Wed 16 Jul- Parc Floral d'Apremont,

Wed 16 Jul- after coffee, we headed out, stopping by for a salad lunch with carafe of red wine for E12. We got gas, paying E55 for about 34 liters. We continued to the 'Parc Floral d'Apremont' in the village Apremont sur Allier. This is a rather large garden, with several different theme areas and attractions, including a water cascade flowing down to a lake, three "follies", a Chinese bridge, a Turkish pavilion, and a Belvedere featuring an octagonal building with lovely tiles depicting a trip around the world, ending here. We recognized some of the landmarks that we had visited. The town itself was cute and attractive; the garden architect revised the town to fit his idea, so when seen from the garden, it did not contrast. The summer flowers border was in full bloom, and beautiful with a multitude of colors. It must be even more attractive in spring when the wisteria blooms.
We each had the E27 dinner back at the chateau: terrine (a coarser foie gras) on toast; salmon mousse; salt cod mixed with potato; chicken with carrots; half-bottle rose wine, apricot on cookie with pistachio ice cream; raspberry sherbet over meringue with vanilla ice cream; finally a plate with bite-size chocolate tart, pineapple candy, and a shot glass of coconut milk & liquor. It was all very tasty; only complaint was, Kiyomi said the meringue was too crisp so it was hard to cut and eat. Taste-wise, everything was delicious and nicely artistically presented. We ate outside as the sun was going down, with a nice view of the countryside.