Sunday stroll at Renswoude Castle Park (March 2011)
March 6, 2012 84 Comments
Renswoude Castle
There’s nothing more exciting than to have that confirmation that spring has arrived. The moment the crocuses come out of the ground and burst profusely like nature’s floral carpet, there’s nothing more enjoyable than to be out for our usual Sunday stroll.
One year ago, we were blessed with a lovely Sunday weather of bright sun and blue skies. I always like a good walk but I make sure that we go to a place with lots of atmosphere as well. This time, I found a very nice castle not so far from our place (about 25 minutes drive). Renswoude Castle was built in 1654 in the classic Dutch style. In 1708, the castle park was changed into geometric French baroque style with straight lanes, grand canal and a star forest. Between 1816 and 1818, the park has been modernized in the English landscape style where many straight elements were altered with undulating and curved lines.
This castle which was named after the town itself is privately owned but its park is open to the public. We enjoyed the stroll, Francesca loved the sheer space and the freedom to run around. The park is planted with centuries-old trees through which the sun rays shone through its bare branches. The onset of spring was already evident from the patches of crocuses in full bloom. In a month or two, the rhododendrons there will be bursting in profusion too.
The little girl at Renswoude Castle
Renswoude Castle
My family
Crocuses
Father and daughter
Spring bloom
Renswoude Castle
My family
Father and daughter
Chasing game
Father and daughter
Renswoude Castle
Me and my little girl
The castle from across the grand canal
My little girl
Swans at the grand canal
Posing for picture
Me and my little girl
Fun among the trees
The little girl and the tree
Hide-and-seek game
A duck in the grand canal
Father and daughter hiding from me
The castle
The sun through the trees
Chasing game
About Malou
Malou… Another great group of pictures… and post. Thanks for sharing.
Thanks a lot, Nandi.
nice post. I am waiting for summer..and where I live there is nothing more than telltale signs of spring at this time.
Thanks a lot, Radhika. Our weather is also going crazy, getting warmer then cooling down again. Looking forward to the warm days too.
your family is beautiful and the castle is pretty nice too. LOL
Thanks a lot. The nice thing here is we have quite a handful of easily reachable castles where we can have nice walks. Perfect for family bonding.
Another lovely post with fab pics – great to see some springtime sunshine…
Thanks a lot, Suzanne. These pictures are from last year but I’m looking so much forward for spring to kick-off this year.
How gorgeous it is there!!! What a beautiful girl you have!
Thanks a lot, Amanda.
What a beautiful location for a walk and what a lovely spring day! I can only dream of weather like that in March!
Yes, it was a beautiful park and there were hardly any people. Just perfect for a Sunday walk.
What great pictures! I wish we had a place as picturesque near us.
Thanks a lot. We are quite lucky to have quite a handful of easily reachable castles and palaces which are excellent destinations for Sunday walks.
What a fun, spring day you had and the castle is gorgeous, not to mention your daughter! You have a beautiful family, Malou, and thanks for sharing these wonderful photos!
Thanks a lot. The beautiful day then was just so hard to ignore. We always love a good walk on a Sunday and in such a lovely setting.
Gorgeous photos! What a lovely day for a stroll around the castle. That first photo with the reflection in the water and the swans swimming through the lake is stunning! The photos with your family are really cute!
Thanks a lot, Alisa. Can’t complain with the weather, the castle setting and of course, our togetherness as a family.
I thought it was springtime in Kentucky and yesterday we had a snow storm that dumped 5 inches of snow on my daffodils. But the snow was so beautiful I had fun taking pictures and watching my dog play in it. Oh and today, the snow is almost gone as it was 65 degrees and most of the daffodils survived..
Oh, looking forward to your snow pictures, Joy. Weather is just so erratic. Same here, the temperature has already gone up but today, it was very cold again. I can hardly wait for spring to come.
Good to know that your daffodils survived.
Beautiful pictures, as usual! Thanks for posting!
Thanks a lot, Debbie.
What a beautiful family, Malou! Your little girl is adorable! The castle is so lovely. It makes me wish we had castles to visit in the US! Your photos are just lovely. It looked like a perfect day for reflections, finding spring flowers, enjoying the blue sky and family time.
Great post!
Thanks a lot. Judy. Despite the absence of castles there, you have plenty of natural wonders which are just as great to visit.
Thank you, Malou, you are right! And we do have some estate homes open to the public. But every “girl” loves a castle! It’s that princess thing we played when we were kids!
I’ll just come across the pond and visit!
You really are an excellent photographer!
Thanks a lot, Katherine.
That castle looks like it’s floating! Really great photos, as always. Thanks for sharing!
That was the effect that the builder wanted to achieve and was very successful.
Your daughter is so adorable!
Thanks a lot, Rachel.
Excellent photos. My maternal grandfather was a news photographer. His advice for picture taking was to include people (friends and familly are best) in your outdoor photos because it makes the entire photo more interesting to the viewer. You are doing just as he suggested!
Your grandfather is indeed right in that advice. Without people in the picture, the place will be less interesting.
It’s good to mix people with you other very good photos of flowers and landscapes.
I am so glad I signed up to follow your blog. Your photos never fail to make me smile
Happy to know that my pictures make you smile.
Looks like you had a fun day at a beautiful place. Very magical!!
Indeed we had so much fun in that place on that day.
Beautiful! All amazing pictures
Thanks a lot, Dena.
Beautiful pictures!
Thanks a lot.
What gorgeous spring weather you’ve been having!! We’ve just had a huge dump of snow after an “almost” snowless winter, so I guess it’s a good thing.. But your photo of the crocus!! So pretty!! And I especially love the photo of your daughter peaking around the statue in hide and seek… adorable!
These pictures were from last year, Barbara. It is still pretty cold here but the forecast is that next week we’ll have 15C. Can hardly wait for that.
Just enjoy the snow…better late than never. It feels weird if there will be completely no snow in winter, right?
My daughter can also hardly wait for the weather to be warm and conducive again for all the fun games she has in mind.
Beautiful family, and gorgeous photos of the castle and its surroundings. This is really a beautiful set.
Your photographs are really beautiful…
Even a Sunday stroll seems like a thing to be included in the ‘things to do list’!
Beautiful Europe…. I love your little one’s pink coat. Just right!
Thanks a lot, Janine.
Her choice of color changes over too…this time is purple. 
Oh how lovely Malou, great pics of the family and the castle too. Someone was very clever building it to reflect in the water. Thanks for a lovely post
Thanks a lot, Gilly! It is amazing that the architect of this castle was able to achieve that effect.
So sweet! I loved all the Spring pictures of the crocuses coming up and the massive castle reflected in the water, but the ones that tugged at my heart were the ones of your family playing chase and hide-and-go-seek. What a great day and fantastic memories made!
Thanks a lot, Sherry. We love a good outing when time permits. Life as a family is top priority for us at all times.
What fun to play hide and seek in such beautiful environs! Thank you for taking us along!
Glad to know that you like this post, Madhu.
Beautiful photos! I love visiting castles, too. Looks like you’re enjoying early spring up in Holland!
Thanks a lot, Kimberly. These were pictures from last year.
It is still quite chilly here. 
what lovely pictures! I am aching for spring, too, now!
We are all now tired of the cold and grey weather that more sunshine and warmer temperature are very much eagerly awaited.
You have a nice blog and photography here. x
Thanks a lot, Jenny!
I love your weekend strolls!! So peaceful, happy, and picturesque!! As always, your family looks so lovely, and your little girl is just precious!
Thanks a lot, Michi. You and D-Man also make fantastic weekend strolls which reminded me of the hubby and me before Francesca. That’s wonderful because I am sure that when eventually you have your little one, you will still be doing the same.
What a wonderful place …. what a castle !!!! Your little one is so cute .. Didn’t know that what you call “spring flower” can be found outside Scandinavia – here in the spring our forests are full of them – a floral carpet of them – in latin: Anemone nemorosa – we call them – vitsippa. Somebody must have brought them from up here .. and planted them down there. Nice surprise.
When they bloom – is it spring for me. Great happy photos again. Thank you.
it is a beautiful place, Viveka. Hopefully the weather this weekend is nice so that we can go there again.
Thanks for identifying the flower. I’m not such a plant person so I just take pictures but never been good with names. It must be very beautiful out there in Sweden when your forests are bursting with them in spring. Oh, my idea of a perfect place!
Wonderful photos, wonderful castle and what a wonderful day you must have had.
Thanks a lot, Karen! Indeed it was a wonderful day. If the weather is nice this weekend, I’m looking forward to a repeat visit.
Hi Malou! My favorite is the “hide and seek” shot. She looks so brave and poised. You really captured a lovely moment! Theadora (You both are such fashion plates! Your dashing husband, too!!)
Thanks a lot, Theadora. I love to capture spontaneous moments because time flies and these are reminders of time that we can never go back to except in our memories.
Psst….I told the hubby that he’s dashing and he had a big laugh.
Lovely castle, lovely photos and a lovely family.
Thanks for sharing the pics.
Thanks a lot, Sapna.
Beautiful castle! I like ow it sits in the middle of a water body. You are so lucky to have such gorgeousness in your backyard!
It is indeed a magical castle and though we cannot see its interior, I am pretty happy to just view it from the outside. The park is magical enough.
I love your blog. I award it the Sunshine Award! Go to my blog to download the pic/award, then put it on your blog and write ten random things about yourself and then pass it on to another blogger who has a great blog!
Thanks a lot for sharing this award, Shirley.
Hi Malou
Beautiful Pic’s and CASTLE!
Great post!!!
Glad to know that you like this post.
Fantastic. The old castles and buildings are stunning. Where we come from in California, if something’s pre-1950 it’s “old”!
Another great set of pictures! Thanks for sharing. ^^
The more I read your posts and look at your photos, the more I feel that I need to get out and see your neck of the woods someday! I’ve never been to any of the Nordic countries and I just have to do it, especially since I have some Dutch ancestry thanks to my grandma
Always love your photos, but family time has put a huge smile on my face
Thank you for sharing!
What an amazing place with so many beautiful things to see! I especially loved your family photos. You all look very happy. =D
What a beautiful family you have!
Beautiful family and goegeous photos! I want to visit all of these castles!