Oh What a Beautiful Day!

The 2011 season got off to a fine start for us yesterday, with the loveliest weather imaginable - bright warm sunshine, a light breeze and deep blue skies. Our first clients for the year were Michael, Terri and Sarah, a charming family from Pennsylvania, and we were delighted to be able to show them Loches and Chenonoceau in virtually perfect conditions.

After visiting the church of Saint Ours, where the lovely Agnès Sorel is buried, and the Logis Royale where she lived, we meandered down through medieval Loches to the Gerbe d'Or for a superb lunch of shrimp salad, steak with blue cheese sauce and citrus fruits in jelly accompanied by a local Gamay red wine.

Relaxed and happy in the sun, Terri and Sarah ham it up a bit
with Célestine, while we wait for Michael to find his prehistoric souvenir.

Michael was particularly interested in the prehistoric dolmen we stopped at on the way to Chenonceau and he spent some time intently peering at the ground hoping against hope to find a piece of worked flint. Not far away, the Chateau of Chenonceau was a big hit with daughter Sarah, who is studying Renaissance art at college.

The final stop before catching the train back to Paris was Chateau Gaudrelle, a magificently sited wine cave in Vouvray. Terri left her email address with them, because they are now working with a wine merchant in the US to deliver their wine to American customers.

All in all, just about the perfect day in the Loire.

How we choose a Restaurant

You may have noticed in some of our posts about our tours (and on the Loire Valley Time Travel website) we refer to "workingman's restaurants" and wondered what we mean by this.

In many parts of France lunch is the biggest meal of the day, which makes life difficult for artisans who are working away from their workshop, or who are always working on site. In order to cater for these people, many restaurants specialise in three or four course lunches aimed specifically at people like roofers, plumbers, stonemasons, many of whom who dine at restaurants every lunchtime.

The meals may be inexpensive, but
the surroundings can surprise

These meals are incredibly good value, and are often made from top quality ingredients, prepared and presented skilfully and served with wine. We take great care in selecting where we take you to dine (it involves many lunchtimes of research) so we are confident you will enjoy your 90 minutes eavesdropping the chatter and banter that accompanies any meal in these restaurants.

If you would like to join us for lunch, email us, and experience a part of everday life in France.

A Friday Mystery

"Roll up, roll up, step right this way"... anyone who owned "Sgt Peppers Lonely Heart Club Band" will recognise we are talking about magical mystery tours.

Loire Valley Time Travel's mystery tour is available only on Fridays, and concentrates on places in the immediate vicinity of Tours. Sit back in Célestine's lounge room like back seat and relax while the surprises keep coming.

No photos of the destinations -
that would ruin the mystery!

Being close to Tours doesn't mean a lack of chateaux - on this tour we visit two historic buildings: one chateau has links to the biggest scandal of the 1930s, whilst the other was the home of the greatest of all French renaissance poets. Along the way we will see three of the major rivers of the Loire basin: the Loire, the Cher and the Indre.

The cost for this tour is € 380 for two people starting in Tours. If you would like to be surprised, email us.