Jump to page: << 1 2 >>

Loire Valley, France (12 - 13 February 2011)

I'm just trying to think as I write this how I first found out about the Loire Valley. I assume one of the Frenchies I work with in Paris told me about it. Anyway, the Loire Valley (pronounced “lwah”, and known as the ‘Garden of France') is a large area about two hours southwest of Paris following the Loire River. It's famous for its fucking stunning castles (châteaux) dotted all over the place and several historic towns. According to Wikipedia, there are over 300 châteaux in the area, but only a handful are particularly noteworthy for whatever reasons. Back in the day (early to middle of the last millennia) they were homes for the French kings and noblemen of the time, and nowadays are either homes for the absurdly rich, are operated as hotels and B&B's, or are owned by local government for tourism purposes. So, a couple châteaux and a couple towns in the area, and you've got yourself and good little weekend road trip out of Paris :)

When I first started looking into the Loire Valley, I came across images such as this of the châteaux in the area - not bad to say the least! Obviously the reality is rarely as awe-inspiring as a (Photoshop'd) image - particularly in winter, but regardless it was enough to get me there.		Kristina and I collected our hire car and hit the grey and gloomy winter roads heading south out of Paris. The poster on the left was in a Metro station hahaha - I don't think the little guy on the receiving end will be contributing to Japan's burgeoning population anytime soon ;)

Our first stop was the quiet little town of Orléans, about 130kms southwest of Paris. Apparently the city of New Orleans in the US (think Hurricane Katrina) is named after Orléans. So what have I got to say about this place that is interesting? Well nothing really, it's just a quiet wee town hehe. My workmate was born here almost 29 years ago, and he's an interesting guy, so that's semi-interesting.		The Casino in France: a place to buy fruit and vegetables, not a place to gamble your net worth away.		This is La Maison de Jeanne d'Arc (The House of Joan of Arc). Orléans is quite a big fan of Joan of Arc (that chick I mentioned last week during out trip to Normandy). Joan and friends stormed the joint and liberated Orléans from the baddies of the Hundred Years' War. The city's inhabitants were so grateful that they kicked the owners of this house out and gave it to Joan. Joan was captured and executed a couple years later though in Rouen at just 19 years old. Bit of an anticlimax that.

As for the rest of the city, well it's very quiet like I said but pretty nice.				Sex shops: every town needs at least one.

The other thing every town seems to need (at least in this country) is a massive cathedral. This is St Croix Cathedral, built a bloody long time ago and taking a bloody long time to build. Joan of Arc attended evening Mass in this cathedral just days before liberating the city, where among other things she probably prayed not to be burned at the stake before her 20th birthday. The cathedral's stained-glass windows now depict her story.				Park something-or-other, with the cathedral towing in the background.

A few kilometres south of Orléans is the 80-something acre Parc Floral de la Source (Floral Park of the Source). It's a pretty amazing place, full of some very random flora and fauna - more on that in a bit.

The ‘Source' in the name of the park refers to this - the source of the little 12km Loiret River (which flows into the Loire River) where after an underground course of several miles the water surges up through this spring. Quite unimpressive really isn't it, although this guy didn't think so.				Flamingos!

Among other random bits and pieces the park contains this joint with a cool back yard...		This stone cottage hidden in the trees...		And whatever these things are meant to be.

It must also have a kiddies train or something that runs in the summer. We followed the tracks for a bit and found this - a little miniature zoo, complete with this randy peacock.

Spot the peahen on the left there. After being pursued by the peacock for a bit she wandered around the back of the coop, apparently unnoticed by the peacock who continued trying to court her hehe. After realising she'd disappeared, he gave up and wandered off hahaha!
Speaking of horny, rams!		After all that excitement we drove on just as it started pissing with rain. Great.
45 minutes later we made it to the tiny village of Chambord (population 200). This is Chateau de Chambord, the largest in the Loire Valley and apparently one of the most recognisable in the world due to its very distinct French Renaissance architecture. It was constructed over about 30 years starting in 1519 by King François I to serve as a hunting lodge but also in part to be near his mistress who was actually the wife of some other guy. Geez they were horny in those days (anyone ever watched The Tudors?)  - I guess there wasn't a lot else to do.

Anyway we went on in and warmed ourselves by the fire.				In the ceilings are carved F's (for François) and salamanders - the king's chosen symbol. In the background there is the double-helix open staircase that is the centrepiece of the château. The two helixes ascend the three floors without ever meeting.

The château features 440 rooms, 365 fireplaces, and 84 staircases. Quite why one man would require all of that is anybody's guess, but such were the times - they did like to show off their wealth and power.

		The northern facade - it'd be much nicer in summer!

And with that we left again, passing through more cute French country villages.		This was our beast for the weekend by the way - a Renault Mégane. Bloody nice wee thing to drive, much nicer than last week's Peugeot for Normandy, but you get what you pay for (this cost me an extra €10 hehe).		Eventually the rain stopped and we got some sun, for all of about 20 minutes.

After screwing the Renault along some awesome roads we made it to Chenonceaux, another gorgeous wee village with a population of 350.

The point of coming here was to see this: The Château de Chenonceau, a manor house that is also one of the most visited in the Loire Valley. There was mention of a chateau on this site as far back as the 11th century, but it was destroyed and rebuilt at least twice as far as I can tell, with the current chateau constructed in 1515.

Lots of rooms and lots of this and lots of that and lots more animals stuck on the walls.

The shot on the left is the best I could do in this weather, and right is what I stole to show how bloody nice it is in summer (shot from the back on the other side of the river).

When we left the sunset broke under the cloud and was quite the sight. I pulled off the road into some random little side street to get this photo. Afterwards I noticed the stop sign, noticed two kids with a sling-shot and/or air gun watching me, and noticed we'd stopped on the edge of a dodgy trailer park hehe. The residents were glaring us, and after I took their photo a couple of them came out of their trailers so we got the hell outta there hahaha! French rednecks ;)

Jump to page: << 1 2 >>

Page Comments