If seeking to experience a small town in the Loire Valley that is totally unique in all of France IMe then consider the planned town built by Cardinal Richelieu as his persoanl fiefdom.

Yes it is a totally one of a king type place and a sleepy one at that despite reeking in history.

Trip report to follow after my recent sojourn there in the local Camping Municipal.

PalenQ on Jul 22, 11 at 12:41pm Richelieu - Office de Tourisme - Site officiel - Ville du Cardinal ... - [ Translate this page ]
www.tourisme-richelieu.fr/ - CachedCarte de France · Carte du canton · Plan de ville. Venir à Richelieu... Par la route · Lignes de cars · Les gares SNCF · Les aéroports. Votre séjour ...

Pal - we stopped here for dinner whilst staying in Saumur.

Very sleepy as you say, but there's nothing wrong with that.

we had a terrific traditional french meal in a hotel in the centre - I think that is was this one:

http://www.lepuitsdore.fr/

Annhig- thanks for the note and recommendation for lunch - with your liking it I know it must be good!

The following site has some great info on unique history of Richelieu and sweet photos as well as info on the steam train that runs in summer and on some weekends from Chinon to Richelieu.

Richelieu
www.experienceloire.com/richelieu.htm - Cached- Block all www.experienceloire.com results
Not helpful? You can block www.experienceloire.com results when you're signed in to search.www.experienceloire.com
The town of Richelieu takes its name from its founder, ... of a preserved steam railway which only operates to Chinon during summer months but you can view ...

ttt for anyone looking for a sleepy backwater but a unique one in the Loire Valley.

anyone else been to sleepy Richelieu?

i think it's still just us, Pal!

i looked at the website of the hotel where we ate, and it appears to have been brought into the 21st century, more's the pity.

still excellent value though with menus at €13, €23, and €30.

We went to Richelieu once. It definitely had an air of former grandeur, present decay, but it was in the throes of roadwork at the time, so not at its best.

We had a multicourse (early) dinner there many years ago (maybe late 80's.). We were the only ones in the restaurant. When we went in, the 'girl' was ironing linens in the entryway. Then she turned the lights on and led us back into a large dining room. At one point, we decided to skip a course but 'Madam" in the kitchen wouldn't allow that, so we didn't. It was a great experience and the food was very good. The young woman spoke no english. We were very happy to have found it.

carolJean

sadly there are a decreasing number of these sorts of restaurants in France, where traditional french food is served "come il faut". We found one in the village where we rented a gite a couple of years ago - the entree was a "take as much as you can eat" terrine of home made pate and cornichons, a choice of three main courses, cheese, and dessert, all for about €15. nothing fancy, but all totally delicious.

yes annhig - I am so old to have experienced many of these type restaurants, where the family often lived upstairs - I biked a lot and this was conducive to popping into the village bar/restaurant for its Noon Meal - usually a fixed medal with little choice and inevitably a dog laying around to boot.

The Noon Repases were cheap, filling and a chance to eat authentic French foods like ordinary French eat - at least most of my relatives rarely eat out it is so expensive normally - relatively few French I would see eat out nearly so much as Americans.

i agree Pal. the same in Italy I think.

but another difference is that french, italian and spanish people eat far better at home, with [generally] food that is prepared from scratch at home, rather than buying "ready meals".

so there is less incentive to eat out when the food is just as good at home.

of course this is changing as that sort of food takes time and effort which working women [and it was an dis generally the women doing this] don't have the time and energy not just to cook but to do the daily shopping that is required to serve fresh seasonal food every day.

yes indeedy - in my local Carrefour in France I notice frozen meals and foods proliferating on the shelves and the deli of prepared foods gets bigger and bigger. Dommage? Non, c'est la vie - la vie moderne!

https://www.google.com/search?q=imag...=1449&bih=1003

Lots of photos of Richelieu France and also of its name sake and things named after the good (?) cardinal.

Similar but earlier and less well developed: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Henrichemont

http://www.fodors.com/community/euro...ire-valley.cfm

Well here's one not much tossed around - annhig and I like it - off the beaten path but one of the most interesting historic towns in the Loire region. Can take a vintage steam train there from Chinon and back!

<i>http://www.fodors.com/community/euro...ire-valley.cfm

Well here's one not much tossed around </i>

Nothing like a self-referential post.

Nothing like a self-referential post.>

Just realized that I posted this by mistake here when referencing for another thread this question and did not realize I posted it on my own thread - brain fart for sure!

Michelin has these nice comments on Richelieu!

http://travel.michelin.com/web/desti...ardinal_s_town

We stayed in a private château near Richlieu and really enjoyed our time in the area. You can do or not do as you choose, but there's a fair amount to see.

Yes nearly no one except French folks visit this Loire backwater. To me as said above one of the most unusual unique places in France and a neat history too.