Tagged With "Loire Valley"

Another walk down memory lane. I visited Fontevraud after a long walk from chateau to chateau that ended in Chinon and stayed in the recently opened hotel within the abbey. I knew about it from a personal association but don't believe it's generally well-known and maybe, in part, what makes it as lovely a place to spend some time as it is. Thanks, DrF.

I love Chinon, thought it the perfect place when I spent a few days there resting up, after a week or so walking from chateau to chateau from Chambord. Uncrowded, an idyllic setting, small yet big enough - in short, it has everything. And residents not touristed out, as places can get, loved to death. Many thanks for the reminder, DrF, as beautiful as I remember.

Google has signed deals with 18 Loire Valley chateaux to create virtual tours of the popular and historic area, using StreetView and ArtCamera technology.

When I was driving south on the west side of France it was pouring with rain. Awful day. A friend who drives this route regularly told me that when you cross the River Loire the sun comes out and its blue skies all the way. No chance today it was wet and misty - and people had coats with hoods on ! So we crossed the bridge. As we continued our drive from St Malo to St Hilaire the rain stopped and the sun came out within 5 minutes of crossing the river. Couldn't wait to tell my friend he was...

Many find a visit to the Loire Valley to be the highlight of their visit to France, as did we.   It's an amazing place.

 There are few places in France of greater historic importance than Chinon.  You wouldn’t know that by what you see when you drive thru it today as it seems a small sleepy rural town.  

Abbaye Royale de Fontevraud  is situated in France's western Loire Valley, a short drive from Chinon and Saumur.  The name refers not only to Europe’s largest medieval abbey, built in the 12th century, but also to the medieval town that surrounds it.