We’re taking our first road trip since moving to Paris… to the Loire Valley!
Will be based in a VRBO Amboise from Thursday (2/16) to Sunday (2/19). I’ll be dragging the wife and kids (13, 9, 4, 4) and driving around the French countryside in a Renault van and looking out for people merging on the right (apparently “Priorité à droite” is a big deal).
Why the Loire for the first trip? Well, it’s relatively close to Paris and it’s filled with castles. (http://travel.cnn.com/5-best-loire-valley-castles-185206/). We’ve spent the last two weeks with flu ravaging the apartment and my twins now equate Paris with misery and the Black Plague. So, I’m doing what any responsible father would do and taking them out to see castles. Our old place in Sammamish, WA is a wonderful home, but it does not have castles, nor does it have “pain au chocolat,” which is exponentially better tasting than it sounds.
Any ideas for restaurants, winery visits or other stops would be greatly appreciated. I will send the obligatory request to Clos Rougeard, which has been the first response from other wine friends (followed by laughing, given its reputation and me dragging kids), but any other ideas are great. I’ll post a trip summary with pics (similar to other threads) in this thread.
One last note - I do not speak French. I’ve been using Duolingo (thanks to another thread here) regularly and can now amaze people with insights like “I eat bananas” and “the boy has a red hat,” I do, however, excel at pointing at things and speaking English very slowly in hopes the combination of the two will get my point across.
We stayed in Amboise the lone time we’ve visited Loire. It’s a pleasant little town. You should be able to arrange to visit Huet, not far away. Chidaine has an actual tasting room that you can just walk into, not too far down the river.
As for castles, you can spend a lot of time driving around and going to castles. Each of them has something that makes it stand out - gardens, architecture, just plain huge gawdy-ness. Our favorite by a mile was Chenonceau, in some ways because it wasn’t the most physically impressive, but definitely the most charming. A couple of others we went to were Vilandry, and Chambord (which I would advise against - it is impressive in its size and grandeur, but completely empty and quite sterile).
I would say that Amboise is a great place to base out of with the kids. There is enough of a buzz to keep them interested and plenty of restaurants for the family.
Sites: The DaVinci Museum (Clos Luce) is really fantastic and very kid-friendly. Spend a good half day there.
For chateau; I’d say you should definitely include Cheverny. It’s very tourist friendly for kids; the hounds, the actual decor in place, and when we were there they had a fun interactive installation of the Herge Tin Tin art. That would be great for kids if it’s still going.
I’d also recommend Chenonceau for the amazing grounds with lots of room to roam, and a very unique and dramatic location on the water. The audiotour is pretty good. It also seems to get less traffic from our limited experience.
In Amboise, we had a couple of nice meals, but the solid food and the great streetside dining combined to make Crêperie Anne de Bretagne my favorite meal. It’s sorta kitty corner from a somewhat famous chocolatier Bigot.
If you want to visit anybody but maybe Huet, I’d make set arrangements in advance. They are working so tasting room hours are more of a “guideline” and shouldn’t be relied upon. As mentioned above; Chidaine has a tasting room right on the main drag as you are entering Montlouis-sur-mer. They have regular business hours. That would be a no-brainer.
Filliatreau in Saumur - well worth seeing close what a tuffe cave look like. Plus, if you like mature cab franc, they may likely have some for sale in the winery tasting room.
I love the Loire Valley. It’s one of my favorite areas in France. I don’t think I have specific advise beyond what others said, but make sure you give yourself enough time to get lost and wander around. Truthfully my favorite memories are driving along the river through small towns, seeking out potential picnic sites (when it gets warmer), stopping at random little road-side restaurants, and having awkward exchanges with people (in my mostly non-existent French). I don’t bike, but the area makes me want to.
My wife is a history buff, so she liked the chateau in Chinon and abbey at Fontevraud, but really there’s not that much to see there (well, the view from Chinon is pretty nice). As mentioned, Chenonceau is a great visit. I was surprised to hear so much English speaking there. I agree that Chambord is not very exciting on the inside, but I just loved studying the outside (I doubt that kids would get as excited). Cheverny was a fun visit. Out of range from Amboise, the castle in Angers was pretty cool (again for a history buff) as it had a really old (9th century) feel and the Apocalypse Tapestry.
For the most part I didn’t have any problems communicating with anyone in the Loire Valley. At one point, we got lost trying to find a winery by GPS and asked a road crew for assistance. Basically, it was communication by drawing on a napkin. Perhaps the only difficult time was visiting a winery near Savennieres where the winemaker didn’t speak a lick of English, which would have been okay for tasting, but it was awkward trying to ask questions about vineyard terroir. He ended up grabbing his son, which was embarrassing, as his son was clearly busy.
I would second the Abbey at Fontevraud. A chance to see where Richard the Lion-Hearted is buried. I would agree on Chenonceau as well. I suspect that you’ll stop by the Chartres Cathedral on the way?
I took a week bike trip with Backroads through the Loire last spring/summer. We started and ended in Tours but hit the main castles and wonderful. Stayed and ate a great meal at Le Choiseul in Amboise. The food in town was ok nothing special. Chateau de Chaumont is nearby to Amoboise, beautiful and hosts an annual international garden festival.
Chateau de Chenonceau is wonderful. You do not want to miss this. We had a wonderful lunch at Chateau de Nitray. Dinner and a stay at Doamine de la Tortinere was amazing.
Do not miss Villandry as the gardens are amazing. The best gardens I have seen. Beats Versailles IMHO.
Chateau d’azar-le-Rideau is great. Looks like the castle from Beuaty and the Beast as I rode towards it from the countryside. There was a small quaint restaurant right by the chateau that served us a wonderful lunch on a cold and rainy day. Can’t remember the name but it is right by the chateau and not many other places around.
We stayed and ate at Chateau de Marcay. Great food and wine cellar. I hung out that afternoon at a wine bar/shop in Chinon.
Recap:
Stayed in Amboise, which I’d do again in a heartbeat. It was centrally located for the chateaus we wanted to see, there were plenty of restaurant options and the old town feel with the chateau towering over it gave it a much better vacation vibe than one of the more modernized cities (Vouvray).
Chateaus we visited:
Chenonceau - beautiful gardens and tree-lined entry, chateau itself is stunning and probably the most recognizable in France, given it goes out over the water. Kitchen was recently remodeled, which was pretty cool.
Chambord - massive Chateau/castle. Gardens currently being renovated. Most impressive from a décor/furnishing perspective, as well.
Amboise - impressive grounds inside the wall, home to Da Vinci’s grave. Chateau Amboise is at the top of a hill and surrounded by stone walls, making it much more of a castle than a traditional “hunting chateau” that you see along the Loire.
Clos Luce - Leonardo Da Vinci’s chateau, down the street from Amboise. The grounds are more typical outdoorsy/forest, with a creek running through it. Lots of interactive exhibits for kids and was, hands down, the favorite for our 4 and 9 year olds.
Usse - nice grounds, chateau was inspiration for Sleeping Beauty. Tour itself is o.k., with the highlight being a walk downstairs into a rocky cavern that was used as a prison at some point. Half of the Chateau has been renovated with displays for the Sleeping Beauty story and it looks really hokey. The kids enjoyed it.
We will be back for Villandry during the summer, so I didn’t make the run out there during winter
As Alan noted, nothing overly exciting to mention from a restaurant perspective. Restaurant l’Ilot in Amboise was pretty good, with good service, but you’re at the mercy of their menu - 2 starters, 2 mains, 2 desserts offered. I decided to finally cave and try an andouilette dish to cross it off my list. I’m sure it was cooked spectacularly well, but I will never make that mistake again.
We did not stop at any wineries on the trip. Instead, I cried to myself as I drove through Vouvray with a car full of sleeping kids (and wife). I did manage to pick-up bottles of 2011 Huet Vouvray and 2010 (I believe) Filliatreau Cab Franc, per suggestions below. The Huet was outrageously good for the price point.
As always, thanks for the tips. Will post photos as I get the opportunity.
Fantastic! Other rec you may consider - we’ve been trying/eating quite a bit of cheese here, with a recent binge on goat cheese. I set up an appointment to visit a goat farm and talk to the woman that was producing Saint Maure de Touraine. Was a fun visit and a nice change-up from touring chateaus; everybody loves a petting zoo that makes cheese!
