Jewels from Jan: Get them away from me!

7/14/2016

Bonjour mes amis!

Wow, it's hot out there! I am cloistering away in the air conditioning. How about you? I hate to wish a month away, but right about now, I think I could skip August altogether and just go straight to September. We have had a string of 100 degree days!

I'll just think back on a happy time to cool myself...

Back to France I go! Oh, before I go on, HAPPY BASTILLE DAY to my French friends! Today is your day to celebrate. I hope your firework display is as awesome as the one I enjoyed on our Independence Day.

Now, back on topic for today...
The last day that Ms. Emerald and I had access to a car in France, we wanted to take a day trip about an hour and a half away.

We passed the beautiful city of Blois, and made our way to Chaumont-sur-Loire.

We've been to this village and the Château a number of times on this blog, and even in different seasons, but today, we're not going to visit the Château or the Village. We're going to the Gardens, and every year, they feature a new design for the Gardens!

Uh oh! Are the children following us? First Parc Floral, and now at the Gardens? It's the children's field trip day again? Yes, children in France go to School until about the 2nd week of July! Again, though, we experienced well behaved children, and teachers with good control of their classes! I'm just saying that right away so my title of this blog post doesn't make you think I wanted the children to get away from me!

In actuality, on this warm day visiting the gardens, the MOSQUITOES were ferocious, and we were not prepared!

Each garden room we entered was a risk! Swarms of mosquitoes! There was much swatting and slapping and frustration.

I would snap these photos and get out, or cry to Ms. Emerald to get them away from me!

It was almost comical how many swarmed my arms and legs. I was on the verge of going up to French people I saw who were spraying mosquito repellent, and offering them really good money for their spray.

Unfortunately, we cruised through some of the gardens rather quickly to avoid being eaten alive!

But I digress from telling you about the Gardens! This year's theme was...

"Gardens from the Coming Century"!

There were 24 garden rooms to view!

Just to give you an idea of the sampling of rooms, there was Frankenstein's Nature, where an abandoned lab had unusual plants springing up!

And there was a garden, called The Last Act, where, in an over-urbanized society, a "nature theater" welcomes you for a breath of fresh air and a chance to unwind.

Still another garden featured flowers and fruits, all edible and nourishing!

While another garden featured forgotten plants from our childhood!

Still another featured a roof terrace that is ventilated by extraordinary plants that generate electricity with astonishing "plant-batteries"!

Another room, called "I stay", featured rising water with a sinking home, where a man chooses to take refuge in his barn, and he builds a new life at the water's edge.