An Autumn Weekend in France and the Journées des Plantes at Courson

17th – 19th October 2008

The Journées des Plantes at Courson has been described as the French Chelsea, which gives no indication of the delightful charm of this plant fair.  The show spreads out across the park surrounding the Château de Courson in a wonderfully informal and irrepressibly French way; plants are displayed on the grass and everything is for sale.

This is a three day tour designed around Courson.  A coach meets our flight at Charles de Gaulle Airport outside Paris, and we will be driven straight to Courson with a simple picnic lunch provided on the coach.  We will spend the afternoon at the show with plenty of time to buy plants, sensational herbs and spices, garden equipment and seeds.   All purchases will be carefully packed into a van and driven back to England to await the group’s return to Heathrow.  We will make special arrangements for the storage and collection of plants for those not flying into Heathrow. We will return to the coach and head for the 3 star hotel Napoleon in the centre of Fontainebleau where we will stay for the next two nights.

On Saturday 14th October we visit the château and park at Courance.  The formal park blends trees, grass and water to create a magical experience.  Courance is considered to be one of the very best gardens in France; the trees are allowed to grow naturally over the canals and rills of water, traditional French formality combines with a deliberately informal and English approach to maintenance. After lunch we have been invited to visit a very private garden near Fontainebleau where we will be taken round the garden by the owners, who have created, over the last twenty or so years, a lovely garden in which lawns planted with trees and shrubs merge imperceptibly into the surrounding forest.

On the last morning there will be an opportunity to explore not only the market at Fontainebleau, which is an ideal time to stock up on essentials like wonderful blush pink garlic, wild mushrooms and  sensational cheeses, particularly as this is the season to buy Vacherin, but also the Palace of Fontainebleau and its gardens, under your own steam.  The Palace was started by Francis I in the early sixteenth century and added to by almost every French monarch since then.  The interiors are a fascinating mixture of the Renaissance and Napoleonic styles.  The gardens were redesigned by Le Nôtre in the seventeenth century and then partially revamped in the English style in the eighteenth.    We depart for a final lunch before returning to the Airport.  On arrival at Heathrow, the Courson shopping will be waiting for you in a designated car park

TOTAL COST: The three days, including flights from London Heathrow to Paris Charles de Gaulle, transport back to Heathrow of all Courson shopping, two nights at the 3 star hotel in Fontainebleau (two people sharing), three lunches, all entrance fees and tours of the gardens with James Bolton and travel by luxury air conditioned coach, will cost (prices to follow shortly).  For anyone requiring a single room, there will be a single supplement of (prices to follow shortly)