We spent three weeks in the Loire Valley and the Auvergne last September.

Pictures and brief notes on the trip for anyone interested are at:

http://wasleys.org.uk/france/france_12/

Please report any glitches you find in the site.

correction: Le Puy-en-V<b>e</b>lay

Aaaagh! Thanks for that. The dangers of copy-pasting an original mistake!

I will enjoy looking at your photos. I notice you have Peyrusse-Le-Roc and Belcastel, two places on our itinerary for next September. Thanks for posting these!

@Michael,

I hope that's got all the Valays.

I just dipped a toe into this and am finding it very interesting. So far I've only looked at the photos of Beaulieu les Loches because I wondered what you would find to photograph there. We were not impressed, but you managed to find quite a lot of interest, so I guess we'd better go back.

That's the sign of a successful trip report--it makes the reader want to go there.

I'd contacted Tourist Information at Beaulieu-lès-Loches before we went. They produce a lot of good tourist literature about the town including a couple of walks around the area with information with French and English. Armed with these, we did the town walk.

If you want more information I have written a detailed report of Beaulieu-lès-Loches here:
http://www.silvertraveladvisor.com/R...pProductReview

and a detailed review of Eglise abbatiale de l’Abbaye de la Sainte-Trinite here:
http://www.silvertraveladvisor.com/R...pProductReview

As you've probably gathered we enjoyed the town.

Michael says I should have explained I'm his other half....

<i>Michael says I should have explained I'm his other half....</i>

????

@ Michael

<i>Michael says I should have explained I'm his other half....????</i>

My name's Michael too.

Michael, your pictures are pretty amazing. Thanks for posting this. So now that you've spent six weeks in France the last couple of years, of the places you have been where would you most like to return and spend more time?

@Blaise22,

Small towns and villages in Auvergne were really very good with more to find. Throwing away the guidebook and wandering pays dividends.

Back there (but somewhere different) for two weeks next month, first near Foix, second in Dordogne.

Thank you for sharing your wonderful photos. Am now inspired to see the Auvergne...

Beautiful photos - I agree about wondering and throwing away a guide book.

We spent time here when an old colleague inherited a small house and invited a few of us for several days. Just magical.

I just returned from a week in the Loire Valley visiting my daughter who is studying in Angers. Had so many more things on my original list than I got to, because I stayed longer in Angers than planned, and just couldn't fit in as much during the day as I thought. I really wanted to fit in Loches, and really wish I had gotten there after seeing your pictures; oh well.

We were staying south of the town and one of the reasons we didn't get to Loches is that we were so entranced with our lodgings that we spent the entire morning each weekend just hanging out there.

We stayed at Chateau de Forges in Concremiers. It is a medieval chateau, restored with taste and elegance, and owned by a direct descendant of the original owner. A truly incredible experience to stay there and the owner is so engaging and interesting. After staying in the castle, it reduced some of my need to actually tour castles....

Clarifying my post: After a week in Angers, I took my daughter to stay at the Chateau de Forges for a weekend. That is what I meant by saying we stayed south of Loches. We visited Angles-sur-Anglin, Saint-Savin and the Brenne park. Ran out of time for Loches.

She had already visited a few major chateaux with her school and I did a few on my own, but didn't get to as many as I'd have liked, but c'est la vie!