Crossing the Loire

The oldest bridge in Tours is the Pont Wilson, built in the 18th century but renamed in the American President's honour at the end of the First World War. The bridge has a rather checkered history, having collapsed several times. The first bridge in France with a flat roadway, it was ahead of its time. The combination of cutting edge untested engineering and the power of the Loire river changing course and undermining foundations meant several catastrophic collapses in the 18th, 19th and 20th centuries. Do you dare cross it with us?

To enquire about our private guided tours of chateaux, wineries, markets and more email us or use our contact form. More tour ideas can be found on the Loire Valley Time Travel website.

A Day Trip to the Loire Valley From Paris

The TGV (fast train) from Paris, crossing a viaduct in the Loire Valley.

We should have been working today, but instead, we are stuck at home and our American doctor clients have cancelled their vacation. Here's what we would have been doing:

The clients were going to catch the fast train from Paris to Tours where we would meet them. We often do this for clients who are based in Paris rather than already in the Loire Valley. The journey only takes an hour and ticket prices are extremely reasonable if you purchase in advance. Although we don't go up to meet them in Paris, we guide the clients through the entire process of buying tickets, how to catch the train and where to get off.

View from a tower on the Royal Citadel, Loches.

Our first stop was going to be the small medieval town of Loches, rather off the beaten track, but packed with history, and on Saturdays one of the best farmers markets in the area takes place. You get to mingle with the locals and learn about all the wonderful fresh produce grown and raised in the Loire Valley. Lunch was to have been at a tiny but very popular restaurant that does beautiful food and has a rather surprising setting.

The restaurant is tucked in at the base of this tower.

Then visiting the 'must see' chateau of the Loire Valley, Chenonceau, famous as the Ladies Chateau and its glorious setting on the River Cher. We would have rounded off the day at a Vouvray winery that operates out of troglodyte caves on the banks of the Loire before getting the clients back on the train, so they are in Paris in time for dinner.

Chateau of Chenonceau.

Wine tasting.

To enquire about our private guided tours of chateaux, wineries, markets and more email us or use our contact form. More tour ideas can be found on the Loire Valley Time Travel website.

Wildlife Spotting in the Loire Valley

The Loire Valley rich in wildlife but without a guide it isn't always very easy to see. Many species in the forest are shy and don't allow people too close. We love nature as much as we love history and food, so we are always happy to stop for a bit of wildlife spotting when there is an opportunity. For example, wild boar are very secretive and most people never see them. It's impossible to get really close, but if we are lucky one of these truly wild beasts will amble by.

To enquire about our private guided tours of chateaux, wineries, markets and more email us or use our contact form. More tour ideas can be found on the Loire Valley Time Travel website.

Notre-Dame a Year After the Fire

The day of the catastrophic fire at Notre-Dame de Paris we were working with two American clients who had come down from Paris for a few days to enjoy the quiet atmosphere of the Loire Valley after living the expat life in Paris for a while. We visited a couple of chateaux, had a nice lunch and stopped off at a winery. It wasn't until that evening that we all heard the devastating news. Ironically, if our clients had been at home in Paris they would have been eyewitnesses to the disaster, as their apartment had a view of the cathedral.

We don't offer tours in Paris, but of course, as heritage professionals and history lovers, we have been closely watching progress at Notre-Dame. In August last year we went up to Paris to join a tour group that we were going to work with and got our first and so far only glimpse of the damage. Having worked in the heritage industry for the past couple of decades, we know quite a bit about the management of fire risk and fire damage in historic monuments, which we are happy to talk about to clients if they are interested. Notre-Dame is clearly offering particular challenges to the restoration team, partly because of the sheer scale of the damage and partly because of the place the building holds in people's hearts the world over.

We are pleased to see that the man in charge of the project seems to be the exact combination of decisive and sensitive that this type of heritage conservation work requires. In interviews he appears to be open and honest about the challenges and risks, so one feels confident in his ability to complete how and when he says it will be done. Just at the moment, after the challenges of the lead contamination, yet another impediment has been thrown in his way. Currently the site sits idle while the whole of France concentrates on controlling the Covid-19 outbreak. But there is a plan to get the rope workers back up on the scaffolding to continue their delicate work of cutting the old fire damaged pipes away from the building. That will feel like a real achievement.

Photo take in August 2019, four months after the fire, 

but from this angle you would not realise anything was wrong.

To enquire about our private guided tours of chateaux, wineries, markets and more email us or use our contact form. More tour ideas can be found on the Loire Valley Time Travel website.

Loches and Chenonceau Tour

The whole village of Chedigny is officially a 'notable garden'.

Today was to have been the second day of a two day tour for a pair of Australian travellers. Unfortunately they have had to cancel and we cannot work because of Covid-19 and the lockdown in France. So we thought we would present a little taster of what they might have done, and what you could do too once travel is more normalised.

Amboise.

We would have picked our clients up from their hotel in the attractive town of Amboise, and headed for Loches. On Saturdays the open market is held in the streets of the old centre of Loches and it is one of the best markets in the area (also our local market, so we know it very well). After strolling around the market we would go up to the Royal Citadel, packed with history, but almost unknown, even within France. Lunch was planned for a tiny restaurant just off the market in a very old building adjoining a very famous local landmark. Then we were going to the reknowned Chateau of Chenonceau, but not before we had stopped off in the lovely garden village of Chedigny. At the end of the day there was to be a visit to a family run winery where they operate out of troglodyte caves their ancestors dug. We hope you enjoy these few photos of the treats there are on this tour, a combination of off the beaten track and the 'must see' destination of the Loire Valley.

Loches market.

View over Loches from the Royal Citadel.

The Tour Saint Antoine is right next door to the restaurant.

Chateau of Chenonceau.

To enquire about our private guided tours of chateaux, wineries, markets and more email us or use our contact form. More tour ideas can be found on the Loire Valley Time Travel website.

Chambord and Cheverny Tour

We should have been working today, with Australian clients who had planned to stay at the comfortable and friendly Clos d'Amboise Hotel then join us for two days of touring, but the Covid-19 lockdown has prevented them coming and they've had to cancel their trip altogether. Today would have started with a morning at the huge chateau of Chambord, then lunch at a large and popular workers restaurant in the nearby village of Bracieux. After a simple but generous lunch surrounded by locals we were going to visit the Chateau of Cheverny, with its wonderfully original interior and pack of lolloping hounds. To round off the day we would visit a small family run winery where our travellers get to taste a wine made from a rare grape variety only found in this small area of the Loire Valley. Good Friday is not a holiday in France, so businesses are all open normally.

On the roof of the Chateau of Chambord -- the highlight of a visit to this vast hunting lodge.

Tulips from a previous year at the Chateau of Cheverny. The photos the Chateau are posting on social media for this year are of a truly magnificent display. Such a shame the public won't get to see them.

The Daridan family have been winemakers for generations.

To enquire about our private guided tours of chateaux, wineries, markets and more email us or use our contact form. More tour ideas can be found on the Loire Valley Time Travel website.

Mistletoe in the Loire Valley

Travellers who come early in the year to tour with us in the Loire Valley often ask what the green balls in many of the otherwise bare trees are. Sometimes they guess it must be mistletoe, but often they have never seen real mistletoe and are delighted to discover that it is abundant in the Loire Valley. In France there are much the same traditions of hanging mistletoe over a door or a fireplace at Christmas time that there are in anglophone countries. Kissing under the mistletoe is a way of signaling that you are betrothed, and mistletoe is a symbol of good luck and prosperity.

To enquire about our private guided tours of chateaux, wineries, markets and more email us or use our contact form. More tour ideas can be found on the Loire Valley Time Travel website.

Extraordinary Graffiti in the Loire Valley

Who are these characters? Where are they? Who created them? What are they depicted doing?

All these questions and more will be answered if you book a tour for us and request to see them. You won't find them on the regular tourist trail, you need to be a bit off the beaten track. But trust us, it's fascinating, and totally worth it. And you will get a surprise when we reveal who created them (no, it wasn't us...)

To enquire about our private guided tours of chateaux, wineries, markets and more email us or use our contact form. More tour ideas can be found on the Loire Valley Time Travel website.