Tag: chateaux
A Little Loop in the Loire Valley: A 2-day Cycling Route from Blois
There are those big biking trips that you spend months preparing. Then there are those short trips that begin with “Hey, it’s going to be nice out this weekend—let’s go biking… in the Loire Valley!” This little Loire loop—three days, two nights, including two days of biking—is of the latter kind. Beginning and ending in Blois...
Blois Castle: The Key to the Loire Valley
To Blois or not to Blois, that is the question that travelers ask when planning their itinerary of Loire Valley chateaux. Though not as photogenic as some the other stars of the valley, Blois, easily accessible from Paris, is in many ways the key to understanding royal history and architecture all along the Loire. This illustrated article examines the men and women who made Blois, followed by information about hotels, B&Bs and restaurants in Blois and in the surrounding area.
The Marquis, the Hounds and Château de Cheverny
The elegant Château de Cheverny is "chez moi" for Charles-Antoine de Vibraye and his family. Call him "marquis" if you like. His ancestors have resided on the premises for the better part of 600 years. Cheverny was one of the first private French estates to open its gates to the public, and de Vibraye welcomes on average 350,000 guests per year to his castle-sweet-castle.
Château de Beauregard: A Castle Road Less Taken
Tourists in the Loire Valley generally head only for the A-list castles. But for sightseers who dislike crowds and relish the possibility of running into a congenial chateau owner, quieter slices of 16th-century splendor are a few minutes away at the Chateau de Beauregard, 3 miles southeast of Blois.
Chambord, the Loire Valley’s XXL Château, Gets a Tourist Makeover
When you can't get any bigger, you just have to get better. Chambord, the massive chateau in the Loire Valley, 9 miles east of Blois, is in the midst of a major development plan (€4.5 million invested in 2014) to make the castle more user-friendly and, ultimately, self-financing.
The French Ardennes, Part 3: The Meuse, Sedan, More Beer and the Big Boar
In which the author continues his beer travels in the Ardennes and finds quirky bars, aspiring breweries, a magnificent view over the Meuse and an enormous boar named Woinic.
Celebrating Le Nôtre: An American Photographer Explores the Tuileries Garden
France Revisited joins France's celebration of the 400th anniversary of the birth of André Le Nôtre, the father of French gardens, with seven stunning photos of Paris's most historical garden, the Tuileries Garden, by American photographer Elise Prudhomme.
Drome Provencale: Medieval Towns, Castles, Olives, Lavender and Silk (Part 3 of 3)
Some impressions and practical information concerning the area covered in Parts 1 and 2 of this award-winning series about Drome Provencale, including Nyons, Taulignan and Grignan and featuring olives, lavender, silk and Madame de Sévigné.
In Roussillon: Stilettos and Misericordes at Fort Saint Elme
We are now accustomed to the tools of the trade of character assassination. But medieval warfare required tools of more penetrating assassination such as the stilettos and misericordes on display among other medieval weaponry and armor at Fort Saint Elme, overlooking the Mediterranean just north of the Spanish border at Collioure in Languedoc-Roussillon.