Discussion
Wife and I both 60 off for a week to France second week of September.
Arrive in Calais 10 am on the Monday morning.
We often follow advice on this forum , this will be about the 5th time we have asked on different locations.
We will drive and like to stay in old towns in quirky hotels with decent restaurants. Often use Logis .
Typical day for us breakfast, drive somewhere nice , light lunch look about, bit more drive, hotel , walk about, evening meal , wine .
We don't know the Loire Valley at all, so any suggestions on where to head for , where to stay , where to avoid, anything gratefully received.
Thank you
Arrive in Calais 10 am on the Monday morning.
We often follow advice on this forum , this will be about the 5th time we have asked on different locations.
We will drive and like to stay in old towns in quirky hotels with decent restaurants. Often use Logis .
Typical day for us breakfast, drive somewhere nice , light lunch look about, bit more drive, hotel , walk about, evening meal , wine .
We don't know the Loire Valley at all, so any suggestions on where to head for , where to stay , where to avoid, anything gratefully received.
Thank you
Sounds like it'll be well suited to your pleasures. Coming from Calais head towards Orleans then wander down the river towards Angers via Beaugency, Chambord, Blois, Amboise, Tours, Chinon and Saumur, our favourite being the latter. If you like wandering around historical towns, chateaux and their grounds you're in the perfect area. Can't help you with hotels, we usually self cater in statics, of which there's ample choice.
Fontevraud Abbey nr Saumur is well worth a visit, final resting place of Richard the Lionheart and Eleanor of Aquitaine.
Some good wine caves in Saumur too where you can taste some ace Cremant de Loires. If wine is your thing then Bourgueil is just over the river from Saumur - some astounding St Nicholas wines there.
Some good wine caves in Saumur too where you can taste some ace Cremant de Loires. If wine is your thing then Bourgueil is just over the river from Saumur - some astounding St Nicholas wines there.
2 GKC said:
Fast and Spurious said:
A night??!! Ye Gods man, there's a tank museum there!!!!
I had no idea that was there when we booked. My boy loves tanks so it was a result. Bloody good museum that. King Tiger, Panther and all of the other loser tanks
And unlike the Manchester Imperial War museum which had a T34 in pride of place with signs saying "dont touch the tank" you can crawl inside the vast majority
It was a fantastic afternoon
And Saumur itself is a pretty town with plenty to occupy you for a day or 2
Enjoy
Abbott said:
Chateau Chaumont is my favourite. Interesting gardens and natural art.
very beautiful and worth a visit - we were drinking a bottle of their wine last night - very nice.spent a few days at the end of a French trip in Amboise - superb market there and a lovely place to stay - lots of good looking hotels and a lovely high street full of nice places to eat... also a chateau there where Leonardo Di Vinci spent his last three years...
we went here for an informal tasting: https://www.domainegrandmoulin.com just turned up - the family was eating lunch on the terrace above and the place was locked up - they sent down a teenager to look after us who was superb - we were tasting from the tanks and nothing was too much trouble - bought a 'few' bottles... Their Cremant de Loire is easily the equivalent of an intro to normal champagne - and is 7.50 euros a bottle!
Don’t know the area particularly well but we often stay here when driving through:
www.sources-cheverny.com/en
www.sources-cheverny.com/en
It's a brilliant destination. Very long river. Like the rest of the posters, to me Loire means the area between Angers and Amboise.
Great concentrations of châteaux and very good and good value wines. The Cabernet Franc reds - Saumur Champigny, Bourgueil and Chinon are easily the equal of mid market Burgundy and Bordeaux. Cremant is generally very good. There are some world class whites which were once amongst the most expensive wines in the world in Bonnezeaux (Chateau de Fesles) Savennieres (Clos du Papillon) and Jasnières made from the underrated Chenin Blanc (Vouvray being the well known example) which can give everything from bone dry through off dry to very sweet. There are outstanding wines to find and the vineyards have been very informal and friendly in my experience. Not your usual 'holiday wines' which taste great in the sun with a plate of moules and don't one a wet October night but ones which will survive the journey and deliver after your return.
Great local cheeses which pair perfectly with the wine.
Great concentrations of châteaux and very good and good value wines. The Cabernet Franc reds - Saumur Champigny, Bourgueil and Chinon are easily the equal of mid market Burgundy and Bordeaux. Cremant is generally very good. There are some world class whites which were once amongst the most expensive wines in the world in Bonnezeaux (Chateau de Fesles) Savennieres (Clos du Papillon) and Jasnières made from the underrated Chenin Blanc (Vouvray being the well known example) which can give everything from bone dry through off dry to very sweet. There are outstanding wines to find and the vineyards have been very informal and friendly in my experience. Not your usual 'holiday wines' which taste great in the sun with a plate of moules and don't one a wet October night but ones which will survive the journey and deliver after your return.
Great local cheeses which pair perfectly with the wine.
cliffords said:
Wife and I both 60 off for a week to France second week of September.
Arrive in Calais 10 am on the Monday morning.
We often follow advice on this forum , this will be about the 5th time we have asked on different locations.
We will drive and like to stay in old towns in quirky hotels with decent restaurants. Often use Logis .
Typical day for us breakfast, drive somewhere nice , light lunch look about, bit more drive, hotel , walk about, evening meal , wine .
We don't know the Loire Valley at all, so any suggestions on where to head for , where to stay , where to avoid, anything gratefully received.
Thank you
A great time of year to go usually and there are LOADS of lovely towns and villages.Arrive in Calais 10 am on the Monday morning.
We often follow advice on this forum , this will be about the 5th time we have asked on different locations.
We will drive and like to stay in old towns in quirky hotels with decent restaurants. Often use Logis .
Typical day for us breakfast, drive somewhere nice , light lunch look about, bit more drive, hotel , walk about, evening meal , wine .
We don't know the Loire Valley at all, so any suggestions on where to head for , where to stay , where to avoid, anything gratefully received.
Thank you
In no particular order:
Crissay-sur-Manse - which is close to Chinon. Chinon is an interesting large town too.
Azay-le-Rideau - great chateau
Tours - a big town, but worth a visit
Chenonceux is a must see, one of the most famous chateaux in all of France - set on the water.
Bourges - medieval half-timbered properties, cobbled streets, great restaurants
There's a few to get you going.
DeuceDeuce said:
Don’t know the area particularly well but we often stay here when driving through:
www.sources-cheverny.com/en
Le Chateau de Cheverny was Hergé's model for Captain Haddock's house, Marlinspike Hall, in the Tintin books.www.sources-cheverny.com/en
Amboise is fabulous, the market (Fri and Sun mornings) is a must. The castle in Amboise houses da Vinci's grave, while the chateau just out of town (Close Luce) features where he lived and his quirky designs. Bigot chocolate shop is well worth a look.
Hotel de France in La Chartre-sur-le-Loir - beloved by motor racing enthusiasts as the hotel for Aston Martin. Quirky rooms and great food (small pool too).
Lac des Varennes at Marçon (next to La Chartre above). Great lake with sandy beach and waterslides. Lots of watersports available. You can even book a canoe trip from La Chartre (they'll drop you off) all the way back to the lake.
https://www.lebaudrille.fr/ - another great lake, amazing 'go ape/acrobranche'.
Loads of wine tasting - but we get our Vouvray from here: https://cavedevouvray.com/ (English spoken). Vouvray is same grape/method as Champagne, but much, much cheaper.
Hotel de France in La Chartre-sur-le-Loir - beloved by motor racing enthusiasts as the hotel for Aston Martin. Quirky rooms and great food (small pool too).
Lac des Varennes at Marçon (next to La Chartre above). Great lake with sandy beach and waterslides. Lots of watersports available. You can even book a canoe trip from La Chartre (they'll drop you off) all the way back to the lake.
https://www.lebaudrille.fr/ - another great lake, amazing 'go ape/acrobranche'.
Loads of wine tasting - but we get our Vouvray from here: https://cavedevouvray.com/ (English spoken). Vouvray is same grape/method as Champagne, but much, much cheaper.
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