AGM_Cape_Cod

It has been a hard year at work and during March the France calendar at my desk showed a gorgeous photo of Chateau de Villandry, Now that I am going to retire I would like to go but early October is the time we have. Is it worth the trip to visit the gardens at Chateau de Villandry the first week in October?

Given that Chateau de Villandry is a priority and that we want to see the other major chateaus in the Centre Val de Loire do you have suggestions on where to stay? Should we spend several nights around Tours and the rest of the time between Blois and Chambord or is there a more central location we can stay for the entire week?

We are thinking of taking the train from CDG to Chartres and spending the first night there. Then picking up a rental car the next morning. Any suggestions of where to stay in Chartres?

TIA.

StCirq

When I've had a full week to explore the Loire, I've chosen two locations, one at the eastern end and one at the western end, but that assumes you want to visit locales on the entire (long) stretch of the valley. I've usually chosen Amboise and Saumur. If you want a more central location for the entire stay, I'd look at Chinon.

Haven't been to Villandry in October and never overnighted in Chartres, so can't help with that. But knowing you like your food, check out Le Cheval Blanc in Bléré.

Coquelicot

AGM, glad to read about this upcoming trip!

Since you'll have a car, you might be interested in one of our favorite B&Bs in France, The bihourderie, in the countryside north of Loches. The owners speak French and English (she is English). It's not expensive, is in a peaceful location, the rooms are all very nice, and every time we've been there we've encountered an international group of travelers at breakfast, which adds to the fun. We've stayed in 6 or so B&Bs in the Loire area and this is our favorite. When we stay in this area we don't visit chateaus, but other guests do and we always hear about their visits to Chenonceau, Azay le Rideau, Usse, Montresor, etc. so I know it's feasible to base here and range widely.

https://www.labihourderie.com/fr/accueil/

It's in Azay sur Indre (not Azay le Rideau where the chateau is) near beautiful Chedigny, the only village in France that is a Jardin Remarquable. It wows me every time (never been in October, though). There's a good restaurant in Chedigny too. Loches has a great market two days a week, especially Saturday.

Le cheval blanc--I'd read up on it before going there. We ate there when it still had its Michelin star (not that we'd known that when we showed up for lunch) and didn't think much of the food then. Michelin dosn't seem very enthusiastic about it now and I think you can do better. Things change.

StuDudley

We've been there in early October and the gardens of Villandry were stunning.

Ditto St Cirq's recommendation on where to stay. We've spent 4 weeks near Amboise, 1 week near Saumur and 2 week in Chinon.

Here is my wife's Shutterfly book for Villandry & Chambord

https://stududley.shutterfly.com/27

Stu Dudley

geetika

We spent a week near Amboise the second week of September last year. The weather was gorgeous and we visited both the eastern and western Loire areas in day trips, going as far as Fontrevault to the west and Chenonceaux/Montresor/Loches to the east/south-east. We'd initially looked at staying in two different locations but finally decided on the one base, which worked very well for us. We had a car of course, as will the OP.

PalenQ

CDG-Chartres would be best by train if go into Paris and go to Gare Montparnasse for direct trains to Chartres - not possible to go from CDG directly. www.oui.sncf French Railways has all the schedules - check for general info trains www.seat61.com; BETS-European Rail Experts and www.ricksteves.com. I'd suggest skipping Chartres at first and taking train CDG-St-Pierre-des-Corps and rent car there for Loire.

TPAYT

Villandry is our favorite in The Loire. We’ve been there twice in late Sept. and the gardens were fabulous.
Stayed once for 5 nights in Amboise, loved Chambers and Chennenceau.
The 2nd visit we stayed a week in this gite outside of Chinon. Alan and Nicole were such gracious hosts. They gave us very good suggestions for restaurants and invited us to their place for a dinner with their friends. We loved every minute on the property. Beautiful reno on. 400 yr. old barn. The Gite was stunning and the adjacent vineyard very picturesque. In Sept. we were a bit before the harvest but we always said we’d like to return for that. Your Oct. visit might be perfect.

https://www.homeaway.co.uk/p8317930

TPAYT

Chambers of course.....dam autocorrect

TPAYT

Chateau de Chambord....let’s try again

PalenQ

Usse, the so-called Sleeping Beauty Castle, is very close to Villandry.

Chinon to me is one of the nicest towns in the Loire area and close to Villandry and Usse and has its own historic chateau.

Yes I'd base around Chinon and then in say Amboise for Chenonceau, Chambord (biggest of all Loire castles) and its own imposing castle literally hanging over the Loire. The Clos Luce is a villa where Leonardo da Vinci spent his final days - now buried in local church.

For Chartres you could do as a day trip from Chinon - hard to fit in with trains from CDG.

kja

I think your idea of starting in Chartres makes a LOT of sense, and you might want to stay there TWO nights. That would make a huge difference if there is any chance that you will have jet lag. Although many people are not aware of it, there is mounting evidence that driving with jet lag is just as dangerous -- to yourself and others -- as driving drunk, and nothing you can do will prevent the microsleeps (which you might not even notice) that are the apparent culprit. Seriously -- NOT a good idea, no matter your other constraints and no matter your prior experience! And please be patient with me if you think I’m being overly adamant, but I know too many people who have died or been seriously injured in accidents to which jet lag was a contributing factor, and I know too many people who will spend the rest of their lives dealing with the knowledge that they were responsible for accidents that resulted in multiple deaths, including those of children, all because they were too confident in their ability to drive safely with jet lag. The issue has become a bit of a cause célèbre for me….

It's a little bit outside of the Loire, but another place you might consider staying is L'Abbaye Royale de Fontevraud:
Abbaye Royale de Fontevraud ? L?émotion est dans l?inattendu

PalenQ

Starting in Chartres means taking a train into Paris to Montparnasse station then a train to Chartres - or stay in Paris first night and take train to say Versailles then pick up rental car and drive via Chartres to Loire.

AGM_Cape_Cod

Any ideas of where to stay in Chartres? Might meet up with Nikki there at the beginning of the trip.