Monet`s House and Garden

It is mid way through the week and only one more working day to go! Last week Alessio and I were in Belgium and I have not put the photos on the lap top yet so will have to wait a bit. Instead we will go back to the end of May and a trip to Paris.

Alessio and I visited Monet`s House and Garden in Giverny, it is not too far from Paris and we went with to the train. The gardens are quite far from the train station but there are shuttle buses to take or you could walk. I bought the tickets online and that helped with the lines to get in, which was just as well as it was a hot day.

As you can imagine and hopefully see from the photos that the garden was pretty amazing. So many lovely flowers and very colourful We wondered around the gardens for a bit and then queued to get into the house itself. It is such a beautiful house and you could imagine looking out of the windows and feeling inspired to paint. The rooms were just delightful and there were some of his paintings hanging too.

We then walked to the other side to see where he painted the famous water Water Lillies painting. The pond, the water lillies, the famous bridge and  trees were all really beautiful and it was packed with people taking lots and lots of photos.

I was really pleased that I have visited here as it had been on my bucket list for a while. It cost 10.20 euros for an adult and children over 7yrs cost 7.20 euros. You can also book a tour which makes it easier getting into the place, but definitely get your tickets online as it does make a difference.

Have a good rest of the week!!

China Gardens Zurich

The Chinagardens in Zurich is situated near the lake at Zurichhorn, easily reachable by tram numbers 2 and 4.

The gardens were a present from the Chinese partner city of Kunming, it is regarded as one of the more impressive gardens outside of China. The gardens opened in 1994 with the theme Three Friends of Winter, it was given in thanks for the help with the technical and scientific assistance in the development of the city drinking water supply and drainage in Kunming.

I went there at the beginning of August as a trip with the children from work, it did not take very long as the kids were inevitably bored! It was very peaceful and a place to reflex in quietness. The children were in fact very good and hardly made any noise, but we did not stay that long. It is not that big so it doesn`t take that long to look around, there is a small palace with two rooms and some furniture.

Once it enough to visit, this was my third and more than likely my last visit! If you have not seen these lovely gardens I would recommend to see at least once!

Kew Gardens

One of the highlights of our trip to London was visiting Kew Gardens, it is the world`s largest collection of living plants plus it is a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

There was lots to see and do, we mainly walked through the gardens looking at the colourful flowers, interesting plants and lovely autumn trees.

The treetop walkaway was opened in 2008, this was one of the parts that I thought Alessio would enjoy. It is 18m high and 200m long, along the route is information about the trees which Alessio liked to read out loud.

We saw loads of squirrels and they were relatively tame considering how close I got to take photos of these cute animals.

We had our lunch here and Alessio got to play at the playground which was a good one. There are also many different buildings and statues to visit and look at, but the one we wanted to visit was closed for renovation Kew Palace.

We really enjoyed our short visit to Kew Gardens!

Sudelely Castle, England

During our summer holidays last year we went for one week to England and to the Cotswolds. We stayed mostly in Gloucester from where we travelled around each day. One of the trips we made was to Sudeley Castle and Gardens.

A very lovely castle and very interesting as it is also a private residence, which we were able to visit some of the private rooms. It also has the distinction of being the only private castle in England to have a queen buried in its grounds, Queen Katherine Parr, the 6th wife of Henry VIII.

Some other royal connections include Richard III, Elizabeth I and Lady Jane Grey. The gardens are very well known and it was truly lovely to walk around and admire the flowers and designs. The centrepiece is the Queens Garden, it is named after four of England`s queens Anne Boleyn, Katherine Parr, Lady Jane Grey and Elizabeth I.