Fauna
and Flora

Surrounded by a protected forest of 15 hectares, the Château Louise de La Vallière is a concrete example of perfect harmony between History and Nature. The mastery of perspective shown in the French Orchard, the pathways which lead between sculpted trees, statues, shrubbery, and the intoxicating scene wafting from two hundred “Madame de la Vallière” rosebushes – all this has been carefully elaborated to transport you back to the time of Kings. The Fig Conservatory – the favourite fruit of Louis XIV – is home to sixty-six fig trees of different types. The kitchen garden, dedicated to “forgotten” vegetables is designed both to delight the eyes of visitors as well as their tastebuds.

The château’s parkland is a natural shelter where both fauna and flora live alongside each other in the rhythm of the seasons. The bees from the chateau’s ten hives come here to sample the nectar of the flowers and shrubs of the park. Thirty species of birds make their homes among the two-hundred-year-old oak trees and cedars of the domain. Deer and hare run free and in peace in a protected forest where hunting is forbidden. In partnership with the French League for the Protection of Birds, we have created a place of restfulness for wildlife, building platforms and nesting boxes around the fringes of our buildings. We want you to enjoy the spectacle of nature in a place where it is common, early in the morning, to come across a gentle doe at the turning of a path, or at evening to hear the hunting calls of the owls who live in our gate tower.