StuDudley

>>we'll get to see an area of lovely France we have been wanting to see!<<

I assumed the "area" was the Loire Valley, since that's the only "area" he/she mentioned other than Paris.

Stu Dudley

PalenQ

Beauty is in eye of beholder -Stu and I are perhaps jaded from traveling all over France - to many the Loire may be lovely; the chateaux make it lovely in themselves. And most all of northern France IME is about the same as the Loire - lovely because it is France and small villages everywhere, etc.

StuDudley

The area were we stayed near Blois had many cornfields. And the fields had been harvested, so the remaining stalks were about 1 foot off the ground and dried out. Not very "beautiful", IMO.

We spent a week in a gite near Boulogne sur Mer a few years ago, and thought the white cliffs along the coast were very beautiful,

Stu Dudley

PalenQ

Yes but I have also biked or driven thru miles of bright tournsols - sunflower fields at their glory.

PalenQ

https://www.google.com/search?q=loir...w=1879&bih=922

bakerstreet

I DO think France is lovely, having visited over the years Paris, Normandy, the Champagne area, Nice -- now that I know the Loire Valley is ugly I'm glad to be spending only the one night there. I've seen photographs of the gardens of the chateaux and those are pretty. I do like to visit new places and I am extremely fond of France so I'm glad I'll experience a new area AND now very glad I won't be wasting much of my trip there, just enough time to catch some highlights.

PalenQ

Not sure if above is satire or not but folks hear so so much about the Loire Valley because of castles they think it is all dreamy - and though not by any stretch is it ugly - that is more for northern France near Belgian border.

StuDudley

I worked with the Fodors Help Forum to find out how I could post my wife's Shutterfly books like I could on the "old" forum - but they had no solution for me. So if you want to see my wife's book for Villandry & Chambord, you'll have to cut & paste this link

stududley.shutterfly.com/27

She has another book for other chateau - but there is a 110 page limit to a Shutterfly book and her pictures of the Loire Chateaux east of Chinon (west of Chinon was another trip), then ask for it & I'll provide the link.

Stu Dudley

StCirq

The Loire isn't ugly, it's just dull, apart from the ch teaux.

Coquelicot

If you get onto the more quiet roads, this area is indeed lovely. There's a scenic drive along the Indre that passes many old mills, and every bridge is decked with flowers. Chedigny is one of the prettiest villages we've seen. It's the only village in France that is also a Jardin Remarquable. From spring through September it's full of flowers. In May it holds a rose festival and for such a tiny village, the display of roses is astonishing. The even tinier village of Chanceaux pres Loches has a painted chalet and a triple allee of plane trees. There's a literary festival there in the summer called the Foret des Livres. Montresor is one of France's 150-some most beautiful villages. Loches is a lovely town on a hill, with a vibrant market twice a week. The Indre seems to be one of the less polluted rivers in France and its twists and turns make it one of the most scenic. There's a particular chalk road right along the river Cher where we rarely see another car. You can drive or walk on the bank opposite Chenonceau and get a closer view of its gallery over the river. That was the dividing line between the free and occupied zones during World War II.

We've taken many scenic drives in this area, but that's because we have the time and the interest to do that. If Michelin has a green road, that's the one we'll take. In our experience, the more we visit a particular area of France, the more we find to love.

historytraveler

Coquelicot, thank you for offering a different perspective and, arguably, more accurate view of the Loire countryside. The gloomy descriptions seem to be a bit exaggerated IMO. I also agree that Chedigny is one of the prettiest villages in France.

StCirq

There's a gorgeous segment on Les Carnets de Julie that features Chedigny, and it is indeed absolutely stunning.

PalenQ

Yes though the Loire may be hohum to some the Cher and Indre valleys are really nice as Cocquelicot says. Montresor is a gem - has a lively market some days.

PalenQ

And some Loire towns like Chinon especially are nice too but for cute small towns as coqueliot says check out Indre and Cher valleys.