Laying down the Loire

It's an easy day's drive from the Normandy port of Caen and, after a shopping break, we were at our rented cottage, at Montrichard, in time for dinner. The Loire means chateaux, a handful of which get a three-star billing in the Michelin Green Guide and we choose

to visit those first. Chambord,

Cheveney and Chenonceaux are picture postcard examples.

Chambord, built by Francois I as a hunting lodge, is the largest chateau and is uncompromising on approach. The outside is an assault on the eyes as your gaze darts around from roof to towers, from towers to roof terrace and back again. Once inside, it's no less easy to understand the complexity of the architecture.

The visitor can wander around from floor to floor and room to room via the double spiral staircase, and become totally immersed in the magnificent building with its modern art installations.

Cheverny, approached along a central path, stands tall showing proudly the symmetrical lines of construction. Inside is an ordered tour through formal rooms. Outside, as with most of the rural chateaux, are magnificent gardens and parks. Cheverny has kennels in the gardens, home to a pack of French hounds, who were only interested in sleeping through the heat of the day when we visited.

Perhaps the most striking chateau is Chenonceaux, only a few miles from Montrichard. We paid a visit at dusk to wander around the aromatic gardens and to see the chateau bathed in ever-changing floodlights. The building stands on the Cher River and was constructed in the early 16th century. The still water reflects the chateau and, at night, the moonlight adds to the lightshow.

Away from chateaux, through the rolling countryside of sunflowers and fields full of ripe wheat, the Loire Valley has plenty of small towns and villages that are worth getting out of the car for.

Vendome, with its Trinity Abbey, is worth a visit. The abbey is magnificent, with the workmanlike misericords in the choir, and provides a tranquil and cool respite to the summer heat. A mid-morning coffee in one of the many street cafs allows you to just watch the world go by.

Perhaps the prettiest small town is Loches. Dominating the modern town from on high is the old town with its Royal lodgings of Charles VII. The church of St Ours, with weird beasts decorating the west door, has a statue of Agnes Sorrel, the official mistress of King Charles VII. Lunch was enjoyed under the cool shade of giant trees in the immaculately kept town park looking back and up to the

old town.

Blois, perched on the River Loire, has a modern bustle about the place. Walk away from the river into the old town via steps that test the knees and lungs, and you will be rewarded with some great views. There is a chateau in Blois, but this one, a Renaissance building and once occupied by Louis XII, is in the middle of town.

Back down again to the river and on show is an 18th-century stone bridge.

Pointing the car west found us travelling towards Saumur and the beautiful location of Fontevraud Abbey. This is a must place to visit and offers a look back into monastic life.

Founded in 1101 by Robert of Arbrissel, the abbey enjoyed immense power in Europe and its monastic empire stretched from England to Spain.

Eleanor of Aquitaine, a Queen of England and France, is buried in the abbey alongside her husband, Plantagenet Henry II, and their son, Richard the Lionheart.

After the revolution, Napoleon turned the monastic centre into a prison that could hold up to 2,000, closing only in 1963.

Leonardo da Vinci, invited to France in 1516 by King Francis I, spent his last few years at Chateau du Clos Luce in Amboise.

The fortified building, constructed in the local tufa stone, has become part of park dedicated to the great man's life and work.

Children can explore the engineering and science of the inventor in the chateau's garden and have fun seeing how his early machines worked.

Inside the building visitors are treated to small models of some of his

inventions and can see the rooms in which he lived.

A week in the area offers a trip back in time to several layers of French history and some stunning architecture is on show.

Memories will include the complication of the double spiral staircase at Chambord and the abbey at Fonterevaud.

For me, the floodlit Chenonceaux, on a balmy summer evening, will keep the Loire Valley high in my thoughts as the nights lengthen.

GETTING THERE BY CAR AND FERRY

Mike Cowling used Brittany Ferries sailing from Portsmouth to Caen. Return fares from Portsmouth-Caen start from 154 for a car and two passengers (price based on September sailing). For more information or to book, visit www.brittanyferries.com or call 0871 244 1400. For more details, visit www.brittanyferries.com/holidays or call 0871 244 1444.

YP MAG 4/9/10