L Princess Sturdza Garden

Near the French city of Dieppe, we visited one of the finest private gardens in Europe called Le Vasterival. Sweeping paths, long vistas and a huge variety of plants makes this garden breathtaking in its scope. Created in 1957 by Princess Stundza, the garden is full of mature, specimen size rhododendrons, dogwoods and other plants.

The Princess did not allow photography in her gardens.

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(Don't tell anyone but I took this picture before we were told that no pictures were allowed.)

Z-1 - Beach at the nearby resort village of Pourville where we had lunch after visiting the gardens.

Photo by Sue McGillicudd

Editorial Comment: This garden was one of the most magnificent on our tour. It was very frustrating and disappointing that we were not allowed to take pictures during our visit. I have been to many, many gardens around the world and this was only one to have made this restriction on its visitors. Although it is a "private" garden, there was a charge of about $25 per person to make the visit. The price was well worth it but would have been complete if we had been able to take photos to help us remember our visit and to share with others. (Of course, they wanted to sell us pictures as we departed the grounds.)

Ralph Heiden