We visited Chateau de Valmer (link to the English version of the website) on an evening when it had rained on and off all day. We arrived in a drizzle but got a delightful bit of sun during the golden hour. Our hosts were the the Count and Countess de Saint Venant. Alix was our guide for the garden tour. Her husband led us into the wine cellars.

The Chateau burned down in the late 1940s. Alix has re-created it using hedges. Petit Valmer, to the left, is the current residence. To the right is the historic chapel, the wine cellars which go deep into the hillside, and other outbuildings.

Here’s a photo looking back at Petit Valmer when the sun came out near the end of our garden tour. This was my favorite moment of our entire trip. The light was what I imagined inspired Van Gogh, Monet, and countless other artists who worked in France.

There are more Valmer photos on my Flickr page: Joy’s Photostream.

On Saturday, I’ll post photos from the potager, the kitchen garden, at Chateau de Valmer for Weekend Cooking and Saturday Snapshots.

Be on the lookout all month for bloggers participating in Paris in July hosted by Karen at BookBath and Tamara at Thyme for Tea.

Today, look at more photos around the web at Wordless Wednesday.