Château Grand Bigard: # 2 of 10 - 2014

Flora and Fauna - Plants and Critters Blog by Vincent Albert Vermeulen is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported License.

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My other blogs

· Flora and Fauna - Plants and Critters (on plants, animals as well as gardening, conservation and environmental matters): http://plantsandcritters.blogspot.com/
· The Blood of Souls (language, translation and etymology) : http://thebloodofsouls.blogspot.com/
· Whiskers on Kittens (Life with Kittens and Cats in general) : http://whiskersonkittens-vincent.blogspot.com/

Château Grand Bigard: # 3 of 10 - 2014 How to get there

Okay promised here is another post of my quick visit in April 2014 to the  10th International Flower Exhibition held at Château Grand Bigard in Belgium.

 

 To begin, I got there a few hours before closing time so other than a brief lunch in the cafeteria (set in what looks like a huge greenhouse) I spent most of my time busily taking photos since it is laid out over 14 hectares ... that is right ... hectares not acres. So it is a lot of area to cover. But first I had to get there.

 Unfortunately by the time I got to la Gare de midi / Sud station / South Station I realised I had forgotten to check which tram I should catch since I'd only been there once before back in 2012. After asking at the info kiosk I was informed I had to catch the train. The guys was sceptical about my instance that I had gone there by tram before since commune of Grand Bigard is not in Brussels but in the municipality of Dilbeek in Flemish Brabant. Since the info Kiosk was for Trains I was advised to check with the Tourist Offcie which fortunately was in the station.
The guy there also was not convinced but after checking on the computer saw I was correct and that you could also get there by taking the metro from Midi to Simonis and then catching the number 19 tram to Grand Bigard / Groot-Bijgaarden.

Yes I could have taken the train but I had a multiple voyage tram ticket which I wanted to use rather than get a train ticket. When you get off at the Grand Bigard tram stop you need to walk a bit to get to the castle. Maybe the tram stop is on the edge of the boarder of municipalities which accounts why it goes there ... I did not ask. In any case the stop is in the residential street and like last timFe there was not much in terms of notices to tell you how to get to Château Grand Bigard itself.

Basically when you get off the tram you walk down the road in the same direction the tram was going. The tram will turn left to the next tram stop. That stop will be the one you should go to when going back as that is the end stop where you should find the tram waiting.

After crossing the train tracks - you can see the overpass ahead

Anyway you staying on the right hand side. You walk straight ahead till you come to the train station which will be on you right hand side. It just a simple train platform not a proper train station where you buy tickets etc. You will need to cross the tracks and continue down that main road. There is a huge fenced off depot / office block on the left hand side right after the train tracks with a parking area. If you keep going down that you will see and overpass. That is the direction you need to keep going.
As you get to the overpass or rather the underpass since you will be going on the underpass part ... you will see some shrubs with yellow flower. Just because you are going to see a flower show does not mean you should not enjoy the sights along the way. There are usually also some nice wild flowers on the verge after you walk out of the underpass.
 

Under the under pass - you can see the town ahead

Keep walking down this road and you will get to a cobbled town square and a church. Turn right at the church and walk down that road which becomes wooded on the left (this is the boarder of the "castle" grounds). The Gate which is on the left hand side only becomes visible as you get there. There is a small ticket stall where you can buy your tickets.

Then you cross the stone bridge and go through the Gate House and onto the  grounds of Château Grand Bigard where the flowers await.




Flora and Fauna - Plants and Critters Blog by Vincent Albert Vermeulen is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported License.

Based on a work at http://plantsandcritters.blogspot.be/.

Permissions beyond the scope of this license may be available at http://plantsandcritters.blogspot.be/.

My other blogs

· Flora and Fauna - Plants and Critters (on plants, animals as well as gardening, conservation and environmental matters): http://plantsandcritters.blogspot.com/
· The Blood of Souls (language, translation and etymology) : http://thebloodofsouls.blogspot.com/
· Whiskers on Kittens (Life with Kittens and Cats in general) : http://whiskersonkittens-vincent.blogspot.com/

Gerberas

I was on my way home when I saw these Gerbera being sold in a street flower stall and decided to get some so I could get some photos of them for the blog as well as just to practice taking photos with different backgrounds. I'll be covering them in a later blog post and use some of the photos in my Plant Family and Plant Order posts.

Orange Gerbera on Black Background

Pink Gerbera on Orange background

Pink Gerbera on Yellow background

Pink Gerbera on green background

As you probably guessed I found it fascinating how the background colour had an impact on the flower's colour.

Flora and Fauna - Plants and Critters Blog by Vincent Albert Vermeulen is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported License.

Based on a work at http://plantsandcritters.blogspot.be/.

Permissions beyond the scope of this license may be available at http://plantsandcritters.blogspot.be/.

My other blogs

· Flora and Fauna - Plants and Critters (on plants, animals as well as gardening, conservation and environmental matters): http://plantsandcritters.blogspot.com/
· The Blood of Souls (language, translation and etymology) : http://thebloodofsouls.blogspot.com/
· Whiskers on Kittens (Life with Kittens and Cats in general) : http://whiskersonkittens-vincent.blogspot.com/

Château Grand Bigard: # 1 of 10 - 2014

For Easter I went for a very short visit to Brussels. Since the time coincided with the yearly flower show at Château de Grand Bigard I decided to revisit it this time armed with extra batteries and extra SD cards just to be safe. Last time I visited was in 2012 I have included the link to those posts below.
I will be publishing some more along with other photos and information ... in the meantime here is some Eye Candy to keep you all happy.

Tulips at Château Grand Bigard with the Old Keep / Tower in the background.

Here are the links to the posts related to my visit in 2012:

Floralia Brussels Château de Grand Bigrad: Part 1

Floralia Brussels Château de Grand Bigrad: Part 2

Floralia Brussels Château de Grand Bigrad: Part 3

Floralia Brussels Château de Grand Bigrad: Part 4

Floralia Brussels Château de Grand Bigrad: Part 5

Floria Brussels Château de Grand Bigrad: PART 6

Florialia Brussels Château de Grand Bigrad: PART 7

 I also wrote a post entitled When is château not a castle? in The Blood of Souls which is my blog on etymology, language and translation issues in which I addressed a mistranslation in the Grand Bigard website which it seems they have corrected since, on their pamphlets at least. 




Flora and Fauna - Plants and Critters Blog by Vincent Albert Vermeulen is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported License.

Based on a work at http://plantsandcritters.blogspot.be/.

Permissions beyond the scope of this license may be available at http://plantsandcritters.blogspot.be/.

My other blogs

· Flora and Fauna - Plants and Critters (on plants, animals as well as gardening, conservation and environmental matters): http://plantsandcritters.blogspot.com/
· The Blood of Souls (language, translation and etymology) : http://thebloodofsouls.blogspot.com/
· Whiskers on Kittens (Life with Kittens and Cats in general) : http://whiskersonkittens-vincent.blogspot.com/

Just a teaser

I still have a host of photos taken around Bristol including some more of the Fort Royal Gardens changing faces. But I thought that I should share a few tasty morsels of what I took some pictures of recently over a quick visit to Brussels this Easter during which I took the opportunity to visit the Floral Show at Château Grand Bigard as well as the Royal Greenhouses in Laken. the first which lasts about a month (from early April to early May) and the second which is open only for one week every year.

Tulips at Château Grand Bigard, Belgium, 2014

Tulips at Château Grand Bigard, Belgium, 2014

I arrived there about 2 hours before closing at Château Grand Bigard so I was shooting in the evening sun against a deadline. Somehow I managed to get some decent photos. The flowers as always were brilliant and breathtakingly beautiful.


Flora and Fauna - Plants and Critters Blog by Vincent Albert Vermeulen is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported License.

Based on a work at http://plantsandcritters.blogspot.be/.

Permissions beyond the scope of this license may be available at http://plantsandcritters.blogspot.be/.

My other blogs

· Flora and Fauna - Plants and Critters (on plants, animals as well as gardening, conservation and environmental matters): http://plantsandcritters.blogspot.com/
· The Blood of Souls (language, translation and etymology) : http://thebloodofsouls.blogspot.com/
· Whiskers on Kittens (Life with Kittens and Cats in general) : http://whiskersonkittens-vincent.blogspot.com/

Yellow flowers and blue skies mirrored in the Fort Royal Gardens Pond

Flora and Fauna - Plants and Critters Blog by Vincent Albert Vermeulen is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported License.

Based on a work at http://plantsandcritters.blogspot.be/.

Permissions beyond the scope of this license may be available at http://plantsandcritters.blogspot.be/.

My other blogs

· Flora and Fauna - Plants and Critters (on plants, animals as well as gardening, conservation and environmental matters): http://plantsandcritters.blogspot.com/
· The Blood of Souls (language, translation and etymology) : http://thebloodofsouls.blogspot.com/
· Whiskers on Kittens (Life with Kittens and Cats in general) : http://whiskersonkittens-vincent.blogspot.com/

more Magnolias

Sometimes it is fascinating the various shades of blue you can find in the sky. Just by moving a bit and taking a photo from a different angle or location you can get a different blue tone although the angle of the sunlight and where you are can also make a big difference as you can see here.

Magnolias with the University of Bristol Physics Building in the background

Flora and Fauna - Plants and Critters Blog by Vincent Albert Vermeulen is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported License.

Based on a work at http://plantsandcritters.blogspot.be/.

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My other blogs

· Flora and Fauna - Plants and Critters (on plants, animals as well as gardening, conservation and environmental matters): http://plantsandcritters.blogspot.com/
· The Blood of Souls (language, translation and etymology) : http://thebloodofsouls.blogspot.com/
· Whiskers on Kittens (Life with Kittens and Cats in general) : http://whiskersonkittens-vincent.blogspot.com/

Magnolias and Martenista dolls from Bulgaria

I was waiting for nice blue skies to coincide with when I had a bit of time to quickly go and take some more photos in the Fort Royal Gardens because I wanted to get some photos of the Cherry and Magnolia blossoms as well as the changing flora. The hard thing was finding the time since despite what people may say and think you do get to see a lot of blue skies in England. Maybe I  just notice it more than those who only notice grey skies when they are there.
Anyway here are some photos of the two Magnolia trees located in the little cul-de-sac near the rear exit of the Gardens along with some other flowers.

Magnolia Blossom that has lost all its leaves in foreground

As you can see I probably was lucky as the flowers are beginning to lose their petals which made for some interesting photo opportunities also.

I am still not sure if the smaller tree is indeed a Magnolia or not.

Some one had hung two tiny dolls on this tree. I was not sure of the symbolism but assumed it was some Japanese tradition because I had seen two Japanese girls leaving there as I arrived. In fact I only noticed it because two guys who were already there (also taking pictures along with this other lady) noticed the dolls which were hanging from the lower branches.
I looked it up and it turns out they are most likely Pizho and Penda a pair of Martenitsa dolls, which are from a Bulgarian traditional holiday Baba Marta. I'll write more in another post with a close up of the dolls.
You can go to that post by licking on the link: Baba Marta Martenitsa Dolls appear in Bristol

Flora and Fauna - Plants and Critters Blog by Vincent Albert Vermeulen is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported License.

Based on a work at http://plantsandcritters.blogspot.be/.

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My other blogs

· Flora and Fauna - Plants and Critters (on plants, animals as well as gardening, conservation and environmental matters): http://plantsandcritters.blogspot.com/
· The Blood of Souls (language, translation and etymology) : http://thebloodofsouls.blogspot.com/
· Whiskers on Kittens (Life with Kittens and Cats in general) : http://whiskersonkittens-vincent.blogspot.com/

Cherry blossoms?

In the lawn between the two Magnolias was a tall slender tree which had all these pink flowers. I have no idea what it is but think it might be a variety of cherry tree. In any case it has lovely flowers although the height at which the flowers were and their position made it quite a challenge to photograph especially with the wind.

Flora and Fauna - Plants and Critters Blog by Vincent Albert Vermeulen is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported License.

Based on a work at http://plantsandcritters.blogspot.be/.

Permissions beyond the scope of this license may be available at http://plantsandcritters.blogspot.be/.

My other blogs

· Flora and Fauna - Plants and Critters (on plants, animals as well as gardening, conservation and environmental matters): http://plantsandcritters.blogspot.com/
· The Blood of Souls (language, translation and etymology) : http://thebloodofsouls.blogspot.com/
· Whiskers on Kittens (Life with Kittens and Cats in general) : http://whiskersonkittens-vincent.blogspot.com/

Magnolias, Cherry Blossoms and Daffodils in the Fort Royal Gardens

Daffodils in Fort Royal Gardens

Magnolia in Fort Royal Gardens

Flora and Fauna - Plants and Critters Blog by Vincent Albert Vermeulen is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported License.

Based on a work at http://plantsandcritters.blogspot.be/.

Permissions beyond the scope of this license may be available at http://plantsandcritters.blogspot.be/.

My other blogs

· Flora and Fauna - Plants and Critters (on plants, animals as well as gardening, conservation and environmental matters): http://plantsandcritters.blogspot.com/
· The Blood of Souls (language, translation and etymology) : http://thebloodofsouls.blogspot.com/
· Whiskers on Kittens (Life with Kittens and Cats in general) : http://whiskersonkittens-vincent.blogspot.com/