France [mostly Loire] Trip Report

Part 2.

Day 5 – broke down and visited Azay-le-Rideau chateau in the morning; it was out of chronological order but too close to skip. I particularly enjoyed seeing the attic, with amazing timber framing, and the movie in the royal bedroom showing how they had constructed the bed coverings, wall hangings, etc. Delicious lunch at Cote Cour. Then we headed to Langeais where we met up with sister and BIL. Langeais has a keep built by Foulques Nerra, very forbidding, as well as a later portion that was the site of the marriage of Anne of Brittany to Charles VIII, which united Brittany to France. Then we headed off to our home for the next 5 days, a rental cottage in La-Croix-en-Touraine, which I found through the Gites de France website. It was perfect for us; 3 bedrooms on 2 floors, 2 bathrooms, a well-equipped kitchen with sugar, spices, oil, dishwasher soap, etc. We really enjoyed being able to walk to the boulangerie in the morning to pick up fresh croissants and perhaps a quiche or two for dinner, then have a leisurely breakfast in our little home, and return for dinner each night. The gite was across the street from the Cher river and about half a mile from a Carrefour, where we got groceries for our stay. It was a great home base for us.

Day 6 – Mom stayed home to rest while the three of us visited Loches. This was a good decision on her part; we encountered lots of hills and steps. It rained fairly hard as we headed to the chateau but by the time we finished our tour the rain had stopped, so we explored the nice little garden.

Day 7 – Amboise today – we were glad to find an elevator to take us up to the chateau level, and Mom only did the ground and first floor of the castle. The view from the castle over the town and along the river was gorgeous. In the afternoon we visited da Vinci’s home, Clos Luce; it was nice to finally see some furnished rooms after the relatively austere chateaux we had seen. And the basement was full of models of his inventions; we probably spent an hour or more wandering around there. The garden also had models, but we were wearing down by then so headed home.

Day 8 – Blois was the farthest commute – it took close to an hour each way from our gite. But it was a pleasant drive along the river. I enjoyed the historical range shown in the chateau there, from the medieval hall, through Flamboyant Gothic and Renaissance, to the classical wing, and several of the rooms are beautifully restored.

Day 9 – Chenonceau today, just as wonderful as I remembered and as everyone says. The rooms are well furnished, and the kitchens were particularly interesting with lots of pans and utensils and an amazing range in the more modern part. And it’s small enough to be graspable! Weather was gray and chilly so we didn’t wander the gardens but did get a tasty lunch at the onsite café.

Day 10 – We had planned to see the gardens at Chaumont today but were starting to wear down, and the garden theme this year was the seven deadly sins, which didn’t sound too appealing to us. So on to Chambord. We lunched in a little café between the parking lot and the castle; easy and fairly good. Then, fortified, we headed to the castle. It’s so big, it’s really hard to take it all in, and I didn’t find the signage or the maps as helpful as I needed. We completely missed the carriage room on the 2d floor, but did get up to the roof to admire the range of chimneys, and the view. Spent the next two nights at Chambres La Flanerie, in Cour-Cheverny, which was great. Nice rooms, a lovely garden, and very good breakfasts from our host and hostess. Dinner options in the area were a bit limited; we ate both nights at St-Hubert. The first night was a bit of a disappointment [the amuse-bouche was a foie gras crème brulee, which just didn’t work], but we made better choices the second night.

to be continued ... only one more post...

Part 3.

Day 10 – I had great memories of Cheverny from our previous trip and was glad to see it again, even though it was Sunday so no “souper des chiens”. But the rooms are lovely and beautifully furnished, and I like seeing the family items mixed in with the historical stuff – like the dress from the 1994 wedding of the count and countess. Lunch at the onsite café, again easy and quite tasty.

Day 11 – up in the morning and off to CDG for our flight to Scotland [visiting friends there]. It was an easy drive with much less traffic around Paris than when we arrived. Plenty of time for lunch at the Hippopotamus in the airport and a relaxed departure.

Overall thoughts – my new Garmin GPS was extremely helpful [except once, on the way to Fontevraud, when it sent us through some amazing winding, narrow farm roads that probably saved half a kilometer – but at least they were paved]. I had GPS coordinates or addresses for our lodgings, and entered them before the trip. Each day, I just entered the sight we were heading for and the GPS took us right there. On our last day, it even found the EuropCar rental return in terminal 2D, which required some serious looping around, but I just followed the voice and it worked like a charm. This was my first trip renting a car for more than a day, and it was fine. I still like trains, but they would not have worked for this trip.

We had brought a special cane for my mother that converts to a seat, but we found we didn’t need it. There were no lines to get in any of the chateaux, and once inside many rooms had some place to sit. We were also able to use her US handicapped hangtag to park in handicapped spots, and at many chateaux she got in free as a handicapped person. Sometimes I got in free as her assistant, which was a big surprise.

By now, all those chateaux have somewhat run together in my mind, but I never tired of visiting them while we were there. We did get some rain, no surprise in October, but it was great being able to avoid the summer crowds. Because France is so far west in the time zone, sunrise was around 8 and sunset at 7 or 7.15, which worked well for us; I prefer not to drive at night especially on unfamiliar roads.

At times the planning for this trip was almost overwhelming, but thanks to a lot of advice from forum folks the trip turned out very well and we all had a wonderful time. It was my BIL’s first visit to the continent [he spent 10 days in Scotland last fall with my sister], and I think we’ve got him hooked!

Great report, Kathleen. Thanks for posting.

Thanks for this. We saw many of the same Loire sites, found Loches particularly interesting and evocative. For me, one souper des chiens at Cheverny was enough for one lifetime. I'd like to see Guedelon under construction, but I guess no risk that it will be finished in my lifetime. :-) You did some pretty serious driving, especially from the Loire to CDG for a same-day flight. Not sure I'd have tried that. And kudos to your mom, I hope I'm still up to that kind of travel at her age.

Happy memories and don't wait too long for the next trip!

Dick, our flight was at 5.15 pm but I made Mom leave by 10 am just to be safe. This drive was part of the reason we moved to Cour-Cheverny for our last 2 nights; CDG was only 2.5 hours away according to Via Michelin. With one stop for gas and the restroom we made it in about 3 hours. Car return was super easy so we had time for a very relaxed lunch before our EasyJet flight.