Green Rules OK

Spring weather can be unpredictable, with a mixture of warm sun and cool overcast days. The cooler spring weather gives plants a chance to show what green can do. Flowers are slow coming, but in a well designed garden it doesn't matter.

Later in the year this planting scheme will be blood
red and electric blue, but in early May, green rules.

At La Chatonniere in May 2012 Mme Azéroual, wife of the head gardener, who meets and greets visitors at the gate, apologised that not much was in flower because the spring had been unusually cool. Rather than being disappointing though, what strikes you is how good the planting scheme really is. All those different greens and different leaf shapes and textures form eye pleasing patterns quite as effectively as multicoloured flowers do.

If you would like to get ideas for planting schemes from some great Loire Valley gardens, email us and we will create a plant and garden filled tour just for you.

Price Freeze

Good news! Even as the price of fuel skyrockets we have decided to hold our prices at their 2012 level until the end of March 2013.

This means that if you book and pay in full for your tour before 31 March, you will pay 2012 prices, no matter what dates in 2013 your tour is scheduled.Of course, the earlier you book, the better your chance of getting the dates you really want.  It also helps us to plan our year and we think it only fair to reward the early birds.

If you are coming to France in 2013 and want a chance to see the famous chateaux, eat in restaurants with the locals and visit boutique wineries where you will be greeted by the winemaker him/herself, email us and book a tour soon.

See the Wine Being Made

At Loire Valley Time Travel we visit wineries all year round. We choose small producers who really care about the quality of their product and we work with them to create a great visitor experience. Because we know them well, we can be sure of a welcome even during really busy times like the harvest. Clients Debbie and Bret, from Miami, Florida, were fascinated to encounter a winery in full harvest processing mode with us. They said they had been to lots of wineries but had never been to one where you were allowed to get up close to the real work of winemaking.

In the photo they are talking to Charles from the winery about how the grapes are pressed. The big trailer is full of grapes ready to be sorted and lifted up into the pneumatic press behind. The vineyard needs to do this as quickly as possible to maintain the purity of the juice, so it was all hands on deck the day we visited. Later on in the visit we tasted the delicious juice from grapes that were harvested and crushed the day before and would made into sparkling wine. A real seasonal treat!

If you are interested in behind the scenes at a winery, email us and we will design a tour that includes some of our favourite wineries and winemakers.