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Château Country- Which Motorcaravan
The Loire Valley is synonymous with the elegant châteaux that line the Loire River, which runs from its source in the Cévennes to the Atlantic Ocean in the west and at over 600 miles long is the longest river in France. The region enjoys a gentle pace of life, with a mild climate and feels very different to its northern and southern counterparts. The châteaux themselves come in all shapes and sizes ranging from medieval fortresses to royal hunting lodges and country retreats. By the late 15th century many of the former castles had been transformed into royal palaces and throughout the 16th century some of the most impressive ones were built. In November 2000, UNESCO, unable to choose a particular château as a World Heritage Site instead awarded the title to the whole region.
The stretch of the Loire River from Gien to Angers is known as the Val de Loire and includes some of the best known châteaux in France. This is the area we would be covering on our trip, where we planned to follow the course of the river taking in a couple of châteaux a day, as well as mixing in the beautiful countryside and scenic towns along the route. By only going inside a few of the interiors, the rest enjoyed from outside, allowed more to be included on the itinerary, as well as preventing an overdose of castles. The overnight trip on the ferry from Portsmouth to Caen, enabled a nice early start for the drive down towards Le Mans and into the Loire region. The N138 makes up most of this route and if you ignore the wrong turn I made near Le Mans, it is a straightforward and pleasant journey south.
Chenonceau was to be the first château of our visit, but only after a stop off in Tours to break up the journey and to visit the town’s cathedral. The Cathedral de St-Gatien is striking to look at, built in the Gothic style with its twin towers and delicate tracery. Inside, it’s renowned for it’s stained glass windows and the 600 year old rose window is a highlight. It stands in an area of town that was part of the original Roman settlement, which in the 3rd century was enclosed with a wall still evident in the rue des Ursulines.
After refueling ourselves with coffee and croissants at a nearby café, we drove on to the Château de Chenonceau, which with over 7000 visitors a day in summer is one of France’s top attractions. We timed our visit for late afternoon when it was not only a bit cooler than the middle of the day, but it was also a lot quieter and the château was looking its best in the warm afternoon sunlight. It’s a beautiful building with equally fine gardens and illustrates the power of the Renaissance woman. This is because the château came about through the efforts of five remarkable women including Catherine Briçonnet, who supervised the construction and Diane de Poitiers who created the gardens and Grande Galerie that is built over the River Cher. During World War II, this provided access to the free zone, whilst the main entrance was still in the German occupied zone. The tour is bang up to current trends, using Apple’s iPod loaded with eleven languages of the castle's guided audio tour, which visitors can borrow and listen to at their leisure.
An evening meal in nearby Amboise was ideal for our overnight stop in the town at the campsite by the river. This was followed by a pleasant stroll along the banks of the Loire, which is overlooked by the town’s fortified château and provided the perfect way to end the day.
The following morning we drove to Blois, a lovely medieval town dominated by the château in the centre, home to Kings Louis III, François I and Henri III. The building itself juxtaposes four distinct architectural styles dating from the 13th century, through the Gothic and Renaissance periods, to the Classical. The François I’s staircase is one of its highlight features, enclosed in an octagonal well, its highly ornate carvings a Renaissance tour de force. From its open balconies the royal family could watch events in the courtyard.
The town was once the capital of France and is a really enjoyable place to explore. If you stop off at the tourist information office opposite the château, you can pick up a tour leaflet, which shows the best of the town. This has to include the striking, three spired église St Nicolas and église St Vincent that stands opposite the towns château. Also opposite the château is the magical Maison de la Magic that pays homage to Jean-Eugene Robert-Houdin, the father of modern illusion, after whom the great Houdini named himself. As we discovered to our amazement, as we sat outside a café nearby, on the hour, huge golden dragons leap out of the windows over the square like a cuckoo clock.
To the south of Blois is Cheverney, a fine looking mansion that’s known for its hunting tradition and its kennels house a pack of 70 brown and white hounds, a cross between English Foxhounds and French Poitevins. The Trophy Room is an extraordinary or ghastly sight, depending on your views on hunting, as it contains 2,000 pairs of antlers mounted on the walls and ceiling. The lavish décor of the chateau is classical in style and features extensive wall paintings throughout. Anyone familiar with the Tintin cartoons will recognise the house as Moulinsart, the home of Captain Haddock. In World War Two the Orangery in the garden was used to shelter French art treasures, including the Mona Lisa.
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Again, we timed our visit to Chambord, our next château, late in the day when many of the visitors had gone home. It’s the largest of all the château in the Loire and originally built as a fortress, with a keep by François I. It is however an architectural masterpiece and absolutely stunning to look at with its tiara like rooftop. Although, dramatic from the outside, the interior is disappointingly empty, except for its signature double-helix staircase, which means visitors can walk up and down in sight of one another, yet never meet. Opposite the house is a large green, surrounded by trees and this provided a peaceful place to indulge in our picnic. We had enjoyed typically French hot weather so far and this was a lovely way to end the day, in the cool evening air, enjoying our special treat of a glass of champagne and smoked salmon!
The son et lumière season takes place during July and August and brings the châteaux to life with light and sound. When the first son et lumière show was organised at Chambord back in 1952, it combined spotlights with taped music and sound effects to tell the story of the building. It wasn’t until 1957 that the townsfolk of Le Lude took things one step further and decided to dress up to re-enact scenes from the Middle Ages to the 19th century with boats and fireworks adding to the spectacle.
Further up river is Orléans, a busy city, but with some stunning features once you reach the centre, particularly the Ste-Croix Cathedral. It’s also famous for its connection with Joan of Arc, who single handedly led an impromptu attack against the English, who had conquered much of the Loire Valley and saved the city from being taken over. Her statue tells her story at the Place du Martroi, which is circumnavigated by the city’s ultra modern tram system. The trams share the road with the other cars and it can be a bit scary seeing the trams approach in the wing mirrors as you cross the tracks as they look like they have no intention of stopping whether you are there or not. This is one of the few towns without a château to its name and apart from the cathedral there are not that many sights to see. However, the streets of the old city are fascinating to explore and there are a couple of good museums as well.
As the river meanders it way southeast, so begins a lovely stretch of the valley taking in the castle at Sully, with its towers and moat created from the diverted River Sange, a perfect example of a medieval fortress. Further on is Gien, a town that was badly damaged during World War II, but has been sympathetically restored since. As well as its church, dedicated to Joan of Arc who visited the town four times, it’s also famous for its pottery, which can be seen at the factory’s museum and works. To the south is Briare, with its iron canal aqueduct, built by Gustave Eiffel, best known for his tower in the centre of Paris. The aqueduct carries the Canal Latéral across the Loire to join the Canal de Briare. If you park on the south side you can take a trip in one of the cruisers or simply walk across the aqueduct itself.
We spent the next few days making our way back along the river to beyond Tours. We followed the river on its south side this time, which gave us a different view and we saw sights that we had missed following the north roads. This eventually brought us to the Château de Villandry, famous for its magnificent gardens that even impressed a non-gardener like myself. These gardens like the château itself, reflect the Italian influence on 16th century France, laid out in decorative squares and the chateau almost takes a backseat with visitors clearly amazed with the layout. There are convenient balconies to enable you to fully appreciate their beauty and decoration, as you can’t see the sheer scale of it from ground level. This was the last of the great Renaissance château to be built on the Loire and was one of our favourites of the trip.
Also along this stretch to the west, are the châteaux at Langeais, Azay-le-Rideau and Ussé. We only had time to briefly visit these, but all are worth a more extensive look around. The town of Azay-le-Rideau is worth seeing as much as the château, with its 11th century church and small toy museum. Ussé is said to have inspired the 17th century French author Charles Perrault to write the fairy tale Sleeping Beauty and it certainly is a fairytale castle to look at.
Our last chateau to visit on the trip was the Château de Saumur, standing high and mighty on the hill above the town of Saumur, and has dominated the landscape for five centuries. Unfortunately, it recently hit the headlines when part of the chateau collapsed onto the town below. Emergency work is under way to stop further damage, but parts of the castle are still open to make it enjoyable, with a reduced entrance fee to compensate. The town itself has been given the nickname of La Ville Blanche, the white town, due to the limestone used in the construction of the buildings.
If all this talk of historic châteaux sounds too much, you’ll be pleased to know that this isn’t all that the Loire has to offer. You can rent canoes and kayaks everywhere along the river or you can just stop off and enjoy the tranquillity of the river itself and spot the wildlife who make the riverbanks their home, including swallows and swifts and you may see herons fishing in the shallows. Cycling is an excellent way of getting around the area and you can make use of the rapidly expanding cycle route scheme, Loire à Vélo, which aims to establish a 500-mile network by 2006. Visit one of tourist information offices for plans of completed sections.
The area around Saumur is also troglodyte country and is a fascinating area to discover. Here you will find caves cut into the cliffs beside the Loire that are used as dovecotes, chapels, farms and wine cellars. The so-called troglodyte dwellings date back to the 12th century and have hardly changed over the centuries. The former troglodyte farming community at Rochemenier has been turned into a museum and the inhabited farmhouse at La fosse is also open to visitors.
The sheer diversity of wines from this region surprises most visitors. These include red, white, medium, sweet and even sparkling. The Anjou region is best known for its sweetish, pink Anjou Rosé and you can visit one of the special wine centres in Angers, opposite the castle. It’s also the city of Cointreau, the famous liqueur, producing 30 million bottles of the drink every year. The flavour is based on sweet and bitter orange peels and if you have never tried it before, you can get the chance at the Musée Cointreau, where you can take the two hour tour around the distillery. Also in this city, you’ll find La Petite Marquise, where you can buy the delicious Quernons d’Ardoise, blue squares of chocolate-coated nougatine that resembles the slates from the local quarry.
Unfortunately, it rained all the way back to Caen for the ferry on the last day, which surprised us after the fantastic weather all week. We really enjoyed exploring the area, and are already planning a return visit for next year, hopefully during the son et lumière season, but come and see for yourself that there’s so much to see and discover.
© Craig Roberts
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