France - Loire Valley

August 2008

The three day August Bank Holiday break gave Wendy and me a chance to pop across the Channel and target an area of France neither of us had visited – the Loire Valley. We were on the midnight Norfolk Lines ferry from Dover to Dunkirk and arrived in France around 3am local time on Saturday August 23rd.

Following the E40 past Calais and the A16 past Bologne, I narrowly avoided joining the Peage (Toll motorway) before steering a local route (1) south via Abbeville, then following the 901 to Beauville. By the time we reached here, the sunrise was up but the roads were still empty this early on a Saturday morning. We eventually joined the 322 which skirts around the north of Paris and followed it anti-clockwise until we reached Versailles.

Passing the impressive Palace of Versailles, we found a tiny road sign that got us to Route 10 heading south west to Rambouillet. Crossing the A11 Motorway, we passed Etampes before a final southern leg to Orleans along route 20. From there, it was a short hop south east (not well marked) to the start of our exploration. We arrived at Sully-sur-Loire around 10.30am. It had taken a non-stop journey of 7 hours from Dunkirk.

The Loire Valley has long been a popular tourist destination for its sights, mild climate and natural beauty. In the 16th Century, when feuding died down in France and the Renaissance spread, the need for fortification (ie castles) declined. Comfort and decoration became the priorities and beautiful country houses were built and furnished lavishly, carefully positioned (the houses, not the furniture) to make the most of the landscape.

The AA Guide to Driving around the Loire Valley said “The legacy of those times is an astonishing mixture of chateaux open to the public. These range from ruined castles to elegant mansions that are still family homes. Most are architectural master pieces with striking exteriors, often rich in detail”. Our mission (should we accept it) was to visit as many as possible in 2 days or so and not pay any entrance fees. The countryside is largely flat, but the area is well endowed with historic towns and tranquil villages and we’d attempt to check out some of these too.

Most important of all is the Loire itself, the longest river in France (1020km). Starting far to the south, it flows in a great semi-circle to the Atlantic. By the time it reaches the area we would tour, it is often as wide as a lake. For centuries, much of the adjoining land was prone to devastating floods. Nowadays, the river is controlled by long embankments that accompany it.

Sully-Sur-Loire was a pretty little town. Just outside over the Sangy river, its 14th century Chateau is a magnificent structure, solidly rectangular and guarded by mighty towers and turrets all made of light grey coloured stone. The river has been utilised to provide a wide moat around it. The 600 year wooden roof still remains over the keep, though the Chateau has been heavily restored since World War Two damage. In fine British style, we cooked a full English breakfast on a picnic table nearby with a portable stove.

We popped down to Gien through tree lined roads awash with greenery spreading overhead. Passing a very long aqueduct, we crossed the Loire over the main pale stone bridge. There was a fabulous vista of the town’s chateau which lay just above the town. It is mainly built of red bricks, while the ordinary houses and cottages which lay beneath it are all built of stone. Climbing up a short series of steps, we discovered that inside the 15th Century Chateau de Gien with its geometric pattern of red and black brickwork, was the Musee International de la Chasse (International Hunting Museum) – apparently there are over 3000 artworks depicting hunting and numerous stuffed specimens. Definitely one for the vegetarians. The town was full of flower-filled cobbled streets and restored town houses, again restored from World War Two’s damage.

Tracing our way back to Orleans, we stopped in at Saint-Benoit-Sur-Loire, an ancient riverside village, where one of France’s finest Romanesque treasures can be found. This is the imposing Romanesque Basilica. It was dedicated to St Benedict (d 547), the founder of the Benedictine Order, which had vast influence throughout Europe during the Middle Ages. The richly carved capitals (statues at the top of stone pillars) in the belfry porch are considered masterpieces. Most of the existing pale stone abbey church dates from the 11th Century, although it was restored in the 19th Century. Inside the spacious bare stone and naturally well lit interior, we found the monks having a service and singing wonderful hymns.

We stumbled across the town of Dunois which had a small Chateau where a wedding was taking place. The Chateau was really just a glorified house (a huge house) with a couple of sunken gardens and an artificial river at the bottom of the garden. Here we saw the largest water rat I had ever seen. It was the size of a cat. Someone had thrown in a large chunk of bed that was being nibbled by two dozen fish from beneath. Then this monster casually swam up, grabbed it and headed to an alcove to feast on the free meal.

In Orleans, we skirted around the centre and heading west, came across a Formula 1 Hotel. These are cheap plastic hotels – a room costs the same whether 1, 2 or 3 people are using it. Showers and toilets are shared. You get a bed, sink, mirror and a TV. But they are cheap, clean and convenient. With a ground floor room, we smuggled in all our food to snack on later.

It was still light, so once unloaded, we headed further west to Beaugency which had a wonderful old bridge. The long, narrow, medieval stone structure straddles the Loire River but has irregular arches and is not humped in the middle but closer to the town. It looked like it had been repaired or replaced on numerous occasions throughout the centuries.

Lots of history took place here. During the Hundred Years’ War, it was frequently besieged by both French and English forces. In 1429, Joan of Arc wanted to cross the bridge to get to Orleans but it was held by English soldiers. Once she had crossed elsewhere and kicked us out of Orleans, she returned to kick our arses at Beaugency. No wonder they have a statue of her in the centre.

It’s a lovely little town with narrow twisted cobbled lanes, lined with old stone and timber houses, that rise away from the river to the main square with its Renaissance town hall. There are also two huge towers - one is called Caesar’s Tower that was part of the 11th Century fortifications. A stroll around the sleepy town full of summer flowers hanging in boxes from the houses and stone walls was a splendid way to finish off the day before returning to the hotel and terrible French TV.

The next morning, with nothing to see in Orleans, we headed on a slight detour to see Le Ferte Saint Aubin. We had found a leaflet in the F1 Hotel and it looked impressive. Indeed it was. I have no information about it other than it has been a privately lived in chateau for more than 350 years. There was a major house with two equally stately side buildings facing each other towards the front of the compound which was surrounded by a moat and accessible by bridge. We only peered at it from the other side of the moat. The buildings were a strange mixture of sandstone filled in with red brickwork. Nevertheless, it looked like a brilliant place to live.

Our major sight today was Chambord and it did not disappoint. “More than any other chateau, Chambord is fit for a king. Enclosed by a vast private oak forest, the pale castle is gigantically large, and covered with a huge black roof of fantastic complexity. The sheer monumental madness of its grandeur and size seem to convey what it was to be a monarch in 16th Century France” (AA Guide to the Loire Valley) - who happened to be Francois I.

Completely Renaissance in style, Chambord was started in 1519 and took 15 years to get the first central section built – three stories high with a simple rectangular outer structure, round towers at each corner and a large square keep. Other sections were added later by other kings. Rising up through the centre inside is a vast unique double staircase (believed to be the work of Leonardo da Vinci who was working for King Francois I at the time). It is two staircases in one (or rather one above the other) whereby two people can use it at the same time without meeting. Side openings do allow them to converse. This was a strange but brilliant thing to try out.

Everything is huge inside the Chateau, and 80 of the 440 rooms are open to the public. It is pretty sparsely furnished but you get an idea of the grandiose nature from the vaulted stone ceilings, huge fireplaces with royal emblems, the weird roof with its profusion of windows and turrets, lofty outside stairwells and walkways and the surrounding gardens. It’s estate is the largest in Europe and it is enclosed by a 31 km long wall – the longest in France which took around 100 years to complete. Must have had cowboy builders.

From a distance, Chambord looks like a fairy tale castle and to be honest, it was the most impressive chateau we saw all weekend – its sheer scale left everything else looking mediocre. Well worth the admission price. One of those places to see before you die.

Nearby, we attempted to sneak into see the Chateau de Troussay which was hidden in a tract of woodland and is privately owned. We could see an admission area and there was no-way to get past it to see the Chateau. We were only going to pay to see two chateaux this weekend (Chambord was one), so we backtracked and played with the huge hairy floppy eared donkeys in a field (the floppy ears were huge, rather than the donkeys). As it was, later on the main road, we spotted the chateau through a gap in the trees.

Next on the list, Cheverny also proved to be a problem. This is one of the most classic of the Loire Chateaux and dates from the 17th Century (circa 1604-34). The slate roof and cool stone façade looks immaculate. It is also famous as being Tintin’s castle (French cartoon). Consequently, there were lines of tourists waiting to get in.

The problem was that if you parked up and followed the tourists to the entrance area, you could not see the chateau until you had paid. This was only going to be a photograph for us and we did not want to pay for the privilege. Especially as I never liked Tintin or his bloody dog. We ended up driving around the whole estate looking for a wall to climb over or peer through. In the end, we found a closed gate with mesh over it so you couldn’t take a photograph. But the handle area had no mesh so you could point your camera though and get a photo. Result. And you know where to stick Tintin.

A detour took us on to Fougeres-Sur-Brievre, a small town sitting amid pine forests and fields of asparagus. It’s 15th Century chateau seemed very small – almost a large barn with a turret and lots of windows.

Chaumont Sur Loire contained an impressive cliff-top castle on the southern bank of the Loire. The location above a road lined with houses, was spectacular. The castle had massive round towers in white tufa, under pointed black slate roofs. Since, however, they had the entrance/fee down at ground level, we decided to take in the view from below, so never saw it in detail.There were a lot of French tourists here.

We were pretty much following our noses and if we saw a brown sign with the name of a chateau, we would take a chance and try and find it. This is how we came across the Chateau de Troussay after trying to find another chateau along narrow twisting lanes and changing direction. The Chateau de Troussay was another privately run mansion where they let people have a tour to pay the upkeep. Late in the afternoon, it was closed but it looked impressive from the outside. Often, it was more fun trying to find the chateaux than what they looked like when we found them.

Retracing our way back towards Tours, we stumbled upon Mont Richard and crossed an impressive old bridge over the River Cher. The AA book said “This lively, picturesque little own rises from the Cher riverside up steep steps and narrow lanes lined with tiny white tufa houses. At the top of the town, the imposing ruins of its massive square castle keep are still enclosed by remnants of once-daunting fortifications.” The town had a lovely riverside location though we only drove through it without stopping.

Finally, approaching Tours, we saw another brown side and ended up at the Chateau Bourdaisere. This was actually a posh hotel in private manicured grounds. We stood at the gates and peered enviously at the lovely building, decided that our credit card wouldn’t be able to cope with the price and negotiated Tours until we found the Formula 1 Hotel. This took a little longer than expected because we passed the F1 Hotel, thinking it was not the Formula 1 Hotel. This may sound stupid, but every Formula 1 hotel I have stayed at has a big ‘Formula 1’ sign above the hotel. This one didn’t. Doh! Still it was cheap and pretty much identical to the room we had stayed in last night.

The following morning (Monday), Chenonceaux, just south east of Tours was our major target. We had already popped down there last night before dusk to see when it opened and if there was any possibility of seeing it without paying – but there wasn’t so we ended up paying to see our second chateau. We were not disappointed.

“Dramatic, romantic, beautiful – Chenouceau is arguably the greatest of the Loire chateaux. It is also the most popular” (AA guide). Which is why we arrived as soon as it opened at 9am. The chateau stands in the waters of the river Cher, a magnificent display of Renaissance architecture, with one long structure/building spanning the river from bank to bank. The river flows beneath its dozen arches. It was built in 1521 and must have looked amazing. It still does. Before the tour groups arrived en mass, we had a stroll around the gardens to get people-less photos of the chateau/gardens and then had a thorough exploration inside.

There were intimate furnished rooms with lovely floral displays, tapestries and ornate fireplaces. The kitchens had been left in Renaissance style. One level had a 60m long modern art gallery. The top level had a marvellous ribbed vaulting ceiling. Despite the tour groups, it was a great place to explore and from the windows, you could look down on the river just beneath you. It is an inspiring place and well worth the entrance fee. We pretty much exhausted the place in a couple of hours taking in some woodland walks and children’s maze and headed for Amboise.

“The Chateau Royal of Amboise, standing firmly on its riverside rock facing the Loire, was home to every king or queen of France for 160 years, up to the end of the 16th Century” (AA Guide). It was originally an old Gothic fortress that had Renaissance decoration added with a major Italian influence. It used to be bigger with a secondary river running around it. But it looked big enough to us. We passed on the entrance fee and just walked around the castle. Leonardo de Vinci was apparently buried The surrounding town looked lovely with flower boxes hanging off the walls. It deserved more time than we gave it and I will return to explore properly on another visit.

We had to start heading home and passed by Chateau Luyhes rising above a town. It was mid afternoon by the time we'd had a quick picnic in a field of sunflowers and we had until 10pm to reach the ferry. So we took the cross country route avoiding the toll roads via Vendrome, Chateaudun, skirting Chartres, Dreux and Evreux. As we approached Rouen, there seemed no alternative but to join the peage, but despite a lack of traffic signs, I luckily took a guess and we entered Rouen on a local road and found the highway to Calais.

We were bang on schedule and the A28/E402 highway was free but within 30 minutes, we came upon miles of stationary traffic. We crawled along with everyone else and it took over an hour to cover couple of miles. The hold up was just some minor road works.

By the time we reached Amiens, there was a serious possibility we would miss the ferry. We joined the A16 peage and stayed well above the speed limit all the way. A few UK drivers came screaming past us, also racing for the ferries.

Ironically, as we approached Calais, our fuel gauge hit reserve and there were no obvious garages. Driving around in circles, we finally found an underground self service garage in a deserted shopping complex. Then to just tease us some more, the turn off to the Dunkirk ferry port had been closed due to road works and we had to drive into Dunkirk and back out before we could get on the other side of the road. There were lines of ferry traffic – obviously there were a lot of vehicles who had been delayed. As we crawled along, we resigned ourselves to missing the 10pm ferry, but somehow we were waved through at the last minute and were the second last car allowed on a half empty ferry that would still leave on time. It made for a frustrating if challenging end to our splendid weekend in France.