Go Back  Fodor's Travel Talk Forums > Destinations > Europe
Reload this Page >

Loire roadtrip in May, classic-car rental?

Loire roadtrip in May, classic-car rental?

Old Jan 17th, 2013, 06:18 AM
  #1  
Original Poster
 
Join Date: Nov 2006
Posts: 3
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes on 0 Posts
Loire roadtrip in May, classic-car rental?

My husband and I, classic car enthusiasts, once rented a '69 Jaguar E type for a three-week UK jaunt. It was terrific, and now we'd like to rent a nice, old Citroen Trachion Avant in France and drive through the Loire Valley for a couple of weeks in, say, May. Any advice re. rentals (car hires, as they say), Citroens, the Loire, the timing, anything? Many thanks.
DonnaCC is offline  
Old Jan 17th, 2013, 06:50 AM
  #2  
 
Join Date: Jan 2007
Posts: 78,320
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes on 0 Posts
Having lived on and off in the Loire for years May is a perfect time for touring there - the Italians in the road-hogging RVs are not yet there nor are many tourists - yet the countryside is alive with lush farms and orchards.

If you have not been to the Loire before here is what I think are the top sights for the general tourist:

Castles - Chenonceaux; Chambord; Azay-le-Rideau; Uses (Sleeping Beauty castle that Walt Disney in part patterned his Disneyland one after I read) and Amboise.

To me Amboise makes a perfect base since it is close to Chenonceaux, Chambord (largest and most imposing of Loire castles if not the most beautiful - Chenonceaux always takes that title, followed closely by Azay-le-Rideau) and Azay - Amboise has its own great castle, looming high above the languid Loire River here - check out the Chateau de Prey is wanting to stay in a castle hotel that is in a city and you can walk to town.

At night Son-et-Lumiere shows are popular - these bombastic Sound and Light shows involve hundreds of locals clad in ancient garb and are just fun - many have an English seance - performance though others may only provide headphone with English.

Amboise also has the Clos Luce where Leonardo da Vinci spent his last days, being enticed here by Francois 1er - King of France who literally wanted to bring the Reniassance to France - he also built the imposing Amboise castle - Leonardo his buried in the local church.

The Loire is at its most gorgeous here IMO - rivulets of water coarsing thru a winde sandy river bed.

Many people rave about Angers, a large city on the western edge of the tourists' Loire Valley and Saumur as well - the Saumur area is known for its many troglidyte houses built into the limestone ridge that parallels the south bank of the Loire here and also caves where champignons are raised - if you see a "Champignons" sign on the road that means you can stop in and see how the mushrooms are raised and of course buy fresh from the producer - ditto for local wines.

For wines the largest area is around Bourgueil. where a vast sea of vineyards carpet the landscapes - several wine houses are open for tours and bien sur tasting and buying direct from the vinter.

The most prestigious Loire wines in this area are probably those at Vouvray - a neat old town in any case - the famous Vouvray wines are cured in caves in a huge limestone cliff - again ornate wine houses and touring.

Get a very detail Michelin or IGN map and stick to the roads colored in yellow on Michelin maps - these 'D' roads or departemental (like our counties) roads are well-paved but usually unless near a large city like Tours have very little traffic.

Tours itself is a big city with a nice city center and Latin Quarter like restaurant ghetto - its cathedral is well worth a look - the city however has notorious traffic jams - ditto Orleans, where I often stay and would rarely recommend it to a tourist without a lot of time - the Orleans cathedral however is one of the greatest in all of France - the city itself however was largely blitzeed in WW2 and rather boringly rebuilt IMO.

The main roads along the Loire can be truck-filled two-lane nightmares - stick to the side roads - much better for a vintage car to be going thru countryside and not stuck behind some truck.

Enjoy - I'd contact the local Tourist Offices about renting the Citroen - I'd take a Deux Chevaux for a bit more character even!
PalenQ is offline  
Old Jan 17th, 2013, 07:32 AM
  #3  
 
Join Date: Apr 2007
Posts: 3,179
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes on 0 Posts
Not sure how easy it will be to find an Citroën Traction Avant as a rental. You might ask the people at Tour the Loire as they have one or two they use in their tour business and they might possibly know if any are otherwise available in the area:

http://www.tourtheloire.com/

For general information about touring the Loire Valley, there is no better source than the local Offices de Tourisme in Blois and Tours:

http://www.bloispaysdechambord.com/
http://www.ligeris.com/

If you have a car, staying outside of Tours has advantages, mostly the advantage of avoiding traffic but I would also avoid Amboise to escape the hoards of tourists (May would be much better than latter in the year) and mediocre restaurants catering mainly to tourists (I could only recommend l´Epicerie among the non hotel restaurants in Amboise).

However, between Amboise and Blois is a wonderful hotel/restaurant at which you might consider staying:

http://www.aubergedelaunay.com/

Other nearby hotels you might like as a base:

http://chateaucelleguenand.com/
http://www.bonlaboureur.com/
http://www.chateaudelabarre.com/
http://www.tortiniere.com/
http://www.chateau-du-breuil.fr/

Take a look at the Michelin Green Guide for the Châteaux de la Loire. It contains suggested driving itineraries and excellent background on local points of interest.
Sarastro is offline  
Old Jan 17th, 2013, 07:41 AM
  #4  
 
Join Date: Jan 2003
Posts: 49,560
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes on 0 Posts
http://www.vintage-roads.fr/
StCirq is offline  
Old Jan 17th, 2013, 09:42 AM
  #5  
 
Join Date: Oct 2003
Posts: 57,890
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes on 0 Posts
We only had 6 days there - and could easily have spent much longer.

I would definitely check out staying in private chateaux - IMHO much preferable to hotels. We stayed at the 15th century Chateau des Reaux - which we loved. Moderately priced and dinner en famille with other guests from around the world was just lovely.
nytraveler is offline  
Old Jan 20th, 2013, 06:59 AM
  #6  
Original Poster
 
Join Date: Nov 2006
Posts: 3
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes on 0 Posts
Merci! Your comments and suggestions are very much appreciated. I'm checking out all of the links you so kindly provided -- and I love all the chateaux. My husband loves the Traction Avant (sorry for the typo in my original post) and has long dreamed of motoring around in one. The Deux Chevaux is tempting, though, perhaps for a day, just for the experience. Driving on less-traveled roads is just our style so we'll stick to the D roads, as you suggest. More ideas, recommendations, observations gratefully received....
DonnaCC is offline  
Old Jan 20th, 2013, 07:24 AM
  #7  
 
Join Date: Sep 2007
Posts: 2,541
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes on 0 Posts
Recommendation? Never put your elbow out the open window of a 2CV! Ask me how I jnow! LOL
ParisAmsterdam is offline  
Old Jan 20th, 2013, 07:30 AM
  #8  
 
Join Date: Feb 2006
Posts: 57,091
Received 5 Likes on 3 Posts
HI Donna,

in answer to your perfectly worded enquiry, [Oh that other posters starting threads could be so informative yet succinct about their intentions] i would suggest thinking about using 2 different bases, one in the west and another in the east, to give you the best possible coverage of the area and to stop that drive "home" becoming too wearisome.

I am not a fan of Amboise as a base [we stayed there for 4 nights a few years ago] and found it over-touristy and not particularly charming, though it's well worth a visit to see the chateau and the Clos de Luce. My preference in the west would be for Saumur [we've stayed in it once and nearby once, and we always gravitate towards it if we are in the area] or Chinont; though we've not stopped there we wished that we had when we stopped for lunch one day. We've not stayed in the eastern Loire but Bourg looks as if it might be a good base - others may have suggestions about this .

re stays in chateaux, there used to be a little publication with details of loire chateaux b&Bs and Table D'hote in it, but I can't find it on the web - the best I could find was this:

http://en.europa-bed-breakfast.com/h...oire_49_1.html

THere are quite a lot in the western loire - we've driven past them - but personally I prefer to stay in a town where there is a choice of restaurants and bars, and we don't have to worry about drinking and driving - always a problem if both of you like more than one glass of wine with dinner.

this site may also be helpful:

http://www.western-loire-atlantic.co...ul-information

I know that i had a leaflet about scenic drives - the TI may still have it.

places that we have most liked are these:

Angers [outstanding chateau and unmissable tapestry in the basement]

Fontavraud Abbey [tomb of many of the plantagenets and herb garden]

Villandry - classic potager and fruit garden and now an "english" garden too

Chenonceau - classic chateau over a river

Chaumont - nice park and famous [or should that be infamous?] garden festival

Azay-le-rideax

Chinon - lovely town and great -looking chateau that was closed for renovation when we were there but may well be open now

and last but not least: le puy de fou. http://www.puydufou.com/

Yes I know it's a theme park, yes i know that lots of it is aimed at kids, but both times we've gone, we enjoyed it just as much as our kids did. from the romans to the french revolution via medieval knights jousting and defeating perfidious albion, here is french history told by a cast of hundreds, and if you go to the evening cinescenie [a type of son e lumiere] a cast of thousands including knights on horseback, pigs and geese. it's really popular with the french and huge numbers arrive by coach for the evening performances, so if you fancy it, don't delay in getting your tickets. It also ends quite late, [midnight or so] so an overnight in the area [if you can find one] is recommended.

have a great trip, and a great time planning.
annhig is offline  
Old Jan 22nd, 2013, 08:20 AM
  #9  
Original Poster
 
Join Date: Nov 2006
Posts: 3
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes on 0 Posts
ParisAmsterdam,there must be an interesting story behind your advice, "Never put your elbow out the open window of a 2CV!" Please tell all.
DonnaCC is offline  
Related Topics
Thread
Original Poster
Forum
Replies
Last Post
Joanne34
Europe
7
Jun 26th, 2010 12:53 AM
needthebeach
Europe
7
Jun 6th, 2009 04:27 PM
wakeem
Europe
26
Jul 24th, 2008 09:37 AM
annieladd
Europe
25
Jul 15th, 2008 03:28 PM

Posting Rules
You may not post new threads
You may not post replies
You may not post attachments
You may not edit your posts

BB code is On
Smilies are On
[IMG] code is On
HTML code is Off
Trackbacks are Off
Pingbacks are Off
Refbacks are On


Thread Tools
Search this Thread

Contact Us - Manage Preferences - Archive - Advertising - Cookie Policy - Privacy Statement - Do Not Sell or Share My Personal Information -