After a great visit to Paris, I was excited to go to another area that I had previously been to with mixed results – the Loire Valley. Nate and I were there in 2006 as part of our European backpacking trip. We explored some amazing castles and had a little bit too much fun that resulted in the French police yelling at us and being told that “our actions were not correct” in broken English. This time, I had my wife in tow and was much more mature (ok well maybe not much, but more mature for sure). I was excited to go back and did have a little chuckle as we passed through the town that Nate and I had previously stayed in Amboise.
The Loire Valley is 2 hours southwest of Paris and is located in the middle of the Loire River in central France. It is famous for it’s historic towns, architecture including some amazing castles (or better known as Chateau’s in France) and wines thus earning it the recognition as a UNESCO world heritage site in 2000. There are more than 300 chateau’s in this area which represent a nation of builders starting with necessary castle fortifications in the 10th century to the splendor of those built later on. When French kings started to construct their chateau’s here, the nobles followed suit. Their presence in the lush, fertile valley began to attract the best architecture and landscape designers. At the center of this region is the town of Tours, France. This would be our base for exploration. I really wanted to go back to this region and show Marissa the sites and hopefully be welcomed back the next time.
The first day in Tours we arrived in the afternoon and decided to scout out the town and plan out the next couple of days. To our surprise the town of Tours was much better than expected. It was a clean, modern European city with an old town area that maintained it’s unique architecture and contained many really cool bars and restaurants. This was a pleasant surprise to us because we really didn’t expect much from the town.
After the first afternoon in Tours of planning we decided to embark upon a daylong bike trip to explore a few of the chateau’s in the area. We rented bikes in the town of Tours and picked up a map of the Loire a Velo bike trails. This trail stretches for over 800 km from the sea through the Loire Valley. I had done some research before the trip and found this and thought it was the perfect way for us to explore the area. It would allow us to get some exercise and make us work to get there. Plus we’d be going back to the Dutch DeBruyn roots and ride some bike. Gotta love that!
The bike path was a combination of a running/bike path and some country roads. It was unclear at times if cars were allowed or not but the route was pretty easy to follow and it was pleasant. Our first stop along the route was Chateau de Villandry located in the town of Villandry, France. It was about 20 km to get there from Tours so we made pretty short work of the ride. When we arrived, we found that the area could be explored in two portions: the chateau and the gardens.
First we went inside the chateau. Jean Le Breton, who was minister of finance for the French king at the time, built Villandry in 1536. He must have been putting a few pennies aside for himself because he built quite the place! The chateau is considered to be the last of the great chateaux built along the banks of the Loire during the Renaissance period. It was built on the former side of an old 12th century fortress of which nothing is left today except the tower. The fortress was where in the year 1189, the King of England Henry II admitted defeat at the hands of the French and Philippe Auguste. The current chateau has gone through numerous other wealthy owners and is still privately owned today. Over the years, it has gone through renovations but has maintained the original architecture and style. Inside the chateau contained some famous art works since several of the owners had a love for art.
The chateau was beautiful on the inside but that did not compare to the amazing gardens outside. We got our first glimpse of the garden when we peered out of the window of one of the bedrooms. It was just awesome! Everything about it seemed out of a fairytale and perfect. The owners in the early 20th century wanted to bring back the Renaissance gardens to their original form and beauty and they did an awesome job! The garden contained several different sections including the Ornamental garden, woods, water garden, sun garden, maze, and herb/vegetable gardens. The best part of the garden to Marissa and I were all of the fruits and vegetables that the gardens are yielding. You could see all of them as you walked around. Good thing we had packed a lunch for the day otherwise I might have been enticed to sample some of the amazing looking fruits and veggies. The gardens were definitely the best part of our visit to Villandry but alas after a few hours there it was back on our bikes!
Next up was Chateau d’Azay-le-Rideau. This was located about 12 km from Villandry. Not a bad bike ride to get there through the farmlands and local roads. We were surprised at how cool the little town of Azay-le-Rideau was as well. At the castle, the first thing that we noticed was that it was free! The price was right for us budget travelers. It happened to be European Heritage weekend this weekend so there were deals around the Loire Valley. One of the best ones was that this particular chateau was free. That also meant a few more people than usual. It was busy but not overly packed.
Chateau d’Azay-le-Rideau was built in the early 1500’s and is known for its early French renaissance architecture. It is set on an island in the middle of the Indre river making it one of the more picturesque chateau in the Loire Valley. Gilles Berthelot, the Mayor of the town of Tours and general treasurer of the King’s finances, built the chateau to show off his wealth and status. The king must have been paying him well because it was beautiful inside and out.
After our visit to the chateau we made our way to the local train station and took a train from the town back to Tours with our bikes. We met a great Australian couple that ironically had done the same two chateau’s as us that day. It was nice to meet such an awesome couple! We had a great time with them later on in the evening in Tours as we went out for dinner and drinks and compared travel stories. The weather wasn’t the best that night so we tried our best to dodge the rain. We felt lucky that the rain didn’t start until after we had finished riding for the day. We even experienced a double rainbow outside our apartment window that night that was awesome just as the sun was setting. Quite a sight!
Our last full day in the Loire Valley, we decided to go to Chateau de Chenonceau. This is one of them that I had been to previously and had remembered how magnificent it was. We took an easy 30 min train from Tours to Chenonceau and it was just as I remembered it. I really love how the chateau spans over the River Cher and looks spectacular!
Chenonceau has a very interesting history behind it. The chateau was first mentioned in writing in the 11th century however the current chateau was built in the early 1500’s on the foundations of an old mill and was later extended to span the river. The style was a mix of gothic with early Renaissance. The interesting story behind the castle goes like this.. A guy named Thomas Bohier built the castle. In 1535, the chateau was seized from Bohier’s son by King Francis I for unpaid debts to the crown. After Francis’ death in 1547, King Henry II offered the chateau as a gift to Diane de Poitiers, his mistress (imagine what his wife thought!). Well after King Henry II died in 1559, his wife, Catherine de Medici, took revenge and took Chenonceau as her own.
After our visit inside the chateau, we decided to visit the wine cellar in the bottom of an adjacent building on the grounds. We had to move quickly because while we were inside, the heavens opened and it started to pour rain outside. It was interesting coming from California where there is a huge drought but it has rained a decent amount throughout our trip. Many people have stated that it has been unusually wet in Europe this summer. We’ve experience that but for the most part it has not gotten in our way of doing what we wanted to do. This would be another example of that. We decided to buy a bottle of local wine in the wine cellar and made our way to the beautiful garden that overlooks the chateau. We had our version of happy hour on a bench that was just under the overhang of a large tree that shielded us from the rain. It was such a great spot. We remained dry while drinking our wine and eating our snacks overlooking the garden and the castle while we watched others running for cover in the rain. People watching at it’s finest! This was one of my favorite moments on the trip for sure.
All in all, this trip to Tours and the surrounding area was great. We both really enjoyed our bike day and being in nature. We felt like we enjoyed what makes this place special by seeing three amazing chateau’s and drinking some really good local wine!
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