A Loire vegetarian
 

Hi,

My friend and I have decided to spend a gastronomic week somewhere in the Loire valley. My friend will be coming from Limoges and I will be coming from London. We're looking for a central base to stay - or two places to stay if we divide the trip - somewhere rustic, nice and clean, and that won't break the bank from where we might be able to do a little but not exhaustive travelling (by car, if necessary). The one drawback to the gastronomic part is that, though my friend will eat nearly everything on a menu, I am a fully-fledged vegetarian (no meat, no fish). Though I would be happy to live on cheese and fruit, will the better-class of French restaurant look at me sniffily and turn me onto the street!! Any suggestions on a postcard please.

Many thanks

Tim

Hi tim,

Not only will you be sniffed atand turned out into the street; you will be tarred and feathered and ridden out of town on a rail. :)

See http://www.lvo.com/GB/GASTRONOMIE/TERR/PDTS/chevre.html and
http://www.westernfrancetouristboard...oiregastro.htm
for cheeses of the Loire.

You will also be able to order a mixed vegetable plate as well as salads.

Are eggs acceptable?

((I))

The only reason any restaurant might look at you "sniffily" would have more to do with how you present yourself than what you might order from the menu...which I advise you to look at before sitting down/going in...and yes, that will fit on a postcard.

Hi Ira and Dukey

Thanks so much for your swift replies and your suggestions. Yes, eggs are absolutely fine. God forbid I take the vegan route! As I mentioned, my friend will be coming from Limoges and I will be coming from London. Suggestions for the following would be a great help: 1/ a central place to meet, 2/ somewhere nice to stay and 3/ what part of the Loire would be ideal for spending a week
in...

Best wishes and thanks again

Tim

If you are very strict about your vegetarianism, you should know that much French cheese is based on an animal product, rennet. What the French call "industrial" cheeses -- major brands sold in supermarkets, for example, are sometimes made with a synthesized rennet that contains no animal products.

I live in the Loire Valley, 25 miles south of Blois. If you are not planning to rent a car, you should consider staying in a larger town or a city. Blois, for example, or Tours. Most of the châteaux and a lot of restaurants are out in the country and require car travel.

I'm not sure France in general (or the Loire Valley in particular) is a capital of vegetarian gastronomy. The specialties here are rillettes (cooked, shredded pork), rillons (braised pork breast), goat cheese (rennet? I don't know), and wine. A typical salade tourangelle served in the restaurants is made with more meat than vegetables...

I forgot to mention the other specialty: river fish. Sandre, brochet, etc.

Hi Ckenb,

Thanks so much for responding and for your useful information. I'm actually not that strict a vegetarian (as long as no one tells me exactly what goes into what). It's just that I won't eat meat or fish. In the past, when I've travelled to France or to other parts of Europe, I'd subsist on vegetables, fruit and great desserts! My friend, who will eat anything, and who writes about food, doesn't think that restaurants will look at me too kindly however.

If we base ourselves in Tours or Blois, as you suggest, would you be able to recommend a nice place (or places) to stay?

Whereabouts in the Loire do you live out of interest?



All best wishes

Tim

ps we aim to be in the Loire from about the 4-10 September

Hi Tim,

I recently returned from a fantastic gastronomic week in the Loire valley with my mother who is vegetarian. We had no problem at all - we were based in Amboise at a fantastic chateau called Le Manoir les Minimes. There is a fabulous restaurant in Amboise that does a 5 course vegetarian tasting menu called Le Pavilon de Lys. Let me know if you would like other suggestions/help.

Cheers,
Aditi

Aditi, Hi

Great!! What a relief. Details please of any suggestions. My friend speaks pretty good French, so hopefully I will be spared the embarrassment of saying 'Je suis un vegetarian' in pigeon French. Where in the Loire were you based, where did you stay and can I assume that you hired a car? Oh, and how did you go about deciding where to eat and go...?

Many thanks

All best wishes

Tim

Aditi, Hi

Whoops. It appears you answered all my questions already. Why Amboise out of interest? Why this Chateau? Was it ridiculously expensive? Did you hire a car? Any other suggestions would be most welcome.

Cheers

Tim

Aditi, Hi

Just wanted to let you know that, on your recommendation, have now booked to stay at Les Minimes from Sep 5-9th. HAve not yet worked out the best way to get there from London, but will look at a good map before. Your restuarant suggestion at Le Pavilon sounds wonderful. If you have any further suggestion for eating places or places to see, that would be most welcome.

Thanks so much

All best

Tim2

I think you'll like Les Minimes as a hotel, and the vegetarian menu at the Pavillon des Lys sounds perfect. I live about 20 miles SE of Amboise and go there often. Hope you have a great stay.

lots of ways to get to Amboise from London -
Flight to Paris, then train to Tours, hire car/meet friend with car.
Ferry to Dieppe, hire car, etc.
Channel Tunnel to Paris, trian to Tours..etc.
The french quite often serve vegetables as starters- two or three would make a good main course, i'd have thought. With a salad appetiser and decent pud, you should be more than ok. your friend's good french should be able to cope with this.
For a "veggie" Villandry is a must see!

Hi again for all your suggestions. No plans to do anything special around the Amboise region, other than eat (more eating suggestions please, as I'd be very happy to live on veggie starters and desserts) and do a little sight-seeing. If anyone has any suggestions for nice places to visit, please let me know. Also, any idea what the weather will be like in early September?

All the best

Tim2

Hi Anne,

Meant to ask where Villandry is? A restaurant or a place?

All best

Tim

oops - sorry Tim. It's a chateaux but the main attraction is a vegetable garden! It is laid out in the most elaborate fashion with the beds surrounded by different fruit trees, as well as the standard box hedges. It's east of Saumur along the Loire valley. There are a couple of restaurants in the village as well as a rather expensive one on site. It occurred to me that as a veggie, you might enjoy it, but it is very attractive, and should provide interest for anyone with an interest in gardens. You can go round the chateau, but it's not a priority.
There is a cave just up the road with stalagtites etc. and loads of caves selling wine.
I seeem to remember a lot of people arriving on bikes [presumably hired] but we were in a car. sorry if teh postcard has proved quite long. WE love the Loire area, and are seriously thinking of moving there once our kids are off our hands.

Thanks for your suggestions about Villandry. A couple of other things I wanted to ask...We've decided to meet in Tours, stay a night and will pick up a car from there - though not sure where in Tours exactly, as it depends on whether I go by train or plane and I don't want to spend a day driving arround Tours looking for my car! If we decide to go to some of the other more upmarket restaurants 1/do you need to book? and 2/do you need to dress up? What's the weather likely to be in early September?

Thanks so much for your help and apologies for all the questions.

Tim

All the best

Tim

Oh, Hi

One more thing. Have decided to stay in Tours for one night to pick up our car and wanted a recommendation for a BB/small hotel. Any suggestions anyone?

All the best

Tim2

Aditi (traveltomorocco), Hi

I didn't get a reply to the last message I sent you in reply to yours, so you've probably been too busy or gone away. Anyway, if you get this before I go in early September, would still love to have any further suggestions about the restaurants you ate at in the Loire and where you went.

Everyone else has been so helpful

All best wishes

Tim2

Tim - looks like there's a dearth of info on Tours out there. perhaps you could search this thread for it? Also, i get the newsletter from a loire tourisme website called www.visaloire.com which might be useful. The via michelin site ought to be able to help you find the car rental offices, and good restaurants.
Good luck!

Thanks so much for this. Have alreay organised car hire rental and managed to track down some wonderful-looking restaurants (at least they look wonderful from the websites) that tell me they will cater for my 'veggie' needs. I'll keep my fingers crossed. There's too much to see and do, so we'll just have to limit out time travelling - after all, we want to have a rest as well.

All the best

Tim

ps any idea what the dress code is in the more up-market restaurants?

Last year we ate at LeChoiseul restaurant (in the hotel of the same name) which is apparently well-known, highly rated, and supposedly quite "upmarket."

We showed up in coats and ties and were the only men there dressed at that level (other than some of the staff). There was a wide variety of dress from shorts to what most would probably call "smart casual."

We, and several others, got what I would consider "good" tables (in this case by the window overlooking the river) so the "dress level" didn't seem to affect that.

Everyone was treated with great respect near as I could tell and I suspect the service was equal to all. Whether or not anyone was turned away because of their dress by being told there were no tables available I have no idea.

In Amboise I somehow doubt you have to be "really dressed up" if our experience is any representative example.

And I hope you have a great trip, too.

Just read a book by some guy who cycled from Dublin to northern Italy following the footsteps of St. Colomban [sic] including following the Loire for a long stretch. He often walked into quite flash establishments wearing his cycle gear and had no problems at all. So I don't think that you need to worry on that score!

To Dukey:

Hi there and thanks for comments on your attire. Always amused by the reception of foreigners. Have heard stories that the locals are always given the best tables and served first - perhaps this is apocryphal.

To Annhig:

Curious to know what that book was.

All the best

PS Anyone know what the weather is likely to be like in early September? Surely it can't be as hot as it has been in London!

There seemed to be few locals in the restaurant that night..mostly visitors from various countries near as I could tell.

Hello,

for lovely accomodation the Loire Valley please take a look at
www.charming-french-hotels.com
Plenty of choice, especially in the countryside.

Have a nice trip
Suzanne

If you decide to go to Villandry, you might want to check out a quaint-looking country inn on a working goat form - L'Etape Gourmande ( http://www.letapegourmande.com/indexen.html )It's run by a woman and her daughter.

They have some information on the types of food they prepare and the emphasis seems to be on goat cheese (very fresh I'm sure) as well as fresh fruits and vegetables. I'm sure a vegetarian could be very happy here - even goat cheese ice cream! I have not eaten here but have reservations for our trip in September. A visit to Villandry is a must for anyone who loves gardens, cooking or both. The herb/vegetable gardens and fruit trees are supposed to be spectacular.