Gardens to visit

IF gardens grab you, Normandy has plenty for you to visit. The most illustrious garden surrounds Les Moutiers, the English country house at Varengeville designed by Edwin Lutyens: the garden, with its magnificent rhododendrons and hydrangeas, was originally laid out by Gertrude Jekyll. In the same area are the Shamrock gardens and the garden of the late Princess Sturdza.

Le Parc William Farcy at Offranville offers a fine display of roses, while the Château de Bosmelet near Auffay has a colourful kitchen garden adjacent to an ancient avenue of lime trees. In the village of Grigneuseville, between Dieppe and Rouen, is Agapanthe, a ‘‘garden of surprises’’ created by the landscape architect Alexandre Thomas.

And, if you want to see Claude Monet’s oft painted lily pond, go to Giverny where the painter’s home is a place of pilgrimage for his fans from every continent. In fact, the house and its contents are more interesting than the garden.

A list of Normandy gardens is available from the Dieppe tourist office.