I am booking our travel to the Loire Valley and wonder if there are lockers to stow our bags at the St. Pierre des Corps train station, after our stay in Amboise, before we depart back to Paris. (I have gone online and can't seem to find the basics FAQs stuff about the station. ) On our day of departure from Amboise, (Sunday, Sept. 29), we'd like to ideally check out of our Airbnb, drive to the St. Pierre train station and stow our luggage, and go on further west to Chateau Villandry, where we would tour the gardens and chateau in the morning, and have lunch at the cafe there. Then back to the train station to drop off our car, at 2:00 p.m., retrieve our luggage and board a TGV to Paris. The reason for the luggage stowage is that we have booked a compact car, which does not have a trunk, and therefore our luggage would be visible during our time at Villandry. I am just going with the RS suggestion to store any valuables in the trunk during chateau visits, (a trunk we won't likely have) so as the train station is on the way to Villandry I thought we could stop off there quickly and deposit the luggage and have no worries. Any advice around this plan? Maybe I'm overworking
Posted by
Paris
10206 posts
I checked the station info — there are not any lockers — nor is there a left luggage.
You might google NannyBag or BagBnB to see if there are any commercial establishments near the station that will hold your bags. I agree it is not a great idea to leave them in a parked car.
Posted by
Loire Valley
824 posts
Stick your luggage on the back seat, throw a towel over it, and drive to Villandry. Park in the parking near the tourist office (not the parking for the chateau) https://goo.gl/maps/iEASkm9ucUkShk9u5 A police car occasionally drives through the car park (as they do at most major tourist spots)
I've never encountered problems with stuff going missing from the car.
Posted by
Paris
7304 posts
Even if you compact car is a hatchback, there will be a luggage cover. So if your luggage fits in the hold below the cover, you'll be able to hide it.
Posted by
OP
Minneapolis
208 posts
Thank you all for your suggestions. Although we've pre-reserved our car, we may be able to request a compact with a trunk when we pick it up. I also did check Nannybag, and there is one at the St. Pierre des Corps train station if we want to stop there on the way to Villandry and drop them off...may not be necessary, but other people may want to know that this is a storage option if they need to store luggage while in the area. (FYI: Nannybag does require pre-purchase, and reserved pick up/drop off times online and does not accept payment on site). RS guidebook also says that most chateaux offer baggage storage (?), but I checked Villandry's website and they don't mention this service.
Posted by
North Carolina
318 posts
I rented a compact hatchback at St Pierre de Corps last month; as others have said, the luggage compartment has a molded cover so no one can see what’s there. Of course this assumes your luggage fits there. I went to Villandry on my arrival day before continuing to Amboise.
Quick note if you’re renting from Hertz - I had trouble finding the rental office. It’s next to the station, but not as obvious as others. Turn right out of the station and keep looking carefully - you have to walk through a building or else continue on to the rental car parking lot (at which point the Hertz office location is obvious).
Posted by
Wyckoff, NJ, USA
7889 posts
2PM warning: Our rental office at St P des C was closed for lunch every day from 12 to 2. There could also be a line at 2 PM. Hours would be on the rental company listing for that location.
Posted by
OP
Minneapolis
208 posts
Thank you all for the additional tips. We will have carry-on sized luggage that should fit fine into a back storage area with a cover. (We would make sure that it does before we leave the rental car area , or upgrade to a car with a trunk). I found a very reasonably priced compact from Enterprise through the Orbitz website. From what I could see, they are open from 12:00 to 2:00 pm--at least those times were not "grayed out" on their posted schedule as they are with some of the other companies. However, we'll double check that fact when we pick it up, and won't dilly dally returning it--our TGV to Paris leaves from Saint Pierre at 3:05 p.m., so we certainly don't want to get into a long drop off line of cars. Thanks again!