Hi~
My family (2 adults, 2 kids) will be driving from Le Mont St. Michel to Sarlat. We were hoping to stop at Clos-Luce to break up the drive. I'm having a hard time figuring out how long people typically spend there (ie - would it be worth it to stop if we can only spend 2-3 hours?). Any advice?
Thank you!
Heather
In my view le Clos Lucé is vastly overrated. Certainly Leonardo lived there but there is absolutely nothing of his there now; just a few model reproductions of his ideas and inventions in the basement.
If you have little time, spend it at nearby Château Chambord or Cheverny or Château Blois which are far more compelling visits.
If you want to spend 2-3 hours anywhere along the route it will have to be an overnight stop, which means your visit(s) can be as long as possible.
People with kids love Close Lucé. My experience is that if you haven't been there with kids (like me) it's worth an hour or 90 minutes of your time. Anecdotally, people with kids can spend a long time there.
The upside is that if you're spending a night in Amboise you also have the chateau to visit.
Off topic, but out of curiosity, which Sarlat are you travelling to?
We will be driving to Sarlat-la-Caneda. It looks to be about 7 hours if we drive through w/ no stops. We were thinking of doing Clos-Luce just to break up the trip which adds about 30 minutes to driving time. Our other thought was skipping Clos-Luce (since we won't be spending a night in Amboise) and stopping at Oradour-sur-Glane. Perhaps that would be a better use of our time? I know it's a long driving day but our kids our pretty good travelers so we're going for it :)
I don't know what you'll be driving but I'd be amazed if you could drive from MSM to Sarlat that fast -- maybe a flying carpet? ;-)
Via Michelin shows closer to nine hours' driving time, with no stops, and of course you'll be making multiple stops even without any sightseeing. And Via Michelin doesn't take account of traffic either. So I'd urge you to give that road trip two days if you possibly can. Amboise would indeed be a good overnight choice, with Clos Luce and the chateau.
A big part of Clos Luce's appeal to kids is the adjacent park where various Leonardo machines are reproduced and can be played on and with. I don't know your kids' ages, but I think kids young enough to enjoy that are probably too young to be exposed to Ouradour. You are of course the best judges.
I personally was extremely moved by Oradour-sur-Glane and found it one of my favorite experiences in France. However I agree with the previous poster that it might be not understood and therefore somewhat boring for younger children. Maybe older children, those over 12 or so, who have learned about the history of WWII might find it a good learning experience.
With that being said, I don't think you'll have much time to make any sightseeing stops on that route, especially if you're driving out of your way to do it. That's a long drive and with kids you will definitely need to make rest stops, lunch, etc, not to mention that It could go even longer than 9 hours if you hit traffic, bad road conditions, or an accident that backs up traffic.
