john183

My wife, granddaughter and I will be ending what I'm sure will be a fantastic 2 week trip to France in the Loire Valley next summer. We will have spent a week in Paris and a few days in Normandy before finishing our trip in the Loire Valley. Her birthday (July 1st) will be a couple of days before our return home and we are looking for ideas of a special way to celebrate it. We will be staying in or near Amboise. Maybe a special lunch or dinner in a castle or a horse ride on a castle's grounds (she loves horses, of course what 12 year old girl doesn't?). For several reasons (mainly weather unpredictability), one thing that is off the table is a hot air balloon ride. She has already told her friends she will be in France for her birthday and we would like to make it a special day for her without breaking the bank (as if just being in the Loire Valley isn't special enough right? - but you know how grandparents are!!!). As always, thanks in advance for your ideas.

Sarastro

Check with Phillipe Oudin and ask if you can use his cave for a birthday party. Weather will not be a problem.

http://www.cavegrandebrosse.com/

denisea

I love Amboise. Close by is Chenonceau -fabulous !!! The restaurant there does birthday celebrations, I believe. I have seen a baked Alaska they bring out with Chenonceau written in meringue and it is tasty as well. The grounds there really are beautiful! Think the restaurant is L'Orangerie. Enjoy the trip!

Christina

You could visit the French national riding school in Saumur, which isn't too terribly far west of Tours (Ecole Nationale d'Equitation), maybe 40 km, not sure. They have some public shows and guided tours during the summer months. see http://www.cadrenoir.fr/

This year, they had 3 public shows in July, which were all on Thursdays.

I wouldn't count on any hourly rental stables being on the grounds of any public chateau. I've never seen that. I suppose it is possible in a privately owned smaller chateau-hotel, which is just a big house in that case. You might ask at whatever hotel you are staying at, they tend to know that kind of thing, or should. All the places I've stayed on vacation in Provence or the Loire had brochures and info in their lobby of things to do around it. If it's just an hourly rental stable, though, it may be nothing special compared to what she could do at home. Try Chateau de Pray in Amboise, they say they have horse riding nearby. http://www.chateaupray.com

I know someone whose relative was killed in one of those hot air balloons in the Loire.

EuropeanVacation

Is 12 too young for wine-tasting?

nytraveler

Twelve is too young to enjoy wine tasting, even is they would let her taste (and they won't).

A ride might be fun - if she has some experience with an English saddle. I can;t imagine they would let a beginner do anything but walk around a paddock - really boring.

Some of the son et lumieres shows are fantastic - perhaps a nice dinner followed by one of them?

Sarastro

No one is purposing that minors be allowed to drink wine.

The Cave of the Grande Brosse is very interesting and unique. Having a parting in the cave or simply serving cake and sandwiches would be a birthday event not quickly forgotten.

elaine

this thread may also help
http://www.fodors.com/community/euro...ire-valley.cfm

And I agree with the suggestion for lunch at
l'Etape Gourmand, near Villandry. It's a working goat farm with delicious meals.

TPAYT

I agree that the riding school in Saumur is fantastic. It's one of the best in the world and the tour is very interesting. They also happend to have a show of moms and colts(or whatever they call them) when we were there. I'm not much of a horse person, but I loved it.

If I remember right, they also had some kind of horse show at the stables of Chambord.

I think a 12 year old girl woud love Chateau 'd Usse. It has all the characters inside dressed up in costumes.

Our favorite chateaus were Chambord, Chenonceau, Villandry, Usse, and the DaVinci house and gardens right in Amboise.

In July some of the chateaus will have the night time light shows. That might also be perfect.

We'll be waiting for your trip review as we also have granddaughters that we would love to take to France.

colonna

Chambord is an amazing sight, in the middle of a wild game preserve (if you go in October, they take you out at night in jeeps to listen to the stags fight). They do have boats and horses available (see below). The hotel across from the chateau is nice, with a game-centric restaurant.

"The summer events and festivals calendar is a busy one, with night-time lighting displays, guided walks in the forest, costumed tours for children and a twice-daily dressage display, among other attractions.

"The Parc de Chambord around the Château is an enormous walled game reserve – the largest in Europe. Wild boars roam freely, though red deer are the beasts you're most likely to spot. You can explore on foot or by bike or boat – both rentable from the jetty where the Cosson passes alongside the main facade of the Château – and even on horseback, with mounts rented from the Centre Equestre near the Château (tel 02.54.20.31.01)."

halfapair

We are headed to the Loire Valley in just a couple of weeks. We have a hot air balloon ride planned (recommended by fellow Fodorites.) I cannot commen on the ride yet, but hope to post a trip report that will have a good description (weather permitting!!)

http://www.france-balloons.com/

halfapair

Oops! Sorry, I just read that hot air balloons are off the table...my bad.

john183

Wow, these are great ideas. I think I have a day figured out that should be memorable. We get up early and head for l'Etape Gourmand to play with all the animals and have an early lunch with all the waiters singing "Joyeux Anniversaire" while she blows out candles on a cake. Then we go to the Ecole Nationale d'Equitation for a tour and a show where they offer one of the colts to my granddaughter as a birthday present (might as well make it a great fantasy, right?). Next we head to Phillipe's for a late lunch in the Cave de la Grande Brosse - with another cake and more singing for our granddaughter and some of Phillipe's fantastic wine for us. We then go on to Chambord and rent horses for a ride around the wild game preserve followed by short boat and bike rides around the grounds. After the rides, we go to Chateau 'd Usse and enjoy the incredible beauty of the chateau and check out the period costumes. They spontaneously decide to have a special show where they ask my granddaughter to play the part of Sleeping Beauty and let her wear some of the costumes. Finally we have a wonderful dinner at L'Orangerie at Chenonceau topped off with a birthday baked Alaska and more candles and singing. We end this perfect day at the Chenonceau night time light show where they spell out "Happy Birthday" to my granddaughter in lights on the side of the castle. Seriously these are all great ideas and I can't wait to get there to see which of them come true.

nytraveler

Un - infant horses are foals. Then they become yearlings - either colts (male) or fillies (female) - until the age of 5. At that point they become horses (unless they have been fixed and are geldings) and mares.

and yes, someone did - very oddly reco a wine tasting.

The equine academy sounds a much better bet.

hausfrau

john183, that is the best OP's response to their own thread that I have ever seen on Fodor's. For a second there I thought you were serious. ;-) And I do hope that at least some of your dreams for your granddaughter's birthday come true. I was 14 when my parents took me on my first trip to France. We went to the Loire Valley and visited Chambord, Chenonceau, Villandry, and Chinon. I was already in love with castles and had the time of my life visiting each and every one. (I was and still am a horse lover too, but I have never been riding in France!) I am sure you will have a wonderful time, and however you choose to spend your granddaughter's birthday, I'm sure she'll never forget it!

TPAYT

john183-----

john183

Thanks to all for the great ideas, to TPAYT for the ideas and the applause, and to hausfrau for the nice words. For a second there I thought I was serious too. HA!! Dang, I hope I have as much fun when I'm actually in France as I did coming up with this wild day. I guess it brought out the 12-year-old in me. I'll make sure I post a trip report to let you know how it actually turned out. Thanks again and if anyone has any more ideas, I think I can find some spare time in the day to squeeze them in. HA again!!!!

john183

Just returned home from a GREAT trip and here is how we celebrated our granddaughter's birthday. By the time it was her birthday, we had been in Paris for a week, Normandy for 5 days and the Loire for 3 days - pretty much going all out every day. When we asked what she really wanted to do on her birthday - she said she would like to sleep in until time to get ready for our 12:30 lunch at Chenonceau.

So that is what we did. We enjoyed a lazy morning in our very nice room at the Manoir St Thomas in Amboise. We went to Chenonceau and had a nice lunch at the Orangerie, then took a short boat ride on the River Cher from Chisseaux through the arches of the castle and back again (about 50 minutes -which was just about the right amount of time). Our weather in the Loire was perfect - 75 and sunny every day. We then went back to swim in the hotel pool for a while. We decided to go back to Chenonceau for the night walk and really enjoyed it too - not spectacular but nice. My granddaughter began to call it "her" castle.

Anyway, thanks for all the great ideas but as it turned out, the relaxed way we spent the day celebrating her birthday and our time together was perfect. After I recover a little and catch up at work, I'll attempt to post a trip report of our really wonderful time in France.

annhig

glad you and your granddaughter had such a lovely time. I will read your TR with interest.

for future reference, those based in the western Loire wishing to celebrate a birthday might be interested in taking a trip to the Puy de fou, an historically based theme park near les herbiers/cholet.

www.puydefou.com

we've been a couple of times now, and to the evening cinescenie show [a sort of elaborate son et lumiere] and had a great time.

hausfrau

I am so glad you had a good trip with your granddaughter. I cannot imagine a much more idyllic setting to spend a young girl's birthday than Chenonceau. And kudos to you for not over-planning it - and letting her decide what she wanted to do.