Outstanding gardens
- Moulin des Etrebières
- 27 September 2025
- 16h50
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Strolling through a garden
A garden is like a painting: a frame is placed over a corner of nature and the shapes and colours are combined to create a vision of the world. Instead of gouache, we use plants; instead of canvas, we use earth. The magic of gardens is that each year brings a different result and - unlike architecture - if we don't like a setting, we can start again the following year.
I love strolling through a garden, admiring the flowers, the groves or the rows of lettuce. The birds are singing and the leaves are rustling, the flowers and fruit are fragrant, your feet are soft on the green grass and your eyes are feasting on the scenery. At the Moulin des Etrebières, we're lucky enough to have several outstanding gardens nearby. Follow the trail!
with William Christie's gardens in Thiré
William Christie, the great conductor and harpsichordist with a passion for Baroque music, bought this estate in Thiré in 1985. Over the past 40 years, he has gradually transformed the 12 hectares of surrounding meadows into gardens.
From one area to the next, you can move from a flowery setting to an orchard, a vegetable garden, a peaceful river lined with weeping willows, a formal garden with its topiary art, or a Versailles-style water mirror. Copses of trees invite you to daydream while listening to the psithurism, i.e. the soft whisper of the wind in the leaves of the trees...
Come and discover this extraordinary garden in a charming little village. In August, you can enjoy the Arts Florissants festival with baroque music concerts in the gardens.
Le Chateau Colbert kitchen garden in Maulévrier
Beauty and good taste go hand in hand in this dreamy kitchen garden, where you can admire the plump tomatoes and leafy salads before sampling the vegetables on the terrace of the charming tearoom overlooking the walled garden.
Every vegetable patch becomes a work of art, with its neatly arranged herbs, rows of leeks and flowers that delight the eye and deter insect pests.
The garden has been completely rediscovered because the château has been renovated. It had been a wasteland for years and a magnificent restoration work has been carried out.
Stroll through the alleys and under the arbours covered with vines and gourds to delight your eyes and taste buds...
Le Oriental Park of Maulévrier
Like an invitation to travel, this park of almost 30 hectares takes you back to the Japan of the Edo era and immerses you in an oriental atmosphere full of serenity.
Scarlet bridge, pavilion on the water, cherry blossom trees (in spring) or trees pruned according to the art of niwaki, to obtain a pure but natural form: come and take a break in this park full of grace that invites meditation.
The park was saved from oblivion by an association of volunteers from Maulévrier, created in 1982. After 3 years of work, the park opened its doors to the public in 1985 and was recognised as a 'remarkable garden' in 2004.
The medieval garden of the Bazoges-en-Pareds keep
Le Donjon de Bazoges is 10km from Moulin es Etrebières. Go there by bike and enjoy a visit to the 14th-century Keep and the 'Remarkable Garden' with its 16th-century dovecote. Continue your discovery of the village with a visit to the Musée d'Arts et Traditions Populaires (Museum of Popular Arts and Traditions) before enjoying a meal at the Auberge du Donjon (booking essential).
This medieval-inspired garden poetically combines the colours and scents of the vegetable, flower and herb patches. It invites you to escape in the shade of the vine trellis, along the orchard and the old rosebushes, in the garden of curiosities or in the garden of the simple, the witchcraft square where tales and legends guide the visitor.
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