Places to see in Loire Valley?

[Madmaggott]

We have finally decided to travel as far as Loire during our 2 weeks holiday (tunnel booked 22 May), as we feel this is far enough to travel in the limited time we have for this, our first m/h holiday in France.

Could I pick the brains of the more experienced members of this forum for suggestions of 'mustn't miss' places?

We like the countryside, small towns/villages, chateau/architecture, markets/2nd hand stuff for sale, fetes or celebrations, etc.  And of course, we want to relax!  

Over to you ................ ?

 

 

[zeddykay]

We have stayed twice at Azay le Rideau , lovely quiet municipal campsite, with pool , if I remember rightly, virtually in the grounds of the Chateau. Small village atmosphere, but reasonable access to the main sites in the area. Chateau has son et lumiere in main season. Enjoy! Good small resataurant in village plus usual boulangerie etc. Last visit Sept. 2008

[spospe]

Apart from Azay, two other good chateau to visit are Chambord and Chenonceaux. We have been to all three and they are all good for different reasons.

[Brian Kirby]

The Loire valley (La Loire, but including Le Loir, just to its North) is in many ways the nicest part of France.  The Loire is, however, also the longest river in France, so its valley covers a multitude of landscapes and townscapes from its source up in the Auvergne, to its mouth at Nantes.  Chuck in the Indre, and the Allier, and you have the essence of central France.  Very good local wines, many of which are not so common outside the area, good food at reasonable prices, a general lack of push and grab, less commercial pressure than farther south, and by far the greatest, and best, collection of renaissance châteaux in France!

The châteaux are mainly concentrated between Gien and Angers, are mostly open to the public, and vary between the grandest, and largest, at Chambord (though sadly unfurnished) to tiny, fragile, gems like Talcy.  Between, there is everything from ruined fortresses such as Montrichard, to fairy tale palaces like Chaumont-sur-Loire, Azay-le-Rideau (on the Indre), or Chenonceaux (on the Cher, arguably the prettiest), via (still inhabited by its builder's family, and superbly furnished) Cheverney, with its pack of smelly, baying, stag hounds, to little manor houses like Le Gué-Péan, 8 miles east of Montrichard!

The main towns of Orleans (of Joan of Arc fame), Blois, and Tours all have their own character, and historic quarters, and the smaller towns and villages are a delight, with their characteristic near white tufa stone buildings.  There is excellent, and reasonably priced, bubbly from Saumur and Vouvray.  Oh yes, and a pretty spectacular canal aqueduct at Briare if you want a bit of engineering interest!

There is far, far, too much for just two weeks, so I can only suggest you get a guide (green Michelin, Châteaux of the Loire), and sift out what interests you from that.

[Madmaggott]

Once again excellent advice, many thanks.

Brian, I have ordered the Michelin guide.

 

 

[RoyH]

If you happen to get to Chinon find the statue of Joan of Arc which is in the square with a large car park. This the most dynamic statue I've ever seen. It has her on a charging horse amid a battle with men lying under the hooves. I know it sounds horrific but it certainly has the reality of ancient war about it.

[RoyH]

Managed to find a picture. Hope the link works. It's a bit long but I've tried it and it does work.

 

http://images.google.co.uk/imgres?imgurl=http://www.nickbooth.id.au/Images/France08/Lynn/033Chinon-Jean-darc.jpg&imgrefurl=http://www.nickbooth.id.au/France08/Chinon.html&usg=__9mSAZPttcMkl_-sYUVDg2oML-UY=&h=527&w=800&sz=284&hl=en&start=11&itbs=1&tbnid=K6rclyjC-YcneM:&tbnh=94&tbnw=143&prev=/images%3Fq%3Djoan%2Bof%2BArc%2Bstatue%2BChinon,%2BFrance%26hl%3Den%26client%3Dfirefox-a%26sa%3DN%26rls%3Dorg.mozilla:en-US:official%26tbs%3Disch:1

 

 

 

 

[Madmaggott]

Wow, Roy that's something to see!

[lennyhb]

zeddykay - 2010-05-05 5:09 PM

 

We have stayed twice at Azay le Rideau , lovely quiet municipal campsite, with pool , if I remember rightly, virtually in the grounds of the Chateau. Small village atmosphere, but reasonable access to the main sites in the area. Chateau has son et lumiere in main season. Enjoy! Good small resataurant in village plus usual boulangerie etc. Last visit Sept. 2008

 

I'll second that stayed there years ago with the caravan, the pool is the municipal one next door to the site.

 

 

[Guest JudgeMental]

Blimey.....I don't believe it the search function just worked! *-)

 

had a week whitsun half term 2009 and it was lovely! You cant really go wrong if you meander along from Bois. while Azay lovely, we had a terrible and expensive meal in the small town.....we did our usual walk around and picked the busiest, more fool us! the owner was plonking the odd free bottle of wine on the locals tables! probably the worst value and most unsatisfactory meal ever. it is in the square and on the corner:-S

 

Saumur is nice free parking on river on cobbled car park. municipal at Amboise also a good stop

 

http://www.outandaboutlive.co.uk/forums/forums/thread-view.asp?tid=15741&posts=16

[George Collings]

Touring the Loire (not to be confused with the Loir) from the source to the mouth is best done at a leisurly pace, allow a couple of lifetimes.

[rupert123]

We always seem to stop on the Loire when traveling up of down France and have spent some time their over a number of years. Personally I would just pick out a couple of chateaux and miss the rest. A couple of places I would visit are a bit off the main Loire river itself. One is the Troglodyte village at Rochemier and the other the abbey at Fontevraud where Richard the Lion Hearts tomb is. At Chinon their is Fortresse Royal which is being renovated, place where Joan of Arc met King Charles the V11. Also at Chinon, back of town and uphill more Troglodyte houses and a small church. At Angers the castle is worth a look as it contains the Apocalypse Tapestry, in my opinion better than the Bayeux one.

[lennyhb]

JudgeMental - 2010-05-05 9:24 PM

 

Blimey.....I don't believe it the search function just worked! *-)

 

 

You must be telling porky's

:D :D :D :D :D :D :D :D :D

[spospe]

To save following RoyH's long link, I have posted a photo of Joan of Arc's statue at Chinon below and also one of the tomb of Richard the Lionheart at Fontevraud (the boxes belonged to a film crew who were working there at the time of our visit).

[Patricia]

Amboise is a very interesting area with its historic castle, Leonardo da Vinci museum (and several others) and good selection of shops and restaurants. The locals in this area claim to speak the purist French and to have the best cuisine.