Friday 4 December 2020

Ethnobotany in the Loire Valley


You never know quite what will come up as part of your tour with us. We take an interest in everything around us so if there is an opportunity to pass on a piece of quirky information, we will do it. For example, in the summer there is a pretty blue wildflower on the roadsides. One of its common names is Rapunzel. It grows throughout Europe, not just in France, and the Brothers Grimm chose the name of this plant for their fairytale heroine. They would have known it well and in many places in times gone by this wild plant was an important food source. Both the leaves and the roots were cooked and eaten. Nowadays it is picked sometimes 'for the table' but that's for decoration, in a vase.

Rampion Bellflower Campanulus rapunculus. Indre et Loire. France. Photo by Loire Valley Time Travel.

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.