Saturday, November 02, 2013

La Roche-Jagu

Wandering Around The Cottage - November Edition


Ok, so before you all believe that you can wander in T-shirts and shorts in Brittany in November, let me confess: I went to loose myself (literally) in the gardens of La Roche Jagu in August, I took the pictures then as I thought they would be more beautiful than in the middle of Autumn.






Bon avant que vous ne vous imaginiez que les roses fleurissent à foison en plein mois de novembre en Bretagne, laissez-moi vous avouer que je suis allée dans les jardins de la Roche-Jagu en août et que j'avais gardé les photos pour les mois où il me serait plus difficile de faire pour vous de petites visites dans les alentours du cottage.


So are you ready? We're headed North of The Little White House, not exactly on the seaside, but on the banks of the river Trieux, where is located an old medieval castle.


Nous partons donc au nord du cottage, pas exactement au bord de la mer, mais sur les rives du Trieux où se trouve le château médiéval de le Roche-Jagu.


There has been a castle there since the 11th century, because from there, you can see far, far away on the river Trieux. The above picture was taken at low tide, so the river isn't as full as it can be.


Il y a eu un château à cet endroit là depuis le XIème siècle car de là, on a une excellente vue sur les alentours, ce qui permet de voir l'ennemi arriver!


Unfortunately, as it was often the case, the first building was destroyed. What I found fascinating in this castle's history is that the land belonged at some point to a widow, Catherine de Troguindy, who was the one who asked for a new castle to be rebuilt in 1405.


Ce qui me fascine dans l'histoire de ce château, c'est qu'après la destruction de la première forteresse, c'est une femme à qui appartenait à ce moment le domaine, qui fit reconstruire en 1405 le château aux nombreuses cheminées que l'on connaît aujourd'hui.


Not everybody was happy that the castle was being rebuilt and Dame Marguerite de Clisson who lived in a nearby castle didn't want to hear about it, so she took all the workmen as prisonners! Talk about unfriendly neighbours!


Et puis, pas de solidarité féminine à l'époque. Marguerite de Clisson, qui habitait un château voisin, ne voyait pas cette reconstruction d'un bon oeil et elle fit prisonniers tous les ouvriers qui travaillaient à la Roche-Jagu!


Fast-forward to 1987 when Brittany was hit by a huge and famous (here at least) storm that destroyed so many things, among those, the gardens of la Roche-Jagu.

The Medieval Kitchen Garden / Le potager médiéval
Passons quelques étapes pour arriver en 1987 quand une énorme tempête, bien célèbre par ici, fait d'énormes dégâts en Bretagne : le parc du château est détruit.

The Herb Garden / Le jardin de simples

That's also when the gardens of la Roche-Jagu have been splendidly remodeled. It's now my favourite park around here, because it's like there are several different gardens in one:  the medieval kitchen garden, the herb garden, several flower gardens, some with lovely quotes written on slates, a fruit garden, an exotic garden...


C'est là que les jardins ont été repensés de façon magnifique. C'est un de mes parcs préférés par ici, car c'est comme visiter plusieurs jardins en une fois: il y a le potager médiéval, le jardin de simples, plusieurs jardins de fleurs, certains agrémentés de citations écrites sur des ardoises, une palmeraie...

The "enclosed" fruit garden / Le verger soclé

I hope you enjoyed walking in this amazing park. Now if you ever come to visit it , don't expect me to be your guide. Every time I visit, I loose my way right after the exotic garden!

The Exotic garden / La Palmeraie

J'espère que vous avez apprécié cette balade dans les jardins de la Roche-Jagu. En tout cas, si vous y venez, ne comptez pas sur moi pour vous guider. A chaque fois que j'y vais, je me perds, juste après la Palmeraie!

How good are you at map reading? To my defense, everybody says the map they give you at la Roche-Jagu is really bad!

Et vous, vous avez le sens de l'orientation?

A bientôt,

See you soon,



I'm sharing those amazing gardens with:

Dwellings-The Heart of Your Home            My Uncommon Slice of Suburbia               ladies of A Return to Loveliness    

http://sundayview.blogspot.fr/2013/11/inspired-sunday-blog-party-and.html           Join Me on Tuesday for           We Call It Junkin         
Lavender Garden Cottage        Feathered Nest Friday                   Oh, the PLACES I’ve been!  #29–Paris    

47 comments:

  1. Je ne connais pas encore La Roche Jagu, mais tes photos et tes explications me donnent très envie d'y aller. J'espère que cet été, si tu ne te lances pas, une fois encore, dans les travaux, on pourra y aller ensemble... je te guiderai, j'ai un bon sens de l'orientation. Mary

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  2. So beautiful. I love the gardens and the signs. I plan to make signs for ours, because in the desert there is room for decoration. To some the gardens might be messy, but I like the informality.

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  3. We are not traveling this year while my husband recovers from shoulder replacement surgery. The virtual tours you take me on are wonderful.

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  4. C'est en effet une bien jolie balade que je viens de faire en ta compagnie.
    Le sens de l'orientation..............il faut le dire vite, j'ai besoin de prendre des repères pour retrouver mon chemin, presque comme le petit Poucet.
    Passe un excellent dimanche. Bises. Babette

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  5. Hope you're having a wonderful weekend dear Magali.

    Absolutely amazing pictures,and such an interesting story behind them. Thank you so much for sharing.I don’t trust my map reading skills much,my husband does it much better. hehe ;D I wouldn't mind losing myself in those gardens though. :)

    Love ,Izabella.

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  6. Such beautfiul gardens....I always feel like I have been on a little vacation after reading posts like this one. Thanks for taking us along...:) Have a blessed and restful Sunday!

    Vicky
    Life On Willie Mae Lane

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  7. Hi Magali!!!

    How wonderful it is to live in such a beautiful historical area!!!!

    I'm so glad that this lady asked for a castle to be built so that we can enjoy it today!!!
    I love history and the buildings, castles, etc. that were left behind for us (me) to get
    lost in thought as to what it was like to live in them and what those walls have seen
    over it's history.

    Thank you so much for sharing this wonderful castle with us with some of it's history!!

    Enjoy the rest of the weekend!!!

    Pam
    xox

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  8. So beautiful. I sure hope I get to travel more of France some day.

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  9. Such a beautiful and amazing castle! Interesting story behind it!

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  10. Love it when you give us tours like this Magali - your photos belong in a magazine -
    And yes I would expect a personal tour - what a gorgeous place it would be to get lost in anyway!
    XOXO

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  11. Oh, how I enjoyed my tour with you to this beautiful castle and area! This is something I would never get to see and the stories behind it make it all more the better! This is a lovely place of serenity and quietness. Blessings~~~Roxie

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  12. It's so lovely and romantic, I would love to visit. I hope you'll share this at my link party on Tuesday, We Call It Olde, it's for any post on antiques, vintage, or history, so this definitely fits! Take care - Dawn @ We Call It Junkin.com

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  13. Oh yes Magali! I look forward to these majestic tours you take us in to!!!! Simply marvelous, thank you! You are so lucky to enjoy such wonders so close to home!

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  14. Such an amazing tour and a history lesson too! Such a beautiful place and the potager looks wonderful. xx

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  15. It's beautiful!! I love how the medieval garden looks like all the raised beds are built with super heavy-duty wattle fencing? I've never seen anyhing like that before. It's so pretty! ~Angela~

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  16. Thank you for the tour...beautiful gardens and castle. Still hope to visit one day! I think I've told you I have friends in Bristol, England who also have a house in Brittany. :-)

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  17. If you're going to get lost, that would be the place to do so! I found something very mesmerizing about that castle. I can't explain it, but it really pulled me in.

    Don't look at me when it comes to map reading. Definitely not my strength,

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  18. Beautiful spot. I was in Kent a few years back. We visited Sissinghurst Gardens and Scotney Castle. I could walk about there forever.

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  19. Beautiful photos! I love kitchen gardens. The gardens here look gorgeous. Being lost there wouldn't be so bad. I would love to visit them. I'm pretty good with a map, but I must confess. Tristan and I got kinda lost in an apple orchard back in September. In my defense, I also think it was the map. And the weird way the path markers were positioned and marked.

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  20. How lovely. I'd love to visit and peek into every nook and cranny!! Love the history behind it!!

    Enjoy your day!
    Leann

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  21. I love this post and your blog. I am a new follower. YOU know me (The Rusty Pearl) I love anything by the sea. Thanks for having me. I will be a regular at your blog my friend. HUGS

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  22. Thanks for the tour, such a beautiful place. Fancy imprisoning the poor workmen, they were only doing their job !
    In '87 I was in London as a Nanny. The next morning I went for a walk in Holland Park and the devastation was unbelievable, so many uprooted trees, huge ones ! It looks and sounds like they did a wonderful job of rebuilding the gardens.

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  23. So glad you came to the party! Also glad I got to see these beautiful photos again :)
    Thanks for joining the We Call It Olde Link-Up! Take care - Dawn @ We Call It Junkin.com

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  24. Magali, I love going on your trips with you. The garden looks so relaxing. I can't believe the neighbor took all the workers who were building the castle prisoner! So interesting!

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  25. What a fascinating post! You have no idea just how very much I would love to visit Brittany. sigh. Beautiful photos! (I'll get a different map when I go. LOL)

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  26. Magali, Thank you once more for sharing such an amazing place with us. Your photos are stunning. xo Laura

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  27. Magali,
    I am pleased to nominate you and your blog for the Liebster Award. Please see my Nov. 6 post for all the details.

    http://botanicbleu.blogspot.com/2013/11/the-liebster-blog-award.html

    I thoroughly enjoy your blog and how you are renovating your little house. I love France as well.

    Judith

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  28. Such gorgeous pics! Thanks for an amazing tour!

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  29. In Texas you can walk around in November in a tee shirt and shorts on some days. Others… not so much. I found you through French Country Cottage. Your pictures are amazing.

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    1. Well, the tee shirt was well hidden under a sweater today in Brittany!!! I'm sending you some chilly sea breeze! Thanks for visiting, you'll always be welcome at The Little White House.

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  30. Thank you, thank you for our lovely journey!
    xx-
    Jemma

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  31. I would love to visit this medieval castle and it's beautiful gardens. I can see myself wandering around for hours outside. And what an interesting history! Do they let visitors inside the castle?

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    Replies
    1. You can go inside the castle. Downstairs is a free exhibition where you can read fascinating facts about the castle's history and about food during the Middle Age. Upstairs, there's always an exhibition going on, but that changes twice or tree times a year: it can be art, science, anything really.

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  32. Beautiful pictures! After our trip to England and France I've been obsessed with castles! I love the story about the castle being rebuilt and the neighbor taking the workmen as prisoners! That's so interesting!

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  33. So much to see in France. I wonder if I'll ever make it all!

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  34. Thank you for sharing your photo's and information. It is wonderful
    Love from Sunny South Africa
    Sandra

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  35. What a beautiful tour! Thank you for sharing this gorgeous part of the world with us!

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  36. Oh my dear friend, what an enchanting place and fascinating story - I would definitely love to get lost in this amazing garden. I am delighted to share that your post was one of the Top Three Viewed and will be featured in this week's A Return to Loveliness,
    I appreciate you sharing,
    Kathy

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  37. That is a very beautiful garden and castle, I would love to see it in real life one day. Thank you for the tour!

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  38. I enjoyed the lovely garden so much! I was taken away to a lovely land while It is snowy and cold here!

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