ToursbyMarie

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ToursbyMarie

Custom Garden Tours for small groups of Garden Enthusiasts. To Holland, Belgium, England and Italy. Tailored to your interests and travelling style.

For Garden Clubs, Groups of Friends, up to 15 participants.

09/05/2024

History, horticulture and garden design all come together at Miserden. An arts and crafts house which has been in the hands of the same family since 1913. The garden takes advantage of the site overlooking a fertile valley. It is an interesting mixture of formal, contemporary. Texture and color artfully mix to create an interesting composition.

We were there in the rain, and the feel was romantic and mysterious. the arboretum, with centenary and rare trees, is an added dimension which the visitor shouldn´t miss.

06/05/2024

Happy Birthday Stefan!

I don´t usually post about family members. So please meet Stefan, my husband of 33 years, my rock.

Withouth your support I wouldn´t be able to live the entrepreneure dream with ToursbyMarie. You hold the fort while I am on t he road. You are the gardener, the one who plants and tends the trees, trims the hedges and paints the fences. Without the bones, what is a garden? My notoriously brown thumbs can´t do much damage under your watch.

Many happy returns of the day, my love!

01/05/2024

🌸Travel is better with friends🥳

26/04/2024

Traveling with friends who share a common interest is fun. A garden tour with your garden club is always a memorable time - you make new friends and get to know your friends even better. Shared memories are a treasure you will share for many years to come.
And even the rain ☔️can´t stop your 😃smiles!

18/04/2024

Even if you have planned the best bucket list garden tour and you know it will be a great time, wrenching yourself away from your garden can be the hardest thing. It might help to remember that
🌸travel opens our minds and
🌸 travel refreshes our eyes
Coming back to your garden you`ll ❤️ it not only more but 😀better.

15/04/2024

Arguably the most spectacular garden on Lake Maggiore, Isola Bella is one of the Borromean Islands, still privately owned by the same family since the 15th century.

Created for his wife Isabella by Prince Carlo Borromeo, the gardens of Isola Bella are built on a series of terraces rising up from the palace. The whole thing is meant to look like a gallion or large ship. In the words of the effect is rather like a huge wedding cake.

Construction started in 1632. Because of plague and war, it took 40 years until the gardens could be inaugurated in 1671.

The Unicorn (pic 2) is part of the Borromeo family crest. It symbolizes honour, valour and loyalty.

The gardens are impressive by their botanical variety, thanks to the microclimate of the region.

A must see on your trip to the Italian Lakes.

10/04/2024

Tucked away at the bottom of a very windy road, not far from Porto, Casa Mateus is one of the finest examples of Portuguese Baroque.

Don´t be fooled by the word "Casa" or "House". It is in fact more of a palace than a house- Built in the 18th century, to demonstrate the power and the political success of the the owner, the palace is all the more impressive that its scale is unexpected. The extensive gardens are remarkable.

The oldest parts of the garden date back to the 1700`s. Bits were modified in the 1870´s and again expanded in the 1930`s.

Along with camellia hedges and boxwood parterres on several terraces, the most distinctive feature is perhaps the staircase framed by centenary arborvitae.

The reflecting pool, put in much later in the 19th century, adds drama.

An intriguing place - definitely a must see.

09/04/2024

If you´re not sure you want to travel, if you´re not sure you can bear to leave your garden, here are a few thoughts to ponder.

03/04/2024

Memories to be cherished for years to come - that´s one of my major objectives when I plan your dream trip.

I want you
🌸to release the stress that comes with being responsible for arrangements
🌸with being in a foreign country where you don´t speak the language.
I want you
🌸 to relax and enjoy.
🌸to share the wonder with your like-mided friends and traveling companions.

When you go home and think back to how wonderful it was, then I say mission accomplished🥳.

27/03/2024

In Portugal, as here in Porto, ceramic or metal swallows decorate the façade of many houses.

Swallows return every year to nest in the same place and keep the same mate for life. Which is why swallows are considered a symbol of love and fidelity and by extension family.

When a family member left home for better opportunities abroad, his family placed a swallow on the house as a prayer for his/her safe return.

18/03/2024

Camellias are ubiquitous to Porto as, if you follow me, you will have inferred from my previous posts.

This garden about 45 minutes north east of Porto is the ancestral home of a family of camellia-philes. There are thousands of cultivars here and yes, it is a collector´s garden. But the framework showcasing the plants is at once formal and romantic . The fountains in the courtyards make reference to the mauresque influence on gardens of the Iberian peninsula.

The woodland is the nursery for many new hybrids. Tables and benches invite the visitor to quietly retreat - to meditate, to be or to contemplate.

A wonderful composition.

15/03/2024

Touring gardens is also about visiting the important sights in the region.

For instance, when on a garden tour to Normandy, spending at least a half day seeing the D-Day sights is essential.

A competent local guide, who can make history come alive with anecdotes, is a must, especially for American visitors.

Here we are at Ste Mère Eglise (pic 1) and Colleville sur Mer (Pics 2 and 3).

08/03/2024

Are you hesitant to join a group trip because you´re not sure the programme will meet your needs? You might might spend your precious time being taken to places you´re not interested in?

Listening to your needs, adapting to your travelling style, crafting an itinerary which matches your objectives - that ´s my mission here at ToursbyMarie.

So a comment like this one warms my heart. It means I got it right.

06/03/2024

Spied at Great Dixter.

An inspirational quote embroidered in petit point in arm chair in the house of the great Christopher Lloyd (1921-2006).

I wonder if the initials on the right (C.L) refer to the embroiderer or the poet....

Either way, a piece of wisdom to take to heart.

Would you agree?

04/03/2024

Champ de Bataille is a must see on every garden tour to Normandy. World-renowned decorator Jacques Garcia purchased it in 1992 and has been working ever since to restore the gardens and interiors to their former 17th century splendour.

The sheer scale of the project is impressive: it took a little over five years to design, level, plant and irrigate the 94 acres, making this one of the largest private garden projects in France.

One of the more intriguing parts of Champ de Bataille and a new part which was recently opened to the public is the anglo-english garden and its Cybele Grotto. Used for performances, with an oculus exactly positioned to frame the full moon, the walls are entirely decorated with sea shells which were individually glued. I confess I find it rather spooky but then I didn´t see it at night.

More to my liking, and entirely incongruous in Normandy, is the Moghul garden, accessible by invitation only.

01/03/2024

Of course a garden tour is about visiting gardens. But it is also about gaining insight into the local history and culture. By understanding the context, you relate to the garden on a deeper level and remember it better.

Here we are exploring the backstreets of Bellagio with a group from expertly led by my trusted local partner, the one and only .

28/02/2024

As spring points its nose here in Belgium it´s time to think about getting the garden ready.

Here is a detail from the cloister at Sao Vincente do Fora in Lisbon depicting a gardener identifiable by the tools he is carrying on his shoulders, in conversation with a gentleman. The cloister is decorated to shoulder height with 18th century tiles depicting leisure scenes.

Is the gardener taking orders? Or is he being encouraged to put his tools down and enjoy the outdoors? Leave a comment to let me know what you think!

🌱

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03/02/2024

The gardens at the manor house of the Count of Santar, Santar, in the Dão valley and wine region.

Historical, remarkable, at the center of the Villa Jardim Project, designed by . The project anchors these gardens in the landscape, by making them oart of a greater whole. You visit ghe village through the five connected private gardens, some of them vineyard gardens.

The adjoining vineyards are the raison d’être, producing remarkable wines sold under the label “Memorias” .

The whole project is an inspiring way to make a historical family property sustainable and future-worthy by integrating it into the community.

I ❤️the camelllia allée planted in the 1870’s and blooming now in February and likely through May, the guide said.

And look at the centenary boxwood ! The blight and the moth are a threat, though: in the inner parterres ilex crenata has replaced the box.

We got to pick lemons as there are so many, they would be left to rot anyway.

19/01/2024

Le Domaine Albizia in the Calvados area of Normandy is the creation of landscape architect/florist/chef Frederic Tinard. Created from@an empty field it received within just a few years the prestigious Jardin Remarquable label from the Ministry of Culture.
I was happy to discover this new, to me, garden in an area of Normandy which I particularly like.
There are echoes of great British gardens auch as in the long border here (Hidcote?). But also dramatic comtemprary touche such as the Corten steel@tree in pic 2 so elegantly framed by clipped green hedging.
When I visited this past April there were 8 differnt gardens, all connected and each woth a distinctive personnality, for the visitor to discover. By now there must be evn more: Frederic had just purchases anadjoining plot to expand his paradise.
There is also a lovely modern B&B on the premises.

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18/01/2024

At least there is something to look at when your train is delayed at the iconic train station in Liège designed by star architects Santiago Calatrava and inaugurated in 2009.

People here say you can tell the architect was not from here: The high glass vaults make for very draughty platforms. There is nowhere to keep warm except the small bookstore. The few benches are elegant indeed but oh so cold as made of stone.
The coloured glass is a temporary installation by artist Paul Buren. I think it definitely makes the place less stark and ahould be made permanent. Don’t you think?

12/01/2024

Great memories of our trip to NW CT & Envisons in June 2023 for a group of committed gardeners and plant lovers.
pic 1 and pic 2 :Millbrook, NY
pic 3:
pic 4: Berkshire Botanical Garden
pic 5: Falls Village NY

05/12/2023

Villa Palmieri, Florence. Famous for at least two things: 1. for having inspired Boccacio’ Decameron and 2. for being Queen Victoria’ s residence of choice in Florence. One might add that it is also the second largest garden after the Boboli. The garden in November stripped to its eminent and excellent bones.

21/11/2023

Rome by night. Thia never gets old. I get shivers every time!

21/11/2023

Rome in November! Impressions from a stroll theough Villa Borghese on the Pincio. Yes thats boungainvilliers in bloom!!

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19/11/2023

Secret garden in the centre of Florence

19/11/2023

Firenze! Different perspectives on the Duomo
Pic1. from the presidential suite at the Rocco Forte Forte Savoy Hotel
Pic 2. the cupola fresco of the last judgment by Giogio Vasari ca. 1568
Pic3. the facade by night
Pic 4. the cupola from one of the terraces of Palazzo Gondi.
Pic 5 . the Duomo by night from the other terrace of Palazzo Gondi
Thank you and

14/11/2023

We are looking to Looking forward to your applications.
Here is the link with the job description and how to apply (videos please!).https://drive.google.com/file/d/1kEQec8E2jnbHw-dDg_C_yGaZnlgtlpZW/view?usp=sharing

29/10/2023

an annual event. I finally made it! Quality over quantity. Exceptional plants for connoisseurs. AND the chance to discover new private gardens never opened to visitors - no pics allowed so you ll have to take my word for it. A great weekend! Do you think I bought plants? Tell me in your comments!

17/10/2023

On my walk tod the highest point in the Netherlands (325m!), a memorial to a young Belgian volunteer who fell during the battle of the Ardennes in 1944. From his parents:”he was 20 years old. He had wanted to serve the holy cause. Passer-by keep him inyour thoughts!”
A reminder that behind every soldier there is a mother and a father. Grieving forever for their loss no matter how just the cause.
Will humanity ever learn?

?

14/10/2023

Palazzo Grimani. Roman portraiture presented.

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The hidden moghul garden at Champ de Bataille

The roses at Villa Pizzo, first thing you perceive off the docking pier. Oh, the scent! What a welcome! #oldroses #rosesinbloom #lakecomoitaly #lario #villasoflakecomo #gardensoflakecomo #giardini #explore #gardentravel #gardentour #toursbymarie

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