Fun Comes in Threes

Spring is definitely, well springing, here in the Loire Valley so we have selflessly taken ourselves out and about - revisiting some favourite places and searching out new destinations and places of interest for our guests.

Whether we are on the bikes or in the car, our route often leads us to and through the adjacent villages of Candes St Martin, Montsoreau and Turquant. These 3 villages lie along the riverside around the confluence of the Vienne and Loire rivers and almost directly across the valley from our home in St Nicolas de Bourgueil. Each one has a wealth of interest - architectural, historical, natural and commercial - and they all feature on our cycle, wine and discovery tour routes. In fact there is so much to see and do that, despite being in such close proximity, we have devised two separate cycle routes for 2011, so guests can have time to take a leisurely cycle to and from their destination and also explore all each village has to offer. Below is a taster of what you can discover in each destination.

Let's start with the westernmost village, Candes St Martin. This is designated one of the prettiest villages in France and its easy to see why. The houses hug the hillside along the Vienne river, clustered around the disproportionately huge church in its centre. The church is dedicated to St Martin (!) who died here in November 397 and dates back to the 12th century. Many of the houses in the village are from medieval times, so there are plenty of cobbled streets and narrow alleyways to explore. A steep walk to the clifftop rewards you with a magnificent panorama over the Loire Valley and a bird's eye view of where the Vienne river meets the mighty Loire. Back in the village, there has been a recent renaissance and now there are several artists shops to browse, as well as an unusual cafe/bric a brac store and a shop selling hand-restored furniture and home furnishings, combined with an ambiant wine bar in the cellar.

A short stroll or ride brings you to the larger village of Montsoreau. Dominated by the chateau right on the river and the location for a monthly antiques market along the quayside, there is again plenty to see and do here. The chateau has been wonderfully restored; don't expect the usual four poster beds and suits of armour indisde though. Instead this unfurnished chateau is home to an exhibition of the history of life along the river - there are atmospheric displays of river traffic, weather vanes, flora and fauna, as well as details of 'La Dame de Montsoreau' - a steamy novel set in the chateau and written by Alexandre Dumas (of The 3 Musketeers fame). Montsoreau village has several watering holes - you can choose from a simple cafe right up to a gourmet restaurant with river views. Or make up a picnic with goodies from the baker's butcher's and general store and eat it at the picnic tables along the riverbank. A short detour away rom the river will bring you - via Le Mestre hand-made soap makers - to the historic village of Fontevraud l'Abbaye - the abbey has a checkered history but is probably most famous as the resting place of Richard the Lionheart.

From Montsoreau you can follow the Loire a Velo route to the troglodyte village of Turquant. Here there are winegrowers, windmills and caves to explore. Just outside the village centre, a row of former troglodyte dwellings have been restored and now house an artist's village - you can browse through a silversmith's, a glassblower's, a leather worker's shop (great handbags, ladies!) and will often see the artists at work. There is also a showroom displaying (and selling) pottery, jewellery and other household knick knacks made by local artists. If all that shopping works up a thirst, you can visit the Bistroglo for a rhubarb juice or an artisan beer. Also in the village is a troglodyte restaurant - guests eat in the wonderful restored cave and enjoy delicious dishes featuring local produce and often-forgotten old ingredients - nettle soup is often featured.

After all this excitement, if you have arrived by bike, your return route will take you along the Loire river - either on the north or south bank (depending which of our routes you are following!) with opportunities for nature-watching along the way. Then its just a case of meandering back through the vineyards back to base, for a well-earned rest (perhaps a glass or two of the local brew) and an opportunity to relive your day's adventures.

Vive le Red (white and blue) Tape

France has a reputation for being over-bureauctratic - it does after all have the highest ratio of civil servants to population in the world. These 'fonctionnaires' are 'fondly' known to the rest of us as cravattes (tie wearers) or, less politely, as chiers d'encre (ink shi&%ers).

I recently put this to the test; I have lost my UK driving licence so needed to apply for a French one. So, I diligently checked the official website to see what documentation I would need - added a few extra items just in case, and painstakingly photocopied everything - if you don't have your documents photocopied then they send you off to the 'presse' across the road - 10c a sheet. I called the Vehicle Licencing Agency in the UK to get a certificate stating that I had a licence there and the driving categories I am allowed (there was no mention of this requirement on the website but I knew it was needed - clever eh?). Finally, off I trotted to the supermarket to get my obligatory passport size photos (2, cut out carefully because I know from experience that the civil service doesn't have scissors - at least not ones they lend to the great unwashed public!).

After checking the office opening hours (8.30 am to 12.30pm Monday to Friday) - France is notorious for being closed at lunchtimes and all day on Mondays - Mark and I set off early on 6th January to get my new licence. I have to confess to a feeling of smugness (my first mistake) 'knowing' that I had beaten the system - because I had jumped through all their hoops before getting there. We walked past the 'Bureau des Etrangers' just along the road from the driving licence centre - it was mysteriously shuttered and closed - and on to our destination. Zut alors! Also closed - but why? We had heard no news of strikes, impending nuclear war....then we saw the sign, just underneath the opening hours - closed on the first Thursday of each month...6th January was a Thursday! So, after much muttering and shoulder shrugging (how French we are becoming) we shuffled off, had a coffee and planned our return visit.

The following Tuesday (not chancing a Thursday again) saw us back in Tours. This time the office was open. I stood in the queue at reception; when it was my turn I explained all to the lady, she asked if I had some ID (yes), proof of residence (yes, again), I showed her my certificate from the DVLA (she nodded approvingly). She picked up the phone and advised her colleague that she was sending a lady up to transfer her UK driving licence to a French one, then politely gave me directions to said colleague. I'm home and dry here, I thought (second mistake!) At the second window, I explained all again - the lady asked me for the relevant documents. 'Have you photocopies?' she asked, 'of course' I replied and handed them over. She took everytning away to a mysterious back office (obviously going to prepare my French licence I thought....wrong!) Two minutes later, she was back. 'Have you got a declaration of the loss of your UK licence?' My bood ran cold. 'No', I replied - knowing it was futile, 'but there is the certificate proving I had one.' 'Not good enough, you need to go to the police and declare officially you have lost the licence, they will give you a form, bring that back here.' So, tail once more between our legs, we trudged back home.

Next, the police station. I'm very pleased to say that Bourgueil has a low crime rate, but one of the side effects of this is that the police officers don't seem very, how shall I say, dynamic! The old guy I saw was completely flummoxed by the highly unusual request of someone wanting to declare a BRITISH driving licence lost. After consultation with two colleagues and a phone call to higher powers, he discovered the right form to use and as I had luckily brought along my passport, proof of residence, the UK certificate and I gave the names (including maiden name of my mother) of both my parents, I left 30 minutes later clutching the precious declaration.

The end of this story is pretty boring. I returned to Tours, went to see the driving licence lady, handed my forms over and got my licence! Before writing this blog, I surfed the internet a little to look for some statistics about civil servants (see my opening line). I was amazed, then not at all surprised, at the number of articles there are about French bureaucracy and problems we foreigners have with it. Our only consolation is that our French friends find it just as frustrating. Perhaps I should have read the advice of Jo Laredo, journalist for the Paris Voice, BEFORE staring my epic task:

Top tips for dealing with French red tape: 1 Always find out from an official source exactly what you need before making an application. 2 Double-check the opening hours of the office and ensure it isn't a public holiday. 3 Always take a duplicate of everything. 4 Expect not to have the right paperwork the first time. 5 Allow plenty of time to make an application (and take a good book).

New Year - New Blog

I am embarrassed to realise just how long it is since I last blogged! I have a new year's resolution to post at least one blog per month for 2011 - so far so good.

January is traditionally the time to both look forward to the new year and reflect on the old one. Here at Loire Valley Breaks we have been doing a bit of both.

For the looking forward, we are already filling our rooms with reservations for 2011 and are busy getting the place ready for you - this year as well as the usual annual maintenance jobs we are planning upgrades inside and out. Outside there will be an improved sun terrace - including some much-needed shade and new garden furniture to relax in. Inside all our double bedrooms will have (at least) 160cm - 5 foot - beds and we are freshening the interiors with new bed linens, towels and soft furnishings.

Even our evening meal menus are having a makeover - a new 'bistro' theme with plenty of traditionally based dishes.

We are often asked by guests where the majority of our guests come from - and so as part of our reflection over the last year we thought it would be fun to look at this accurately (rather than our usual guesstimates!) So - with apologies to those who don't like statistics as much as I do - here are the findings from our 2010 guests:

Overall, one third of our guests were from the UK and one third from Australia. Of the rest, in descending order, our guests came from the USA, Canada and New Zealand, Ireland, and South Africa.

The mixture of type of breaks was fairly even - a little over a third were adult cyclists, and the rest of our guests were an even mix of family cyclists and those on a discovery or wine tour.

Adult cyclists stayed in the main for 4 or 5 nights and the majority of guests cycled up to 50km (30 miles) daily, although one quarter went further than this. Half our families stayed for 7 nights or longer and most cycled up to 32km (20 miles) each day.

Half the guests on an escorted tour last year were from Australia - so Mark has bought an Australian dictionary ready for this year! The high number of Australian guests overall is due in no small measure to the great review by past guest Nicola Walker, which was printed in the Sydney Morning Herald and Melbourne Age - we are still receiving enquiries and bookings due to this now, even though it was printed in May 2010!

So that was 2010 - we are looking forward to meeting all our 2011 visitors - both new and returning guests - and sharing with all of them our love for this beautiful corner of France.

Easter (rain) Bonnets!

Easter was early this year, its true, but as we had experienced some warm (16 degrees) sunny days towards the end of March, we were hopeful of some friendly weather for our Easter guests - primarily cyclists. Unfortunately, it was not to be!

Our first guests of the Easter break were Karen and Chris, who would (I think) describe themselves as from New Zealand, although Chris was born in the UK and both have been working there for a while. Their break started off hopefully, a sunny first day's ride to medieval Chinon. I'm afraid it all went a bit downhill from there - with two days of wind and rain and although there were some sunny intervals, those of you who are regular cyclists or aware of the Law of Murphy, will guess that the heaviest rain showers occured when they were on a section of the route entirely without shelter! Thankfully the weather was slightly better for their last day - a lovely ride along the Loire river to Villandry chateau and gardens.

Our second cyclists of the weekend arrived on the shower-filled Thursday - although we did manage a welcome drink in the sunny courtyard. This group arrived from the Isle of Man, although only Georgia is a true Manx - Lynton and Marc are originally from South Africa and Charmaine from Ireland. As a break from the weather, they had booked a day's wine tour with Mark on the Saturday so on that day were mostly wet on the inside! They spent the day with Catherine and Elizabeth, American visitors taking a break from their textile studies in the north of France.

Of course the day the final Easter guests left, the sun came out and has been shining every day since! This did mean we could take Sebastian, our German exchange student, to visit Langeais chateau in dry weather. I have posted some photos of the chateau and gardens on our facebook page.

French Lessons!

Once you have been living in France for a while, your language skills improve, beyond being able to order your morning pain in the boulangerie. We have been here for almost 8 years now and now that I am more confident in speaking French (I label myself competent rather than fluent) I want to use more subtlety in my speaking, and to be as correct as I can be...no French person is ever going to mistake my strong English accent for a native one, but I hope at least they realise that I can speak the language.

So I am keen to use the right term when there are (seemingly) several you can use in any given situation.

My favourite example is bonjour and bonsoir and at what moment of the day you should switch from one to the other. Mark was taught at school that it is 6.00pm and so he sticks to this rule (and why not?) Claudine, wife of our local mayor and also a friend, knows this, and so when we meet in the late afternoon/early evening she makes a great show of looking at her watch before greeting Mark 'appropriately'! My own experience of when to use which word has lead me to the conclusion that the rule is...whatever word I choose the person I am greeting ALWAYS uses the other!! So at 'that' time of day, I wait for my friends to say hello first and just copy whatever they say!

Another interesting phrase (or phrases) is the translation of 'see you soon'. Easy, right...it's à bientôt? Well, sometimes but not usually. Again, it all depends. My unscientific study of this phrase has led me to the following rules of thumb:

If you are going to see someone very soon (for example, I phone a neighbour to ask if I can pop round now to visit) you use à toute suite - see you straight away.

If I phoned this friend though and arranged to call round an hour later, I would say à tout à l'heure - see you later.

If I phoned in the morning to arrange an afternoon visit - à cet après-midi - see you this afternoon -would be used.

When chatting with someone and on leaving, you want to say 'see you soon', what you say still depends...if its someone you see regularly (a mum outside the school gates) then à demain - see you tomorrow - will be good. A friend you see from time to time with no regularity - à plus - see you again - and a friend who you see fairly often would (at last) get the phrase à bientôt.

Even though I know the theory of all the above, I still regularly use the 'wrong' phrase, but as we say here in France c'est pas grave!

A bientôt!!

New Theme Park to open in Angers

It's true, we are to have a new theme park right on our doorstep!

Due to open in April 2010, Terra Botanica will cover 110,000 square metres and will be the first theme park in Europe devoted to plant life. So, as there will be no Mickey Mouse or Asterix to entertain, what can we expect from this new park?

According to the press release, there will be aquatic spaces, greenhouses and 40 attractions and activities, providing fun and education for young and old alike. I have had a look at the park map and it does seem that there will be plenty to do, although I would say a passing interest in plants, natural science or just learning new things will probably ensure you have a good day!

The park is split into 4 separate areas (classic theme park-style this!) Coveted, Tamed, Generous and Mysterous Plants, each with its own 'headline' show or attraction, quizzes and games for children, and areas to wander and enjoy the plants which fit that area's theme.

In the Coveted Plants area, you travel back in time to the great botanic adventurers of the 18th century, who brought back to Europe exotic new plants and spices. Highlight of this section of the park is a special effects film where guests take their own voyage of discovery, ending up by 'disembarking' from the ship into a vast hothouse recreating the jungles of South America.

In the Generous Plants section, the highlight of the visit is a trip down a river, crossing through the rich natural heritage of Anjou. Guests are able to learn about plants which 'give' so much to man - medicinal plants, vines (of course!) and traditional trades.

In Mysterious Plants guests will learn about the science of plants and really get 'up close' in the headline show -a 4-D film where visitors follow the journey of two water droplets which travel from the roots up to the leaves of a tree. In this section younger guests will enjoy the prehistory sections and the pedal-driven nutshells which travel high above the trees.

The final section is Tamed Plants; all about how Man has used, and continues to use, the rich resources of plants in his daily life. The jewel in the crown of this area is the Extreme Glasshouse where in the space of a few steps you travel from the Arctic to the desert via a tropical rainforest.

The park is due to open on 10th April - so if you come and stay during the Easter holidays you may get to visit - and will be open daily from May to September. Admission prices are 17.50 for adults and 10.00 euros for children - with family tickets also available. The park is about 45 minutes drive from us. We will be visiting as soon as we can after opening day, so check back on the blog for photos and our family's review!

First Discovery Tour of 2010

Hot on the heels (or as hot as you can get in the Loire Valley in January!) of our first cyclists, Suzanne and Gabriel joined us for a chateau discovery tour.

Gabriel had booked the stay way back in mid-2009 so it was great to finally meet them both. Like so many of our guests, they both have interesting stories to tell of their life and previous travels, so we end up learning about this whilst we help them discover the treasures of this wonderful corner of the world.

Unfortunately, the day they arrived they were feeling under the weather with upset tummies; this didn't stop them visiting the medieval town of Chinon, with its cobbled streets, gabled houses and the chateau where Joan of Arc persuaded the Dauphin to rise up against the English during the 100 years war (for some reason our non-English guests love this story!) In the evening they had a meal at the Ancre d'Or which, despite its name (Golden Anchor) is neither a pub nor has a nautical theme. It does serve plain, good value food in a relaxed atmosphere - just what the doctor ordered.

During their stay they also visited the gardens of Villandry chateau - impressive even in the depths of winter - as well as the chateau and town of Azay le Rideau. They also enjoyed several wine tastings, including Veuve Amiot, a sparkling wine-maker in Saumur. The visit includes a tour of the underground caves and an explanation of the wine-making process, which is similar to champagne although, of course, they can't call it that because the wine isn't from there.

Suzanne and Gabriel left us to visit Holland before going to their separate 'homes' on different continents. I hope it's not indiscreet to mention they have plans to marry soon and we wish them both every happiness in their life together.