Chaumont

The chateau at Chaumont was 'interesting', but probably more attractive viewed from the outside. The inside sections on display could be divided into 3 kinds. The ancient bits furnished with tapestries, four poster beds and the like; the almost derelict attics which had clearly been the home for servants and now contained lots of odds and ends not exactly displayed but more dumped in the rooms; and the last section we saw, which was in many ways the most interesting. These were the apartments that had been most recently lived in, until sometime early in 20th century, where they were radiators, double glazing etc.

It seems Chaumont has a garden exhibition each year, in which different gardeners, organisations, or artists, design a garden based on a theme. In some ways it was not unlike the Tatton Park show we'd seen earlier this year, but the Chaumont exhibition lasts from April to October so it would perhaps be interesting to see how the gardens developed over the seasons. This year's theme was something to do with ecology / sustainablity. The labels in the one featured above all relate to plants in danger or actually extinct.

I think this one was my favourite, and was something to do with recycling.

A fairly normal looking garden with a mediterranean theme I think.

Can't remember what this one was about but it's fairly typical of the art installation rather than gardening focus of much of them.

This one had something to do with the view of the earth from underground. You can see the earth from those little 'windows' in the top left of the photo.

I quite like the view of the chateau from the gardens. I don't think I'm doing this subject justice so I hope John comes back later and shows some of his photos.