Loire Valley
Villandry, its château, gardens and village, and Angers. 33 photos
About this gallery
This place gallery pairs two stops in the Loire Valley: the village of Villandry, near Tours where the Cher meets the Loire, and the city of Angers, further downstream. Aerial shots pick out the detail of the château's parterres: diamonds and clipped-box hedges, color-block squares where vegetables and flowers alternate, and the pool of the water garden. A path through the kitchen garden leads to the village spire, a bridge trimmed with pink geraniums crosses the river, and an old flat-bottomed boat waits at the water's edge.
Macro close-ups round out the visit: blue echinops globes, pale yellow roses with ruffled petals, pink phlox against a dark background, begonias in soft focus, and grapes ripening on a vine by the château kitchens.
The village itself is shown at eye level: a narrow stone street, a slate-roofed manor with children cycling past, a war memorial, and a town hall balcony decked out for Bastille Day. One black-and-white image picks out the château façade without the garden's color. Further on, in Angers, the Romanesque Revival Saint-Maurice Cathedral rises above the historic center. These royalty-free photos suit stories about the Loire Valley, heritage, travel in France or a gardening blog, and Pexels offers them as free downloads.