banana mint bananas over mint basilique yep banana mint well well and as a backdrop to at all the ancient Priory we live in one of the most beautiful parts of the world don't we filled with history and architecture and these gorgeous Gardens I feel very very lucky to be living in France right now bumblebees Maddy I think Antoine's been standing behind you at some point hasn't he we know who to blame you're fascinated by all this I wanted to do it for a few days I was more interested in the raised beds this is the raised bed garden and look at that wisteria starting in the background these are the beds where they plant the gourds all of the gourds get planted up here I'm not surprised Oh mommy we've got a lot of work to do I wonder how much Dan can do in his one or two days a week to catch up first we spend so much time looking at the garden that we forget how beautiful the building is like a fairy tale this is another example of those sight lines just one lovely structural thing at the end of a sight line makes such a difference and then if we look this way Oh imagine this all lit with hundreds of tiny bulbs at night and maybe tables and chairs for people to have an alfresco dinner if it was a lile and we could be having pizza from the ancient bread oven with lots of delicious rocket on top plucked from the garden at the last minute so with some herbs Oh mummy and think of the tomato sources from our Tomatoes the sky's the limit oh it's beautiful I just I mean this is Pisa she's wonderful and there is such a lovely mixture of shade and light yes in the garden this is the equivalent of our pergola this was a balcony it's overlooking the area where they plant the gourds and it is made of posts of chestnut and completely covered with vines and lovely beautiful lights and I feel that our pergola could be a little bit like this one day though slightly less rustic because obviously we're at a chateau and it's just off the main reception room so I'd like it to feel like a half way between the garden and the house but what I can take away from this is the idea of beautiful planting over the structure itself and also lots of tiny outdoor lights and I think big planters in between the sofas and chairs and tables with wonderful plants as well it's very inspirational coming here I just can't wait to carry on with our garden plans because I feel that we're starting at the beginning of a very exciting journey la la now what's happened you forgot his bottle in the room oh no right in the center of the labyrinth well it looks as though you have a quest you found the best spot on a warm day how is it possible that it's only May it is baking ly hot he's like August it does it absolutely does this is odd because we've just been through the most glorious garden but I think this is my favorite part the way the light is hitting the are Cheers with all the leaves I don't know I think there's something magical about this it's so simple I found a fountain that I want for the center of the world vegetable garden I found it because I wanted something that was a little more rustic than the marble fountain that we have which is waiting to go somewhere which doesn't seem right for the vegetable garden at the same time I wanted a pedestal with a statue of a gardener on top and I wasn't quite sure how to amalgamate those two things that I found it come have you found a fountain I found it behold our future fountain it's perfect for vegetable garden you can fill up a watering can at it and imagine if on that pedestal were a statue of a gardener absolutely perfect we've we found it yes the simplest solution there they are the lovely Landers in the middle of all of these vines of Shannon Berlin what a heaven I love that wall with windows in made out of just a hedge and a wildflower meadow in front well did you enjoy it mommy it is very inspirational yes I love it is it giving you ideas I have ideas but I would like a designer to share ideas with so that we don't turn so that everything flows everyone yes wonderful you have to wear masks in the shop so everyone's ready except for me could I have my mask mummy he gets in your pocket yes I have it thank you the wonder where they're from are beautiful well this is my favorite part of any outing bye-bye our son will certainly be back soon to see you develop over the seasons a huge thank you to all of our patrons at Leyland who are making this vlog possible especially on Marquis and Marquis of Lila and Alice Allen Daniela Dan banded and el-banna kovitch Jason and Valerie best veronica castillo laura Damari sakura dennis dotty anna farmerie caroline firsta Brenda Gibbons Brenda Harris Antony hindmarsh nor lke Adalind Pauline Johnston Jimmy Kemp Shannon Maitland JC Award Maureen Palmer Bettina rojak Barbara Schmelzer van Schreiber Patti sue who Sara Thornton Colleen Troya Brian Woodward and David Young and thank you to all of you [Music]

Channel: The Chateau Diaries

Views: 112,184

Keywords: chateau de lalande, chateau diaries, chateau life, chateaux in france, chatelaine, dream chateau, escape to the chateau, escape to the chateau diy, french castles, french country home, french country house, french country living, life in a chateau, living in a castle today, living in a chateau, living in a french chateau, stephanie chateau, stephanie jarvis, the chateau diaries, chateau, chateau renovation, diy, remarkable garden, monastery garden, priory, french gardens

Id: DTJ9fTiFz5U

Length: 27min 46sec (1666 seconds)

Published: Sun May 24 2020