Abbaye Villers la Ville & National Botanical Gardens, Belgium, March 2012

Abbaye Villers la Ville, dating from 1146	It's remarkably well preserved, compared to the English abbeys we've visited	And huge!
The old church is stunning, with huge pillars and tall walls and even a bit of roof left	But the inside is freezing - it truly must have been miserably cold to be a monk, even when these windows had glass	'Inside' the church, again - the longest abbey nave in Belgium
*This* is why the abbey closes to visitors in high winds...	Overgrown ivy - but they are re-doing the old formal and herb gardens nearby	And again from the outside
These rhododendron are in bloom!	And the ones in our garden are not!	Might have something to do with the shadiness of the garden...
Still at the National Botanical Gardens, just north of the city	This is why we came - magnolias!	Absolutely gorgeous.