Leather Parts for Claudette

Sometimes the spare parts for classic cars are rather surprising. When it came time to replace the sleeves that protect the steering rack underneath and hold all the grease in we had a choice of rubber or leather. The rubber parts were far cheaper (about quarter the price) but the price difference would have been more than offset by the cost of almost totally dismantling the front of the car, so we went with leather. Discussing it with our mechanic we reckon the lifespan of the sleeves will be about the same. But leather is definitely not a material one expects these days on cars apart from luxury seats. An added bonus of getting this work done was that we got invited under the hoist to check her out from underneath in the garage. The leather sleeves are the brown concertina tubes you can see in the middle of this photo.

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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. 

A Review From a Returning Client

 Last summer we had the pleasure of touring with returning clients Tom and Rose. This time they brought some of their family with them and a great time was had by all. Here's what Tom had to say on our Facebook page: 

Tous vas bien! It was fantastic to travel with Simon and Susan once again! Don't miss it!

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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. 

Servicing Our Classic Cars in the Loire Valley

Claudette and Célestine, our classic tour vehicles, are more than 60 years old, so they take a lot of maintenance. Luckily we have a great specialist mechanical team that we can call on, who love Citroen Traction Avants, and know exactly what to do. If you too have a love of old cars, book a special tour of the Loire Valley with us in an old Citroen.

Citroen Traction Avant brake shoes and master cylinder need regular checking.

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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. 

Where in the Loire Valley Can You See This Carving?

Where in the Loire Valley is this intriguing carving, and what does it mean? If you would like to know more, ask us to include it in your Loire Valley tour with us.

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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. 

Escargots in the Loire Valley

Famously, French people eat snails. You may or may not want to try them and these days they don't appear on that many menus, but they aren't especially difficult to find if you know the right restaurants. What you may not know is that the species of snail which is the most prized lives in the wild in the Loire Valley, and if we are in the right place at the right time we may see some. They are a protected species, so only certain people can gather them and only for a limited time during the year. But if we encounter any while we are with you, we will be sure to point them out. One of the lesser known chateaux that we visit with clients has them in the grounds, so if you are very keen to see real Escargot de Bourgogne roaming free and living their best life, let us know and we will include that chateau in your itinerary.

Roman, or Burgundian Snail Helix pomatia in the grounds of a chateau. They are often white like this and nicknamed 'les gros blancs' ('big fat whites') in French.

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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. 

Meeting the Florists of the Chateau de Chenonceau

One of the best kept secrets of the Loire Valley are the extraordinary floral arrangements in every room of the Chateau de Chenonceau. Our clients have rarely heard about the flowers, but once they've seen them they are blown away by how impressive they are. The Chateau employs two full time florists and grows the flowers in the cutting garden. Whenever possible we introduce our clients to the florists, who are happy to chat about their work to interested visitors. In this photo they are in the cutting garden in the late morning in early autumn, selecting blooms for their next creations.

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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. 

Stag-gering Skills in the Loire Valley

We always try to show clients how the heritage of the Loire Valley is maintained by professional conservators, curators, architects and artisans. Wherever possible we try to offer a behind the scenes look at how the famous chateaux are managed so they can continue to receive visitors. A good example is our encounter with a young stone conservator working on the repair of the iconic limestone stag from the frieze of the beautiful Chapel of Saint Hubert. She was very happy to tell our clients what she was doing, what had caused the damage in the first place and how she would repair it. In this photo she is carefully removing plaster from a poorly executed 19th century repair using a dental drill.

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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. 

A Review From Kathy

Kathy and her family from the US took a 3 hour tour of the Chateau of Chenonceau with me in July 2023. She was kind enough to leave a terrific review for me.

"Susan was wonderful. She has a vast knowledge of the history of the era and will answer questions with candor. She was able to draw in our two grandchildren ages 11 and 13 and they enjoyed the 3 hour tour very much. We are happy to recommend Susan and would jump at the chance to tour with her again!! She didn't waste a minute and even walked backwards to the château so that she could share information as we walked up the lane. Thank you Susan!!"

Catherine de Medici featured quite strongly in this tour, through popular request.

 

For my part, I enjoyed spending time with Kathy and her family very much. Their engagement and interest was very rewarding and I was impressed with how much they wanted to get into the subject.

 

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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. 

Classic Cars in the Loire Valley

Classic cars are popular in the Loire Valley and we often see other enthusiasts out and about in their cherished vintage vehicles. 

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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. 

What is the Cuisine of the Loire Valley?

My observation is that France sits in a unique location, the only truly central western European nation, and this has influenced its food heritage (and indeed, made it quite multifaceted). France has a northern European face and a southern European face, and lots of regions. On the ground in France regional cuisine is more important than national a lot of the time. So come and join us for the day and find out what the Loire has to offer you on a plate...

A galette des rois, traditionally eaten in the Loire Valley and northern France in January for Epiphany.

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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. 

Wine Cellars in the Loire Valley

Wine cellars in the Loire Valley are often underground, in troglodyte caves. We finish most of our chauffeured tours with a visit to a wine cellar. So what are you waiting for? Book a tour!!

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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. 

Winter Conservation Cleaning in the Chateaux of the Loire Valley

Winter is a great time to visit the Loire Valley chateaux, especially if you are interested in the behind the scenes work of maintaining and presenting a heritage building to the public. Winter time is when the tapestries get cleaned, for example, and the conservators doing the work are very happy to talk to visitors about their job. If you book a tour with us we will always make sure you get to see this type of work being done. 

A conservator prepares to carefully vacuum a 17th century in the Chateau Royal d'Amboise.

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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. 

Rose Covered Buildings in the Loire Valley

If you visit in May and June you are in for a treat. Many houses in the Loire Valley have roses trained over their walls and they look glorious in the late spring.

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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. 

Nature Conservation at the Chateau of Chenonceau

If you visit the Chateau of Chenonceau in early summer it is a frenzy of activity. Small blue birds with white bellies and rumps are whizzing around everywhere and diving into mud nests stuck to the eastern facade of the chateau itself and the Marques Tower. They are the protected species House Martin, and the chateau provides a home to the biggest colony in the Touraine. They arrive from Africa in April to breed, and by October they are off again on their travels south. If you are a bird lover, make sure you spend a few minutes watching them from the terrace of Diane de Poitiers garden. 

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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. 

Fields of Poppies in the Loire Valley

Wild poppies can put on a splendid display, completely covering a field in bright scarlet. If you are in the Loire Valley in June you will be able to see this extraordinary natural phenomenon. These are the poppies immortalised as the symbol of remembrance after the First World War, but you don't have to go to Flanders to see them. They are equally impressive in the Loire Valley.

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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. 

A Review From Michael

Michael, from the United States, did the Extraordinary Women of Chenonceau three hour walking tour, with his wife, daughter and her boyfriend. He was kind enough to leave a terrific review to say how much they had enjoyed the tour, and we are very appreciative of travellers who take the time to do this.

 

"Simply put, we had a terrific time! Susan's in-depth knowledge and enthusiasm made for a highly informative and entertaining tour. From the elements of history to the art to the landscaping and climate, we felt fully immersed and well-introduced to Chenonceau and the fascinating and impactful women who called it home. Her answers to questions were detailed and patient (we had a lot of them!). She was extremely organized. I would highly recommend any of her tours and we have another scheduled!"

 

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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.