Jardins des Renaudies

It's that time of year again

This is not the first year I've been to Les Jardins Renaudies and taken photos.

We mainly go because our friends have a stall there and give us a couple of free passes, but we also go because it's a beautiful place to visit.

At this time of year, the leaves are all turning gold, through russet to red and gold, making everything feel the need to ready itself for the coming of winter.

This year's no exception.

22 Feast of Pumpkins

This time at Les Renaudies, it's also the fete de citrouilles - which are pumpkins. If you thought that these were simply the huge orange things that get carved horrific designs cut into them, you'd be wrong.

I've probably covered this before, but it bares mentioning as from the photo (right), you can see that as far as squashes are concerned, there are more than you can shake a copse of trees at - yes, that's copse, not corpse!

These Do's at Jardins Des Renaudies have been getting steadily bigger each time we've been to them, whether it's spring, summer or autumn and the number of people going has been increasing too.

And why not?

It's a great day out, or even a couple of hours wandering round the huge gardens, with the music playing, the smell of barbecue grills and Autumn in the air.

There's plenty to do for everyone with stalls selling artisanal wares from bread to honey, from Angoran woollies to face-painting for the kids (or adults too if you're of a mind), to hand-made jewellery to wines and even Calvados (if you're feeling brave!)

This year, on top of the stalls and kiddie-shaped attractions, they had lots of birds too.

I was surprised to see some Sussex Hens taking pride of place along with pigeons - like the one (right), which are uncommon.








The hens and cock (left) are tiny compared to others I have seen, standing at not much over a foot tall.

The Mandarin ducks (right) were very unexpected, but nevertheless breathtakingly beautiful.

Sadly, with the light and my lack of photographic skills, much of that is lost in the pictures.

This chap (left) looks like a real cartoon, if there is such a thing. I have absolutely no idea what he is, but he's an amusing chap!

Of course, I had to finish with an artistic shot - or what I take that passes for something approaching artistic anyway...