If this is Thursday it must be postcards, 219

Château de Villandry

Here is another of the beautiful castles of the Loire River Valley in France where my French friend visited with a bicycle tour group this past summer.    This is a World Heritage Site and was designated a historical monument in 1934.  Originally there was a ancient fortress located at Villandry but after it was acquired in the early 16th century by Jean Le Breton, the Controller-General for War under King Francis I, a new château was built around the 14th century keep where King Philip II of France once met Richard I of England for a peace conference. 

The château remained in the hands of the Le Breton family for 200 years and then was bought by the Marquis de Castellane.  During the French Revolution the property was confiscated.  Then in the early 19th century the Emperor Napoleon acquired it and gave it to his brother, Jérôme Bonaparte.  

Here below are some photographs my friend sent of the magnificent gardens at Villandry.

And a few more pictures from the interior of the castle.

 Beautiful patterned wood flooring

 View of the Gardens from inside the palace

 More patterned wood flooring

The kitchen and eating

The gardens and palace we see in the postcard and the pictures of Villandry as it is today from my French friend are the result of enormous sums of money, time and devotion spent by Joachim Carvallo who bought the property in 1906 and worked to repair the château and create the gardens.  The Carvallo family still owns Château de Villandry.  It is open to the public and one of the most visited castles in France with over 300,000 visitors a year.  It is renown for its gardens seen on the postcard from the air.  These Renaissance gardens include a water garden, ornamental flower gardens, and vegetable gardens.  Each garden is arranged in a formal pattern that has been created by box hedges. 

The stamp is a 70-year Mine Clearing Service commemorative 1945-2015

As always, many thanks to my friend for sharing the postcard and the photographs.

For more information, see:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ch%C3%A2teau_de_Villandry