St Patrice near Tours- any information
 

We will be staying in a little village called St Patrice about 30k West of Tours, to the north of the Loire. Cannot find any information on it or the area immediatly around it. I gather there is a forest to the north but am interested to find out what the surrounding area is like.

Are you staying at the Chateau de Rochecotte?

If not, look up its (or rather Talleyrand's and his floozy's) history: if you are, they'll tell you just about everything about him. Though I'm still unclear quite how he survived so many changes of regime.

You need to work hard on the chateau for this, since they don't promote it, but there's a terrific picnic spot at the top of its grounds, and it's easy to wander round even if you're not staying. With a splended view over the nuclear power station (I'm serious: the French often design very striking power stations). There's also excellent walking in the woods.

There's any number of other chateaux within a few miles: Langeais is the nearest well-known one. There's also a local claim that it's called St Patrice because St Patrick (who may well indeed have been French, and almost certainly spent time in France) had some kind of oratory there. It is, however, a real one-horse village (there's a train about once a day, which stops right outside the chateau gates), and I couldn't find anything or anyone open to provide any background to this.

We are staying in a house very near chateau de Rochecotte. Are there vinyards in this area?

Well, there's a local Bourgueil wine, there's any number of vineyards up and down the Loire, and there's certainly a fair sprinkling of vines most places you look. Same as anywhere else really.

Web site:

http://www.tourism-touraine.com/GB_en/

One thing I would do is stop by the Chateau Rochecotte and make a dinner reservation and look through their collection of brochurres.

Langeais, the closest town of any size, has an excellent Sunday market. I would also check out the tourist office there.