THE ARDECHE IN FRANCE (3)

by gwenniesgardenworld, posted in history, nature, travelling

The village in the Ardeche where we spent our holidays last month was called Vals-les-Bains, it has only about 3500 inhabitants but it was once very famous for their water that has good influence on your health and the spa’s they had, it was like the spa’s we have now, only less modern. They once were visited by the rich and famous, we were told even King Louis the 14th came to Vals with a horse and carriage to improve his health, today they just have normal tourists from all over the globe.

They have an old natural source in the middle of a park that is spraying every 6 hours. We went to see it one day and it was quite fun, we were all waiting for the water to start spraying, lots of people got wet ofcourse as they came too close to the spray.

AND SO IT BEGINS
AND IT GROWS
AND GROWS
AND IT GROWS UP TO 6 METERS HIGH, SOMETIMES EVEN TO 8 METERS HIGH

If you know it started spraying for the first time about 200 hundred years ago I think it is quite amazing.

Have a fun week and thanks for stopping by.

THE ARDECHE IN FRANCE (2)

by gwenniesgardenworld, posted in Autumn, climber, flowers, travelling

Today is about the houses and flowers. Most people there have flowers on their balcony’s or near the front door, as we were there in September many of them looked a bit tatty cos of the drought and the ban to use water. But nevertheless the houses still looked stunning.

Hanging geraniums are quite drought resistant.

VERY OLD ROOF TILES MADE OF BASALT THAT FORMED WITH VULCANIC ERUPTIONS ABOUT 8 MILLION YEARS AGO
THESE ARE THE MODERN DAY TILES THEY USE FOR NEW HOMES
VIEW ON AUBENAS
FIRST SIGNS OF AUTUMN, PARTHENOCISSUS OR RED IVY, THE PLANT TURNS BRIGHT RED IN AUTUMN.
PRETTY AS A PICTURE, THOSE FLOWERS COMBINED WITH THE PINK WALL.
THE BRIDGE OVER THE RIVER CALLED THE ARDECHE.

THE SWIMMINGPOOL OF OUR B&
THESE LITTLE LIZARD WAS EVERYWHERE ON THE WALLS
LOVED THIS HOUSE WITH THE PINK WALLS

THE ROSES WERE GONE OFCOURSE BUT THEY LEFT A LOT OF BOTTLES FOR THE BIRDS

HAVE A GREAT WEEKEND !!

THE ARDECHE IN FRANCE (1)

by gwenniesgardenworld, posted in drought, nature, travelling

Last week we returned from our holiday in France, this year we visited the Ardeche, known for the many rocks, a popular holiday destination in Summer and full of French charm.

The Ardeche is situated in the South-West of France, a 1000 kilometer travel for us.

THIS IS A TYPICAL VIEW FOR THE ARDECHE

Normally there is enough water for canoeing but as the whole of Europe is suffering a lot from drought canoeing is not an option at the moment.

THESE MOUNTAINS ARE MADE BY VULCANIC ERUPTIONS ABOUT 8 MILLION YEARS AGO
MOST HOUSES ARE MADE BY THESE ROCKS TOO
I JUST LOVED THIS LITTLE TERRACE WITH A ROOF OF A GRAPEVINE
DARK GREEN TALL CYPRESSES. LOVE THEM !!
WATER AND ROCKS
AND MORE WATER AND ROCKS


We stayed in a lovely B&B as we always do when we visit France. I’ll show you more pictures of France in my next blog.

Have a great week !

WHAT IS STILL BLOOMING IN MY GARDEN TODAY

by gwenniesgardenworld, posted in Autumn, drought, flowers, garden, gardening

It definitely is Autumn now, cos of the drought it is early this year. But there still is a lot in bloom right now although you can see the flowers are a bit tired and the leafs are getting brown and yellow here and there. On top of it they had to go without my tlc while I was on holiday in France.

IT’S SEDUM SPECABILE TIME NOW AND I HAVE LOTS OF THEM


FUCHSIA MAGELLANICA BLOOMS FOR ABOUT 6 MONTHS

PASSIFLORA CAERULEA
THE ASTERS ARE JUST BEGINNING TO BLOOM
DAHLIA WILL BLOOM TILL THE FROSTS COME
BEGONIA’S STILL DOING REALLY WELL
TAGETES (marigolds)
ROSA GUIRLANDE D’AMOUR IS STILL GETTING NEW BUDS AND ALL

MY FUCHSIA’S IN POTS ARE ALL STILL IN BLOOM
ROSA SEAGULL

On the other hand some plants look tatty, like the ferns, the Amelanchier tree(shadbush or june berry), the lavenders…. But hey, I am not complaining !

I hope you are all well and happy, wherever you are.