Tours and the Loire

It was a bit of a mission to get from Bourgogne and Chalon-sur-Saône across central France to the Loire Valley: the main high-speed train routes fan out from Paris and we were skirting through the country’s center to the south of the capital so had to traverse on a bit of a milk run route. A 90 minute train took us back to Lyon, followed by a five hour and 50 minute ride across central France to get to Tours. A long day, but the trains are such a comfortable and efficient way to travel, the time flew as we all took care of emails, watched a movie or two and caught up on diary entries of our trip.

Tours sits at the eastern end of the behemoth Loire Valley, an 800 square kilometer/310 square mile swath of central France revered for the abundance of fruits, vegetables and vineyards it supports. The Loire is also a bit of a hotspot for tourism as it’s littered with more than 300 châteaux, some of which are more than 1000 years old and many are open to the public. Tours itself – with a population of 136K – was a bit of a gritty city, with less-than-aesthetically-appealing high rise apartment buildings filling the skyline and a character that was distinctly different from the charming villages of Burgundy we’d just left. That said, as with most European cities, the public transport network was excellent and trams enabled us to hop about central Tours with ease during our stay. And in spite of the outward appearance of the bulk of the city, the old town section of Tours was exceedingly fun, with bars and tapas establishments that were an absolute hive of activity in the afternoons and more restaurants than one could poke a stick at. There was also a shopping strip adjacent to the old town where Lisa and the kids enjoyed some browsing, and Wild Man secured himself a new wallet (something for which he’d been searching since our time in Italy). We could have sat and people-watched in the old town for hours, so much action.

Lisa had her sights set on exploring some of the Cabernet Franc and Chenin Blanc producers surrounding Tours, so the kids and I broke away to journey along a section of La Loire à Vélo: an 800 kilometer/500 mile cycling route that forms the western section of the EuroVelo Six route linking Black Sea to Atlantic. The portion of La Loire à Vélo passing through Tours was an almost entirely paved bike path separate from the vehicular roads, so was an ideal adventure for the kids. The two of them were so stoked to be back on bikes – something they’d been missing since we left California in July – and it was a fabulous way to explore the Loire countryside outside Tours. We passed through farmland, charming country villages and also past a couple of the spectacular castles for which the Loire is famous. Our stop in sleepy Savonnières alongside the River Cher included lunch from the town butcher, who had some delectable quiches and pizzettas on offer. I’d never seen a pulled pork quiche before, but the one I had in Savonnières was absolutely divine. After sampling some of the butcher’s savory zucchini donuts Max had me go back for more, he downed four of them in one sitting. Cycling fuel!

I found an equestrian farm near the end of our cycling route and booked a surprise treat for the kids, they both enjoyed it but I think we were all expecting something a little more on the trail riding spectrum rather than a guide-led pony tour through the surrounding farmland (I’ll chalk that up to language difficulties on the phone, just like my veal liver in Lyon…). Fun nonetheless… We skipped past the stunning Château de Villandry, only quickly taking it in from the outside as we had the horse (pony…) riding booked. But at the end of our day we spent some time walking around the quaint village of Langeais, which is home to the commanding fifteenth century Gothic castle of Château de Langeais. Amazing to think of all the counts and kings and queens and heads of state that have frequented the castles of the Loire over the centuries as we were walking around the château. Château de Langeais was originally built in 992 by the Count of Anjou and completely destroyed during the Hundred Years’ War. King Louis XI rebuilt the castle into what today is one of Europe’s best known examples of late medieval architecture. I’ll always remember Langeais as the first place I tried a Monaco, the red drink I’d seen the French drinking in various bars and cafes in the afternoons during our travels: it was half lager, half lemonade topped with a dash of grenadine. Pretty sure Lilia enjoyed the taste she had more than I did, it was almost sickly sweet with the combination of the grenadine and lemonade, almost no taste of beer. I think I’ll leave the Monacos to Tariq.

After we were all done it was almost 25 miles/40 kilometers from Tours to Langeais. Lilia was ready for more, Max was spent and my loins were certainly not feeling like they could handle any additional pedaling on the “comfort” saddle my Mary Poppins bike was endowed with. I’ll stick to my Brooks any day of the week.

One of the most famous and frequently photographed of the Loire castles is Château de Chenonceau, a mind-boggling structure that bridges the waters of the River Cher near the village of Chenonceaux. We tagged along with Mum one morning on her wine adventures as they took us near the castle, quite memorable to stand there and take in the 600 year old château in the morning sunshine. We set the kids a homework assignment to read about the castle’s history, interesting to learn from them that at one point thechâteau was the only way to get between Nazi-held territory on one bank of the River Cher to the “free” zone on the opposite side during World War II. The castle was used to smuggle jews across the River Loire during the war and bombed by the Nazis in 1940 then the Allies in 1944. Reconstruction to its former glory began in 1951.