Putting the Chat into the Chateau

If you are the sort of visitor who loves to trawl the museum gift shop when you leave, you might get quite a surprise at the chateau of Chenonceau. Tucked away amongst the scarves, soaps and tapestry cushion covers, you might find the resident cat curled up. He'll be out on a sunny windowsill somewhere if the weather is good, but if it is cold and wet, chances are you'll find him snoozing somewhere comfy in the shop.

So if you like souvenir shopping and are not allergic to cat hair, we are happy to give you some retail time after your chateau visit. Email us or contact us using our contact form and let us know which chateau you would like to visit in the Loire Valley. We would be delighted to design a tour just for you.

Wisteria Time

This photo was taken in May last year in a small village between the town of Loches and the most famous of the Loire chateau, Chenonceau. Chédigny is most famous for its roses and has a very popular rose festival, but the wisterias and lilacs peak before the roses have really got underway. We visit the village so often with our cars that we are treated almost as residents, which means we can drive along the road shown in the photo, something most visitors do not get the chance to do.

Chedigny can be visited as part of our Loches-Chenonceau tour (the first tour on this page). Email us or contact us using our contact form to book a tour that takes you places many other people never get to see

Join in Local Loire Valley Traditions

When we design a tour for our clients we try to give them the most authentic local experience possible. We take them to restaurants the tourists don't find and surround them with ordinary French folk getting on with their lunch on an ordinary working day. 

France has lots of culinary and dining traditions. Restaurants such as the ones we use are ideal for being right in the thick of them. These two medical students from Wyoming were here in January and the dessert of the day was galette des rois (kings cake). They were the lucky recipients of the slices of galette with the feve (token) inside. That meant that they were crowned queens for the day by the restaurant owner. Of course, we made sure they learned the history of this little ceremony and they were made to feel most welcome by all the locals. There was much laughter and conviviality, all part of our tour experience.

If you would like to engage with the locals like this, email us or contact us using our contact form and let us know when you would like to book your tour.