Val de Loire
— Not for nothing is the Val de Loire called the 'Garden of France'. Blooming flowers, lush pastures, rich vineyards and lazy old rivers. …”
We took a few days off at Easter to visit a portion of the Val de Loire. Not for nothing is this region called the Garden of France. What few parts of the landscape are not given over to rich agri- and viniculture are either covered by lazy green rivers or grand châteaux.
The colours of spring were particularly vibrant during an unseasonably hot weekend. Even if the gardens we visited had not yet reached their full flowering potential, they were always full of activity.
l expected everything to be busier than it was. Only an hour or two south of Paris, the Loire is also a great place to graze on the fruits of other people’s labour.
The wines here are fresh and fizzy. At Azay-le-Rideau we tucked into a couple of bottles from my near-namesake Domaine Paget: a deep-fruited Touraine and a vintage Côt if I recall correctly (with a fuzzy head).
Too many folk at Chenonceau though. Spanish, Portuguese, French, Brits, Poles and Americans. No choice but to join them, filing through the corridors and gawping at all the wallpaper and fancy drapes. Also increasing evidence of the new scourge of tourism: the Chinese. Loud, ignorant and dreadfully dressed. Time and money will no doubt refine them.
Couple of Japanese kids in full bridal array outside. Posing for a photographer in the garden of Diane de Poitiers. Impossible to tell if they were really getting hitched or just modelling. No sign of any perspiration in the broiling afternoon sun: very professional.
In Amboise we walked in the footsteps of the aged Leonardo da Vinci at Clos Lucé. We watched the faces of kids light up as they discovered his novel contraptions for destroying things.
Over in Blois, I decided just once to eat a locally-produced andouillette. Just to get the t-shirt, so to speak. It was despicably rich but it went surprisingly well with the Gamay we ordered. A week later, I can still taste it now…
See also:
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- Originally published: 9 Jul 2010 in Walking
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