Claudette Comes Home

We went up to Saint Pierre des Corps to pick up Claudette, who has been languishing in our garage there for the whole of the pandemic. She's had a flat battery, so driven nowhere because of that and because a lot of the time we were not allowed to go there due to lockdowns. So we picked up a new battery from Classic Auto-Elec in Nazelles-Négrons, Simon changed the battery over -- a bit fiddly and stressful in a Traction Avant and involves taking the bonnet (hood) completely off (and more to the point, getting the unco-operative thing back on again!). Then we noticed she was leaking petrol from the fuel pump, so I quickly phoned our expert mechanic Jean-Louis to see if he thought we were going to catch fire. He reassured me that the fuel pump seal was dry from lack of running the car and would most likely plump back up once we drove a bit. We checked it when we stopped for lunch and it seemed fine, and we got her to the mechanics for her pre-roadworthy service with no problems. We will keep her at home now until travellers start returning to the Loire Valley and we are working.

 

 

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. If you would like an idea of how your tour might look and sound, please check out our YouTube channel.

Baguette Vending Machines in the Loire Valley

Increasingly, as the population in rural France ages and declines, village bakeries are struggling. Yet French law demands that everyone have access to fresh bread. When a bakery closes, often when the baker retires and no one takes the business over, small villages can be left with no supplier of bread in the community.

Find out about the modern solution that many villages are coming up with when you take a tour with 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 We Know About Joan of Arc

For someone of seemingly legendary status, we know a remarkable amount about Joan of Arc. One of the things we at Loire Valley Time Travel know is that she isn't just associated with Orléans, as many people believe. We think there are much more interesting sites associated with her at Loches, in Tours and in Chinon, and we would be delighted to show clients these place. We also know with astonishing detail quite quirky facts, such as exactly where her armour was made, how much it weighed, what it looked like, what it was made of, who paid for it and what colour her war horse was.

The site where Joan's armour was made (now a second-hand designer clothing shop).

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. If you want to go shopping at independent boutiques like the one in the photo, just ask and we will build it into your tour.