Hello,
I haven't posted over here, but I was curious to ask a couple of questions about public gardens in England and France. I am going to be travelling with a choir from Washington on a concert tour in July, and would like to know about gardens to visit while there. I have been to England and France several times, but have not had time to visit many gardens. Only Hidcote Manor, another Manor garden near Oxford, and private gardens in and around Walllingford and Canterbury.
Our trip begins in London on July 13 for a few days, then we head to Bath, Bristol, Cotswolds, York, Cambridge, then Paris via the Chunnel. We will have some time to ourselves when we're not performing and rehearsing, so I thought visiting gardens would be a nice diversion. Are there public gardens to tour in any of these areas that would be worth a side trip?
I find it is always better to ask people who live in a particular location for a recommendation than to rely upon tourist publications or articles. Thank you for any suggestions or comments!
Visiting England and France in July
This is a site for the National Garden scheme http://www.ngs.org.uk/ They organise for gardens (both public and private) to open in aid of various charities and some of the private gardens are as good as if not sometimes better than the public if somewhat smaller, some gardeners group together and have several gardens open in a village or street at one time which makes it even more worth while. These are all over the country and list the open days on the site.
That is a wonderful site! Thank you for that resource. I also liked the link to www.streetmap.co.uk to assist in finding the locations of the gardens that are open!
I'd certainly agree with Baa about the National Gardens Scheme.
If you have a chance to get down to Surrey, the RHS Wisley Gardens are a must, in my view - see:
http://www.rhs.org.uk/WhatsOn/gardens/Wisley/index.asp
Also have a look at the "Garden Finder" link on that page for some more ideas on gardens to visit anywhere in the country.
Thanks Mike. The RHS gardens look lovely, and Wisley should be quite close. What an incredible glasshouse project they've undertaken. When finished, it will be quite impressive. I only wish I could have adjusted my travel dates to encompass the Hampton Court Show. I've always wanted to see the Chelsea Flower Show as well, but have missed it on every visit due to our school year here.
Many thanks for the great recommendations!
How about the garden of Monet at Giverny...
http://giverny.org/giverny/index.htm It is not so far (75 km) from Paris and it 's maybe on your way..
I 'll look if I can advice more in France...I 'm in a hurry now.
I had wondered about Giverny, and possibly I can convince some in our group to take a detour with me! Thanks for the link. There is a scheduled trip to Versailles since we have a concert at Chartres Cathedral, and I understand it is near or on the way. The following day is free, so that might be my opportunity to see Giverny. I have visited Versailles twice before, and would rather go to Giverny.
Paris also has several interesting gardens..Wow...this must be a great trip for you...giving a concert in Chartres Cathedral..such wonderfull experience..I 'm jealous..I hope you 'll post your experiences and maybe pics..Please enjoy and have a good trip !
I am very excited for the trip. Thank you, Saya. Can you tell me of some of the gardens to visit in Paris? I will have some time while there.
I think the trip will be the chance of a lifetime, musically speaking. We sing at Notre Dame on a Sunday, performing part of the mass, as well as the performance at Chartres.
In England, we are also part of the Cambridge Summer Music Festival which is a particular honor. I will post photos when I come home late July. Thanks for the good wishes!
Hi, I hope you 'll get my message in time because I 've had big problems with my server...
I would choose Jardin des Tuileries that has two illustrious buildings - the Orangery and the Musée du Jeu de Paume. In the Orangery you can see the famous "Nympheas", the paintings of Monet's waterlillies. In the 16th arrondisement you'll see Jardin des Serres d'Auteuil that has several beautifull glasshouses with exotic plants and succulents. In this arrondisement there 's also Parc De Bagatelle that has a very nice and important collection of roses and Jardin Shakespeare. . Parc de Bercy in 12th arrondissement is more unknown but very interesting too. Parc Georges Brassens in 15th arrondisement also is more unknown and has several little gardens like a scented garden for blind people..the tags of the plants are written in Braille. In the same arrondisement you'll find Parc Andre Citroen ...a very modern parc made by the landscape architects Alain Provost and Gilles Clement.
Of course Le Jardin des Plantes and Jardin du Luxembourg are interesting. Aaaah...Paris !
Edited: Wish I could be there to hear you sing ! What are you singing (repertoire) ?
This message was edited Jul 8, 2005 10:45 AM
Hello Saya,
I have printed out your suggestions and they are going with me! Thanks so much for the tips. I love L'Orangerie, and have spent several hours there enjoying the paintings in their natural light setting (I'm sure the artists would be thrilled to see their works displayed this way). The Musee Du Jeu de Paume has always been closed when I have visited, so I have never seen it. Hopefully this time there will be the opportunity. The gardens sound very intriguing, and I will map out where they are and be sure to bring a camera!
Our choir has been rehearsing several hours this week. We have our final rehearsal tonight, 7-10PM, then our Bon Voyage Concert on Saturday night. The repertoire is:
Laudate Nomen, Carlyle Sharpe (with organ)
Ave Maria, Michael Dailey
Lux Aeterna, Morten Lauridsen (with organ)
Mass in G Minor, R.Vaughn Williams (Movements to be sung at Notre Dame for Mass)
I Thank You God, Gwyneth Walker
Due North, Stephen Chatman
There Will Be Rest, Frank Ticheli
Five Hebrew Love Songs, Eric Whitacre (with piano and solo violin)
Three American Folk Songs, Dr. Richard Nance (our director)
Batter My Heart, Three Personed God, Dr. Richard Nance
The Battle of Jericho, I Want Jesus To Walk With Me, by Moses Hogan
Psalm 122, David Dahl
I'll post photos when I get back. Thanks so much for your great ideas!
What a wonderfull outstanding repertoire you 'll sing..all from young (relative) American composers..Thanks for letting me know this. I 'm looking forward to your photos. Have a good trip and a great time in UK and France !
How did things go galega??
I hope you enjoyed your trip and visited all the places you wanted to.
Any photos/news of your adventure please?
HI Philomel,
I tried to post a few photos the other night, but somehow my computer had other ideas! I will try again.
My husband has most of the good photos on his camera, so I will get his photo card when he gets home. I can tell you it was the trip of a lifetime, and I will never forget singing for Sunday Mass at Notre Dame. So many great adventures and a couple of gardens as well, though I wish we had had time to see more.
Here is one photo of a garden walk at Windsor:
WOW that's an amazing photo! I love the composition from such an unusual angle!
So glad it was a good trip. Notre Dame must have been a breathtaking experience
Looking forward to seeing and hearing more
OK - Here goes with the garden shots, and I'll add a few others too. The first is a lavender farm in the Cotswolds. A beautiful place filled with every variety of lavender. My favorites are Munstead and Hidcote, and I grow these at home, though my soil and growing conditions are slightly different than this place which smells like heaven on earth. I think it's called Snow Hill, but I could be wrong.
Here's the Labyrynth outside Chartres Cathedral. I didn't get a photo of the one on the floor inside the cathedral, but I did walk the entire length of it along with many other people that day. Quite a moving experience. Oddly enough, there were many hundreds of tiny spiders floating through the air inside of the cathedral. It was only a problem when we began singing our concert and couldn't reach up to brush them off of our faces during the performance!
Here's a small garden area outside of Chartres with lots of snapdragons, hollyhocks and roses.
A small avenue of pollarded trees
Here is one view of the ruins of Coventry Cathedral from the outside.
Our rehearsal in Queen's College Chapel for our concert at the Cambridge Summer Music Festival.
Look at these hanging planters in Cambridge. I have enough trouble keeping both of mine watered, and they never look this good. This is a pub near the center of town that used to be a coach house. The food was OK, but I don't recommend the curry. Stick with the ploughman's lunch and a pint of one of their cask ales.
Here's a fountain inside Westminster Abbey in London.
Here's a view of the river in Bath. Just adjacent to this area is a public park with some nice gardens, but they were very crowded, so we opted to walk around the city instead. I do recommend the tour of the Roman Baths and pump room, though we didn't go this time. It's fascinating, and a real step back in history.
Lovely photos galega! You must have had an amazing experience!
Well, those are some of the highlights, all except for Notre Dame. Photographs were not allowed in the area where we were singing, so I will just have to rely upon my memory. At our rehearsal last Monday night, one of our members told us he had recently heard a radio program in which a woman was telling of being in Paris in July. She had happened by Notre Dame on a Sunday, and was so moved by the Vaughn Williams Mass in G Minor she heard being performed and was describing the experience for the listeners.
Unless another American choir visited and performed the G Minor Mass on a Sunday in July, she was describing our performance in Notre Dame. Everything comes full circle!
Thanks for looking at my photos.
Thanks Northerner, it was an incredible trip. We also sang in York Minster and St Olaves in York, but I didn't post the photos since they were not very good. Are you very far from York? I'm guessing Middlesbrough is in the Midlands, is that right?
Hello galega! Middlesbrough is in the north of England, in what used to be the North Riding of Yorkshire. Not too far from York really. Sadly there is now no bus service from Middlesbrough to York, but I can get there by train (dearer) if I want a day out. Was last there about four years ago. It's a very fine city. Singing in the Minster must have been an incredible experience.
Northerner, you are from a beautiful area! I 've taken the train north from York to Edinburgh a few times, and have enjoyed seeing the countryside along the way. Everything is so nice and green and lush looking. Too bad I didn't get up there this time around.
My son enjoyed walking around on the wall of York, and my husband went on a little pub jaunt while I was rehearsing. Luckily, I did get time to shop afterward in some of those wonderful china and antique places. I confess I have a weakness for Spode.
Hi galega!
Well, Middlesbrough itself is just a dirty grimy rundown industrial town. But only a few miles away are the routes to some of the loveliest scenery in England. To the south of Middlesbrough are the North York Moors. I don't think your route would have taken you there, which is a shame. It's the area that was publicised by the writer James Herriot, creator of "All Creatures Great and Small". I publish details of my jaunts, strolls through the Moors, regularly. Though I admit I've not posted many during the apst few months as I've been doing other things. Regular comers to this forum are used to seeing accounts of my jaunts, and sometimes I post photos too.
Yes, the north of England is beautiful.
This is an old thread that I posted quite a while ago. There's a few photos on it. I don't seem to have been uploading photos for a while.
http://davesgarden.com/forums/t/414231/
And here's a link to an online album I created about a couple of years ago.
http://community.webshots.com/user/northerner4me
Oh what wonderful photos galega!! Thanks for showing us, you must have had a fantastic time and visited so much.
My brother lives in Cambridge :)
Hi Northerner, Thanks for those links. You do have an eye for photography - many very nice compositions! I did enjoy seeing more of your town, and I regret never having spent time in the nearby North York Moors - it's beautiful.
Thanks Philomel. It was a wonderful time, and now we are back at rehearsing again. This time, Orff's Carmina Burana, which we will perform in November.
With your brother in Cambridge, do you visit him often? I love walking along the river, but I did find it somewhat frustrating that there are many brick walls and hedges on the way that prevent one's passage through the backs of the colleges without a lot of trouble. Otherwise it's a wonderful historical town rich in traditions. Clare College Gardens are incredible, but I didn't have my camera that day.
Yes, I've visited my brother a fair bit in Cambridge - a very nice city. They live within walking distance of the centre and we go over the river and past Magdalene College. Very pleasant.
I try to go round the backs out of season. The Botanical Gardens have a lovely winter garden within them.
Good luck with your next concerts :)