“The Loire Valley is an outstanding cultural landscape of great beauty, containing historic towns and villages, great architectural monuments (the châteaux), and cultivated lands formed by many centuries of interaction between their population and the physical environment, primarily the river Loire itself.” UNESCO
I was recently fortunate enough to take the Overseas Adventure Travel trip French Impressions: From the Loire Valley to Lyon and Paris. Taking this trip was a love letter and a thank you to France for changing my life. The travel bug bit me in Tours in the Loire Valley back in 1971 when I took a three week trip to France with my high school French class. For 10 of those days, we stayed in a dorm in Tours, and by day our group visited the many stately chateaux in the region, many with significant history. I was seeing the world for the first time through international travel, and my life would never be the same.
113 countries later, I was once again in the Loire Valley with OAT. This time I wasn’t in the city of Tours, but in Angers. We saw different chateaux in that part of the beautiful Loire Valley, the Chateau d’ Angers not far away from our hotel, and the Chateau de Villandry, famous for its Renaissance era gardens and boxed hedges. And we enjoyed a beautiful boat ride down the Main River, a tributary of the Loire River.
The Chateau de Angers, about a 20 minute walk from our hotel, gives a glimpse into the life of the Counts of Anjou and those who lived in the chateau. It was founded in the 9th century and was expanded until the 13th. Besides seeing the Chateau and two gardens, we also saw the apocalypse tapestry exhibition there, with its 99 tapestries detailing scenes from the apocalypse. There is also a tapestry museum in the area, a modern art museum, and a fine arts museum. The shops we passed along the way were fun and interesting, one even whimsical in s a half-timbered house. In the Chateau d’ Angers we saw one level that had been a prison, with artistic renderings of people trying to escape, and the hands were part of the art. Chateaux can be wonderful to visit.
The beautiful Loire Valley is called the Land of 1000 Chateaux, but the many in the region are more accessible from Tours, about an hour from Angers by train. Do yourself a favor if you take this trip, and come early and spend extra time in Tours and see a few of the many chateaux such as Chenonceau, Chambord, Amboise, and others. There is also one about a half hour from Angers which is the tallest chateau in the region. The area is dotted with them.
I learned that many of the chateaux became too high maintenance and couldn’t be kept up, so fell into disrepair. Some turned into hotels. The one Loire Valley chateau that was part of the program, Chateau de Villandry, dates back to the Renaissance, but is privately owned and the current owners reside somewhere on the property ( there appear to be other houses aside from the chateau). Although ownership changed hands several times, including the family of Napoleon, the current family has owned it since 1906.The rooms inside have been restored considerably, but the furnishings appear to be original even though the interior looked pretty modern. There is art and flowers everywhere, but the main event is really the gardens outside, where we spent 45 minutes enjoying the boxed hedges and variety of landscaping, some even decked out for Autumn with pumpkins. A world heritage site, Chateau de Allendry is one of the most visited chateau in the Loire Valley.
There are a few rivers in the area, the Loire Rive, the Cher River, and the Main River. We had a boat ride and picnic on the Main River, and saw a lot of the Loire River as well. it’s a beautiful, heavily green valley. The Main River and the Loire River intersect at one point, and the Loire River flows into the Atlantic.
Angers is called a commune, just a small town. There are about 47,000 who live there, and it’s a college town with many young people, and a thriving Internet and technology presence. The ” Internet of all things” is associated with Angers.
Other ppopular Loire Valley Châteaux to consider visiting if you are in the region are: :
- Château d’Azay-le-Rideau: A picturesque Renaissance chateau.
- Château d’Amboise: A historic chateau overlooking the Loire River.
- Château de Chenonceau: A stunning castle spanning the Cher River
- Château de Chaumont-sur-Loire: Features a large and beautiful garden.
- Château de Langeais: A well-preserved castle with a feudal character.
- Château de Blois: One of the most iconic châteaux in the Loire Valley.
- Château de Chambord: The largest chateau in the region, known for its architecture.
- Château de Cheverny: Features a well-preserved interior and gardens.
- Château du Rivau: A fairytale chateau with lovely flower gardens.
- Le Clos Lucé: The home of Leonardo da Vinci during his stay in France.
All photos Jann Segal
Travel the World with Passion 