This shady bower is covered in blue climbing flowers known as morning glory in English and belle de nuit (night glory) in French. The mansion on the left overlooks Château de Fougères. Someone obviously wanted to stay in full view of the castle!
Cette tonnelle ombragée est couverte de fleurs bleues grimpantes qui s’appellent belle de nuit en français et morning glory (belle de matin) en anglais. Le manoir à gauche donne sur le château de Fougères. Quelqu’un devait vouloir être bien vu depuis le château !
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3 replies on “The Blue Bower – La tonnelle bleue”
It’s pretty, and in such a beautiful location.
I can’t recall the term bower being used on this side of the Atlantic.
The bower is called a gloriette, in both French and American English. I’d never heard the term before we came to France, so I suspect the southern states of America use it as one of their legacy words. I would have called it a bower in English myself, as an Australian.
This is interesting. I grew up in the south of the US and I don’t remember either term being used. (Which doesn’t really prove anything!) I do remember that we had pergolas but these generally referred to elongated pathway structures. Gazebos in the South were round or octagon shaped but were typically wooden structures although they might have vines climbing them. And a trellis is basically a two dimensional structure (attached to a wall or the “roof” of a pergola). It probably would be called an arbor in the South today if I had to guess. I’ll have to ask around my friends still there.