Tag: Loire Valley
The Clos Lucé Enhances Its Connection with Da Vinci in Amboise (Loire Valley)
With three paintings in his luggage—Mona Lisa, St. Anne and John the Baptist—Leonardo da Vinci made the long and arduous journey across the Alps to Amboise via mule-train and riverboat in 1516 at the well-paid request of King François I, his last noble patron.
Chaumont Playfully Imagines Gardens of the Future
Corinne LaBalme reports on the International Garden Festival at Chaumont, one of the most delightful castle ground strolls in the Loire Valley. With “Gardens from the Coming Century” as its theme for 2016, the festival presents the brave new world of flower beds, hydroponics and botanical fantasies. Castle-hoppers exploring the valley and day-trippers from Paris take note.
Professional Travel Therapy for You, Your Friends and Your Loved Ones
The perfect Paris and France travel gift for your friends and loved ones--or for yourself--suffering from Paris-envy, Francophilia and a frequent desire to travel to France: Travel therapy with Gary Lee Kraut, editor of France Revisited.
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.
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.
Blond Girl in Saumur: When Our Eyes Met for the Second Time
A photo/video-log from the Saumur area of the Loire Valley in which Gary Lee Kraut remembers when travel was less about fooding and more about flirting, less about getting reservations and more about losing inhibitions, less about looking for recommendations and more about following your own nose.
“New Wine From France”: Documentary By American Jeanne Bernard Examines Biodynamic Vineyards in the...
An interview with Jeanne Bernard, an American from Louisiana living in Paris, author of “New Wine From France,” a documentary about biodynamic wine in France.