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. The little row boats that visitors can hire to go out on the river have finished for the season and have accumulated a little rain in the bottom. They'll very soon be packed up and stored for the winter. But for now they are lined up at the 16th century quay where Diane de Poitiers and Catherine de Medici would have stepped off.
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