We went for a visit to this impressive château on the weekend but could only visit the garden. At some times during the year the château is open for visitors, but not now. The owners were in, and we could hear them chattering away after what looked like a lovely luncheon on the lawn. And, they certainly had a lot of lawn to choose from.This part of France seems to be awash with châteaux, so much so that Mick has started to say he doesn’t want to see another one, like churches. Somehow he never gets sick of visiting wine and beer outlets, or sick of browsing meat counters in supermarkets or open-air markets. I have told him there are two more on my list to see while we are here, and he has reluctantly agreed to participate.

We were able to take the dog with us to Château de Courances, which was less than half an hour’s drive from our current location. This is a view from the back where I was standing on my tip toes to get a shot of the very clever maze garden. The awnings on the back of the château certainly don’t fit with the style, but I guess it could get a little hot.

What helps to make this massive parkland (185 acres) look so green are fourteen natural springs. These have been used to create many pools, ponds and canals, the largest of which is called the Grand Canal, of course, and measures 463 metres.

We spent just over two hours in the park and walked about 4 km following the signs to all the key sites.

Sometimes, there was disagreement about where to go to next, but in the end, Mick won out.

This pond had huge carp swimming around in it and it was the only pond we saw that had fish.

The River Ecole borders the property and helps feed the ponds and canals. One of the ponds is shaped as a decagon and is the only known example of a ten-sided pool in France.

The popularity of ‘water gardens’ emerged after the medieval ‘walled gardens’ and before the classical parks. The abundance of water here made it an ideal spot for such a garden.

The garden has evolved over five centuries, with each owner adding his or her own flair.

It was odd that we could walk on the grass, which gave it a very open feeling as we walked past some extremely well-ordered trees and plants, many of which were named to help us enjoy the experience even more.

We had read that while dogs were allowed, on leads, picnics were not! So Mick and I packed a picnic and had that before we arrived for the opening at 2pm. But, to our surprise we noticed quite a few people arriving with ‘supplies’ that looked suspiciously like picnic goodies.

A relatively new addition to the park is the Japanese Garden. We enjoyed a coffee at a little café just opposite this garden.

Its multi-coloured foliage was a stark contrast to the shades of green (below photo) we saw in the rest of the park. The Japanese Garden was started before WWI but by the end of WWII it was in a mess. Significant replanting and design has occurred since then.

Mick and I were interested, but not surprised, to learn that the château had been occupied by the Germans from 1940-1944, then from 1944-1946 by the Americans and finally from 1949-1955 by Field Marshal Montgomery.

In this final photo, Mick and the dog are standing in front of one of the 17 ponds, but you wouldn’t know it unless you were up close to the edge. The water was covered in algae. Luckily they didn’t fall in!

Definitely worth the €7.50 each to check this out.