Garden Visit : Le Manoir Aux Quat' Saisons

What's a Graduation without a nice celebratory dinner afterwards? Close to Oxford, Le Manoir Aux Quat' Saison was our favourite haunt when visiting our son. They have a Michelin-starred kitchen and beautiful, comfortable, individually designed hotel rooms. Very expensive, a bit too expensive compared to anything in Europe, but nothing in England is cheap for the time being. The hotel maintains a garden providing not only healthy greens for the kitchen, but also lots of photo opportunities for garden lovers, with its several garden rooms, ponds and strategically placed bronze sculptures.  

 the kitchen garden

the pond with birds' sculptures:

the Japanese garden: 

the wild meadow garden, an apple orchard:

 hotel rooms on the estate

she picks flowers but he is distracted ... 


a crocket lawn:

Another robin to greet me ...

Graduations, Graduations ...

As it so happened, two of our offspring graduated within two weeks in July:

Regent's University's Graduation Ceremony was a nice affair in Marylebone Chapel followed by a party on the lawn in the University grounds of Regent's Park. 

The graduation ceremony at Oxford University was just slightly more formal in the beautiful Sheldonian theatre : a ritual of greetings and announcements in Latin with English pronunciations, marches up and down the aisle in groups, marching out and coming in again, stick banging and bowing. Not many changes in the past 800 years. 

They will continue as "cost-centres" as both decided to top up their degrees with Masters Programmes. My daughter decided to move to Sydney ... of all places! Has she no regard for her mother??? 

But in case the crazies take over here in Germany, we might need to visit down-under and take refuge there. Although speaking with this odd US American Republican candidate who wants to subject Germans entering the country to a special security clearing, the Australians might not like us either and not give us shelter. 
No - this is too serious to be joked at. We might wake up one cold morning in November and realize with a déja-vu feeling of dread, that the US Americans cold-heartedly and hot-bloodedly decided for a sort of "Amerixit". 

But before turning to that last resort of emigration, we might consider reviving our Germanic heritage and take out the long-swords, like the courageous driver who witnessed one of the attacks on innocents in Bavaria during our own  "septimana horribilis" in July, passing-by in his car. He directed his BMW at the attacker! An unusual way of assistance, but helpful in this case (the madman had managed to kill one person, but it might have become much worse). The killer was immobilized and will face justice. No twenty-seven virgins here :)! We all hope, the driver won't have too many problems with his insurance. And I seriously hope, the other whatever number of virgins, who await all the madmen in paradise, will act like the hopefully wise judges on judgement day, seriously kick in the murderers' faces and cut off their balls when considering their deeds. But knowing the superb support only too well that females can give each other when it comes to men, the desolate realization is dawning on me, that sisterly love might not extend to such helpful gestures.... 
But the times, they may be a changin ... 

The other cost-center is moving from Oxford to London's LSE ... and will certainly need an increase in allowance. Luckily it is only for a year. 

 in front of Pembroke College

and Oxford's "Bridge of Sighs"

As you can easily judge from this rambling post, the main problem of this increasingly  and speedily aging woman-writer-photographer is : admiration-tinged with-pride-tinged with-ENVY at what the young people nowadays are able to do! 

Mauritius - Cap Malheureux

Such a beautiful spot with such a sad name! Many ships have floundered on the rocks in front of the coast. Maybe their skippers' attention was diverted by the beauty of the views and they suffered a fate like the Rhine-skippers under the spell of the Lorelei and her treacherous rocks ... 

A small catholic church with a bright red roof occupies a pretty position on the tip of the Cap.

Although we had been vacationing on Mauritius a few times with family already, it was the first time I visited Cap Malheureux on the northern tip of the Island and it was certainly worth the trip.  

Looks like octopus for lunch ...

The Gardens at Gravetye Manor

Gravetye Manor in East Grinstead, Sussex, was the home of William Robinson, horticulturist and author of several books on gardening, among them the classics "The English Flower Garden" and "The Wild Garden". He has influenced British and European gardening style for many decades since the end of the 19th century. He advocated a natural, less formal gardening style with plantings in drifts and well devised finely graduated colour schemes. 
Today his house is a beautiful country house hotel, with an excellent Michelin-starred restaurant. We had visited the place several times in the past already - mainly because of its kitchen. With a change of ownership, its gardens now have improved tremendously, offer an additional joy and are well worth a visit.  

So have a look for yourself: 

The gardens are well maintained and gardeners are very helpful and keen to explain about the plantings or plants' names. The head gardener used to work at Great Dixter; this creative influence can clearly be seen. 

Yellow Tropaeolum canariense  delicately draped across a camellia giving her additional flowers extending her showy time. 

a peek over the wall 

 Photogenic Veratrum decorated with flowers from a bush above:

 Veratrum niger - in camera image-overlay: 

a very fine-leaved Euphorbia - I don't know which. 

 a tiny clematis 

Dactylorhiza on the meadows

To the Walled Garden, which not only supplies the kitchen ... 

 Yellow Aquilegia chrysantha "Yellow Queen" that I also admired at Great Dixter

Eremurus 

The Walled Garden is also used for growing flowers for the house.

So, in addition to seeking out this beautiful garden, you can stay overnight in cozy rooms and have an excellent meal - or simply a sumptous afternoon tea on the lawn or one of the numerous places to sit and relax  - which seems like the perfect holiday!  

Yellow Corydalis

"Robinson style"