Getting Oriented

Getting Oriented

The Loire Valley, which pretty much splits France in two, has been much traversed down the ages, once by Santiago pilgrims, now by Bordeaux-bound TGV trains. It retains a backwater feel that mirrors the river's sluggish, meandering waters, although trade along the river gave rise to major towns along its banks: Angers, Saumur, Blois, Orléans. But Tours remains the gateway to the region, not only for its central position but because the TGV links it with Paris in little more than an hour. From Angers you can drive northeast to explore the winding, intimate Loire Valley. Continue along the Loire as far as Nantes, the southern gateway to Brittany.