I recently visited Le Manoir aux Quat'Saisons in Great Milton, Oxfordshire. Oooh! I here you cry as you raise your imaginary handbags to your chin, but ‘hey’ how else do you celebrate your grandmother's 90th year milestone? If you want to eat great food, it's best done in terrific settings, I’d say. After reading and viewing images of the gardens, I desperately wanted to take a look. The place had so much to offer, so here’s just a little snippet of our outing.

The house approach is exactly as you’d expect, the traditional lavender lined path, interspersed with tulips, informal box hedging and alliums just ripening to explode, on a backdrop of mature shrubs and occasional oxford stone walling, quite an entrance.

Just off this path is a small orchard, with long established and beautifully pruned apple trees, traversed via a meandering lawn path through a wild flower meadow currently being developed in consultation with Chris Beardshaw, I would love to see the final results later in the year….

This path leads you out into the 1.5 acre certified organic vegetable and herb gardens. The latter elegantly laid out in the Elizabethan knot style, framed with box and with larger bay hedging partially concealing a small centralised pond and fountain. The beds contain a diverse and abundant variety of herbs and in addition to their obvious culinary uses are also collected for the tea infusions; the peppermint aroma was delectable.

The remainder of this area is split into four equally large sized beds, and at this time of year, save a few winter greens, are vigorously being prepared by the gardeners for the main growing season. Complying with the strict organic certification requirements, chemical insecticides are forbidden, therefore good old fashioned weeding techniques and barriers of netting and fleece are applied to deter birds and mammals along with crop rotation to prevent pests and diseases. Knowing that such efforts are being made to supply the ‘as nature intended’ produce on your lunch plate certainly enhances the whole culinary experience.

Alongside the vegetables, a valley area has been constructed specifically for the purpose of growing mushrooms, with mentoring from Richard Edwards at Humungus Fungus, they hope to produce up to twelve different varieties throughout the year.

On the opposing side of the vegetable garden, secluded by hedging you are suddenly and quite unexpectedly submerged in the sanctuary of a Japanese tea garden. Now, I’m particularly ignorant in Japanese culture, in fact my only knowledge is entirely television based and almost exclusively from the Japanese cult TV show ‘Monkey’, which I now discover was actually entirely filmed in China! But whenever I hear those two words ‘Japanese’ and ‘garden’ together it immediately conjures up images of miniaturised plants and rock formations, almost like I've been washed up on the island of Lilliput!

This Tea Garden of Fugetsu-An however is beautifully executed and long established, incorporating Buddhist, Taoist and Shinto influences and providing the flora and fauna expected along with single stone walkways, rock gardens, linked ponds and babbling streams, traversed by small bridges and housing a traditional Tea House pavilion. It is idyllic to wander through and offers contemplation locations aplenty. Although, and it’s probably just me, but isn't placing a garden of serenity within this whole heavenly setting akin to sedating a sloth? I guess that’s the beauty of gardening, each design, layout, or plant offers something different for everyone. I would think that the hardest decision Mr Blanc and his kitchen staff have, is which delightful location to choose in the entire garden when contemplating their next culinary delight.

Striking bronze statues are situated throughout the garden and really draw your view to all corners of the site. We were particularly enchanted with the little boy lying on the lawn, book in hand, outside la maison des fleurs in the center of the gardens.

The stroll back to the main house lead us past the 17th century pond, now partly used to irrigate the garden and through an arch back on to the main lawns. As my wife and I sat on the terrace awaiting our family, we couldn't help feeling that something wasn't quite right, and then both agreed that the ‘L’Orangerie’ addition to the main house is not aesthetically pleasing and feels exactly like that ‘an addition’; it’s not nearly architecturally striking enough and sits uncomfortably against the classic splendour of the main house. It either needs a colour to blend it or some creative planting to partially obscure. And while we’re at it, the modern garden furniture doesn't lend itself to the surroundings either and compromises the view of the ancient garden wall. OK, so these are our own humble opinions and it does feel a little like we're picking holes in a work by Millais, but we thought we’d offer them all the same.

Unsurprisingly, our lunch was a real masterpiece, and each course and meal was enjoyed by all, and delivered impeccably by the friendly and extremely well informed staff.

I guess the clue’s in the name and like all gardens this one needs to be viewed throughout the seasons. One down, look forward to future outings in summer, autumn and winter. It could get very expensive!

La crème de la crème anglaise and a splash of sake