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.

What's So Special About This Staircase in the Loire Valley?

This is clearly a ruined staircase. Why would it be of interest to anyone except nerdy archaeologists? Well, maybe it isn't, but if you have an inner nerdy archaeologist or architectural historian, you might still like to see it and learn why it is special. It's in a nearly unknown medieval chateau, and is overlooked when other later chateaux stake a claim to what is special about it. Let us know if you like to see what archaeolists see in a pile of stones.

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.