The Loire Valley

The Loire Valley, in the southwest of France, was the last leg of our adventures.

We left Sunday morning with Roch and Sue in a VW minivan and made our way leisurely in the southwest direction. We stopped for coffees, stopped to brush breakfast crumbs from our laps, stopped in Le Mans to find an Avis (closed), stopped in the town of Chartres to mill about the area and take photos of their cathedral.

In total, it was about a 3 hour drive, but we didn't arrive at the bed and breakfast until nearly sundown. Roch booked an amazing B&B for us called La Grand' Masion (yes, I know that "Grand'" should be spelled with an 'e' because it's feminine, but apparently it's olde French or something) outside the town of Saumer.

La Grand' Maison is run by two cheerful British women, Michela and Sue, who bought the property four years ago and updated it with modern amenities. The main house had a dining room and a few guest rooms, but we stayed in separate buildings.

The building that Dave and I stayed in used to be an old bake house. The bread oven still remains, although no longer in use.

It was so charming and cozy. The walls were stone, the roof tiles were covered in moss, and Dave had to duck to get in and out. We took to calling it the hobbit house.

The next day we visited the Saumer chateau, but it was rainy so we just took a few photos from afar and scrambled back to the car.

In the afternoon the weather cleared and we visited Chateau Brézé on a recommendation from Michela. Chateau Brézé is really unique because it has a huge network of underground tunnels carved in the limestone beneath. We took a self-guided tour through the tunnels, then followed with a wine tasting of the local vines.

That night for dinner, Michela and Sue made us a great meal of salmon and local vegetables. Every course was accompanied by a corresponding wine, but naturally I had to stop after the apéritif.

The next day before we left, Michela gave us a tour of the cave beneath the property. We saw where the former residents used to make wine, and the pigeon tower. AND we got buzzed by two bats, very exciting.

The pigeon tower at La Grand' Maison

We began the drive back by early afternoon, again taking our time. We planned to stop at the Chambord chateau, but we were all travel weary and decided to skip it. We were back to Levallois-Perret by dinner time. I bought us a roast chicken from the market to share, but alas, no matching wine.