What do we at Eagleson Landscape Co. love to do besides create beautiful landscapes? Well, I cannot speak for everyone at the company, but I know one of my passions is traveling! Learning, experiencing and living in another culture is a beautiful thing I think many overlook the importance of. Waking up everyday on edge wondering what the day has in store, getting lost on unfamiliar streets, making memories that pictures can never truly bring to life – these are the moments I live for when I’m not on the job site! I’m excited to write about my recent trip to London and Paris and give you a glimpse into some of the fun my sister and I had while across the pond.

Let’s start this blog off in England, more specifically London. What an absolutely wonderful place, providing an abundance of green space within the city, great shopping, historic landmarks and fantastic public transit. My sister was lucky enough to spend a month here getting certified to teach English (she passed!). Together we spent four days trekking around as much of the city as we could fit in. We took time to see all the major landmarks London has to offer, including Buckingham Palace, Trafalgar Square and Big Ben.

These sites were not all the city had to offer. The parks were excellent and provided tourists and locals alike with a chance to walk through gardens, prairies and water features. The Kensington Gardens had many beautiful sites including, but not limited to, the Italian Gardens, Round Pond, prairies and the Kensington Palace sunken garden.  Here is a link to a map and list of sites found in this beautiful green space!

We also visited St. James Park which had a different vibe. Centered around a lake, this beautiful park has walkways covered by a Sycamore tree canopy with lovely gardens dotting the entire expanse that lead straight to Buckingham Palace. Here is a map so you can familiarize yourself with this famous park! Both of these parks are just a very small taste of the fabulous gardens found in England, but were truly phenomenal examples of using a green space to bring a sense of calm and peace to a very bustling and fast-paced city like London. Sadly our time in England had to come to an end, but we were excited for the next portion of our adventure! We finished our four days in London, got on a train and took the tunnel under the English Channel and started life in Paris.

Paris, the city of love, was maybe a little dirty, but was it something spectacular! A completely different culture and feel than what we had experienced in London. Paris was an absolute whirlwind as we only had three days here to pack in what could have easily been seven days of exploration. Again we took time to view as many of the famous sites the city has to offer. We visited the Eiffel Tower, Notre Dame, L’ Arc de Triomphe and the Louvre among many other historical landmarks found around the city.

We then took a day to visit the Palace of Versailles and Monet’s Gardens in Giverny – WOW are these places absolutely mind blowing! The palace is truly stunning, with an immense ground surrounding it, of which I only saw a very small portion. I guess I have an excuse to go back right!? The gardens I did see were beautiful, with wonderful hedging, plenty of color and lots of fountains! I truly hope I get a chance to visit again and walk the rest of the complex.

After we visited Versailles we hopped on another bus to visit Monet’s gardens in Giverny. This garden is a bit hard to put into words. Upon arrival we walked into Monet’s Japanese garden where some of his most famous paintings were captured on canvas. Here a calm pond emptied into a creek that looked like glass and carved through the space, lined with flowers of every shape and size. Lily pads covered the surface of the pond, dotting the cool water with pinks and whites and greens, bouncing in the water as the fish swam among them. We walked over a covered bridge with wisteria shielding us from the sun, enjoying an excellent view of the entire Japanese Garden. The path eventually led us to Monet’s home, but first took us through an incredible perennial garden, which had hundreds if not thousands of plants packed into a relatively small space. My jaw dragging on the ground as I walked through. Walking down the path of both these spaces showed why Monet was so incredibly inspired to paint here.

The sites, people and gardens were very different but provided the same sense of enjoyment and awe. The differences in gardening techniques were interesting to see and provided a chance for inspiration in my own future landscape practices. Reliving these places is hard to put into words. I hope you enjoyed reading about and experiencing a small taste of my travels abroad. A trip of a lifetime, I hope every one of you takes time at some point in your lives to experience life outside the States. Here is a link to view more pictures of the gardens and sites on our trip!