My first visit to the Loire Valley goes back to 1984. At the time I was working as a marketing assistant for the Belgian branch of a Swedish tool manufacturer. Some ten months earlier I had lost my husband in a car accident and my spirits were rather low.Our company manager had decided to invite an important client to visit one of our production plants in Baugé, north of Saumur in the Loire Valley. As I was handling the marketing file of this client - and probably also because our manager felt sorry for me - I was invited to accompany them.
One sunny September morning our party of five (including our marketing manager and a salesman) set off for a three day trip to France.
First we drove to Paris, where we stayed overnight after visiting the annual hardware fair at the ‘Parc des Expositions’. (This was a business trip after all!) In the evening we went up to Montmartre and had dinner at ‘La Mère Catherine’ on the Place du Tertre.
The next morning we headed south to Baugé. The actual tour of the plant took less than two hours, so we had some time to spare for a bit of sightseeing. It was there and then that I got my first glimpse of one of the ‘châteaux de la Loire’. As we wanted to avoid the tourist crowds, we chose the ‘pocket size’ Château d’Azay-le-Rideau. Since then, I’ve been back twice and it gets better every time I see it. (The above picture was taken in 2007, on my third visit to the Château d’Azay-le-Rideau. We didn’t have digital photography in 1984!)
Azay-le-Rideau was the only castle I saw on that trip. Our stay was too short to tour around. I didn’t even get to see the Loire River – although we must have crossed it at some point to get from Baugé to Azay-le-Rideau! - or any of the famous vineyards. In the evening we had dinner at La Boule d’Or in Le Lude. You’ll find a restaurant or hotel by that name in almost every self-respecting French town.
On day three we drove straight back to Brussels. I can firmly say that it WASN’T on this first trip that I fell in love with the Loire Valley, nor was it on my second (short) visit to the region in 1993!
5 comments:
A new blog about the Loire Valley...hooray !!
PS Sorry, I forgot to add - the name of your blog caught my eye - it's just how I feel too.
Hi Jean, Thanks for your comment. It's always lovely to meet/read someone who loves the Loire Valley too.
I somehow found this blog and I will be living vicariously through you! For my 10 yr anniversary, my husband took me on my dream trip to France: 5 days in Paris and 5 days in the Loire Valley. We stayed at Chateau de Noizay and toured 8 chateaux! Highly recommend: Azay le Rideau (nicest village), Villandry (beautiful gardens), Chenonceau (best cafe, audio, and in general), and Blois (variety of architecture, lots of history, nice town). Highly disappointed: Chambord (bad cafe, boring audio, empty rooms), Usse (no town, cheesey mannequins), Chinon (ruins), and Amboise.
I've bookmarked your blog and will be following! I think I was a French countess in a former life :)
Tsjmom: Thanks for taking an interest in my blog. We've just returned from our annual trip to La Touraine and I've lots of new stories to share.
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