Visit the Loire Valley in the Shoulder Season

Of course most people visit the Loire Valley in the summer when the weather is glorious and gardens are looking their best. But if you don't like the crowds and don't mind having grey skies, late September can be rewarding. The days are still long enough, the temperature is cool but not cold, and the light has that autumnal quality that can make your photographs quite special. The photo shows the Chateau de Chenonceau in late September.

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For details of our private guided tours of chateaux, gardens, wineries, markets and more please visit the Loire Valley Time Travel website. We would be delighted to design a tour for you.

We are also on Instagram, so check us out to see a regularly updated selection of our very best photos. You may also like to check out our YouTube channel. 

Floral Carpets in the Loire Valley

One of the joys of visiting the Loire Valley from late August to early October is the carpets of the pink autumn flowering Sowbread Cyclamen hederifolium in parks and gardens everywhere. You will see them in the dry shade of mature deciduous trees. The photo shows cyclamens in the grounds of the Chateau de Chenonceau.

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For details of our private guided tours of chateaux, gardens, wineries, markets and more please visit the Loire Valley Time Travel website. We would be delighted to design a tour for you.

We are also on Instagram, so check us out to see a regularly updated selection of our very best photos. You may also like to check out our YouTube channel. 

Historical Graffiti in the Loire Valley

Because the local limestone (Fr. tuffeau) is so soft it is ripe for graffiti of all sorts. One of the most striking we've seen recently is a long and anguished inscription on a stone in a rural wall. It refers to a flood in the mid-19th century as a scourge sent by God and hopes that in the future people living along the river do not have to witness the 'precious treasure' of their river valley disappear under water. Sadly that 19th century wish has not come true and there have been several major floods in the 21st century. What an astonishing piece of personal and intimate history that inscription is though?! If you would like to include some historic graffiti in your tour just let us know. We are always delighted to share our local knowledge of historical records that tend to go unnoticed.

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For details of our private guided tours of chateaux, gardens, wineries, markets and more please visit the Loire Valley Time Travel website. We would be delighted to design a tour for you.

We are also on Instagram, so check us out to see a regularly updated selection of our very best photos. You may also like to check out our YouTube channel.