Adventures in the Loire Valley

I’m back from a week’s holiday in France. This time we headed to the Loire Valley to do some cycling, eat some good food and visit a few chateaus.

The cycling

It was ok. There are lots of cycle paths in France, so it feels fairly safe and the weather was pretty good for October.  However, I still prefer the cycling in Switzerland. France has lots of signs showing that you're on the cycle route but quite frequently that's all the help you get. The Swiss signs with the names of places you're heading towards are so much more helpful.  Overall it's good to go somewhere new but nothing beats cycling in the Engadin.

The food

Here there is no contest. The food in France is far better than anywhere else in the world. (That’s a big claim I realise). It's true that we did have one really disappointing meal but other than that our dining experiences were great. Restaurant L’Aubépine in Tours was my favorite – chilled ambiance, interesting food and a tasty non-alcoholic aperitif de maison. The best thing I ate was pre-dessert at Nemrod in Chinon. It was pear sorbet with tiny drops of tomato sauce (not ketchup) served in an eau de vie - it was simply divine! Finally, A special shout out should also go to our B&B in Flavigny (Maison Du Tisserand) where we had a fantastic candlelit dinner with excellent locally-sourced and fresh ingredients, cooked by our host Marie.

The chateaus

I must admit that I'm not a big history fan but I do like a good garden, so we focused on visiting the chateaus with interesting grounds. One of our bike rides took us past Villandry so we stopped there to wander around the magnificent gardens. Another day we cycled to Chateau de Rivau with its quirky art and interesting garden sculptures - giant wellington boots, a huge watering can and hammocks to relax in. We particularly enjoyed watching the peacocks wandering around outdoors. The final chateau we visited was at Azay le Rideau. The exhibitions showed you how the house had changed throughout the ages right down to the billiard room evoking 19th century social pastimes.  The gardens were nice and relaxing but not as formal as Villandry nor as quirky as Rivau.

All in all the visits to the chateaus were better than I expected, making the relatively long drive to get to the Loire Valley worthwhile.

Learning tip

This holiday we spent quite a lot of time in the car.  We entertained ourselves on the journey by listening to an 80s playlist and several episodes of history podcasts. After travelling through Orleans, I decided I needed to know more about Joan of Arc so I found a podcast all about her. I'd have preferred the podcast to have been two episodes rather than four, but it was a good way to pass the time and learn a bit about French and English history.

Perhaps you could try listening to history podcasts on your next holiday.