TIME TO TOUR
At chateau Le Lude, the gardens alone are worth the visit. Normally we like to amble through places on our own, but a guided tour in English is a real bonus. It is obvious from the family photos that this 70-room castle is someone’s home, which somehow makes it special. A laptop sits open beside the TV in the sumptuous living room littered with antiques. The de Nicolay family has owned Le Lude for 270 years.
Our favourite town is Chinon. Is it the Hostellerie Gargantua that grabs us? We stayed in our very own turret room in this castle hotel, named after a Rabelaisian novel and set in the town’s medieval centre. Or perhaps it is the many wine caves with their entrances tucked between bistros along the cobbled lanes? Even the restored fortress is special, with sound and film re-enactments of Joan of Arc meeting Charles VII here in 1497.
Our favourite château is Chambord. With 282 fireplaces, 77 staircases and 426 rooms sitting on a 5,440-hectare estate, how could it not stand out from others in the Loire Valley? However, Cheverny was not far behind, especially when it came time to feed the foxhounds.
Judging from buses lining the parking lots, we are not alone in thinking the gardens at the Chateau de Villandry, a UNESCO World Heritage site, are outstanding. Unless, of course, people were just there to admire Napoleonic rocking horses in the nursery