Zoos
The zoo at
Beauval, near St Aignan, is said to
be one of the best in France. There is also a
giant aquarium close to Tours where
you can walk in a transparent tunnel under the water
to see the fish at close quarters..
Swimming and other water sports
Just up the road
from La Grange there is a plan d'eau, a reservoir
constructed to provide irrigation water during the dry
spells. We find it an attractive spot to picnic and watch
the water fowl, but some of the locals swim there - even
though it's forbidden. If you want to move a little further
afield, then there is the
public swimming pool in Bléré,
another at Amboise (rue Ile d’Or), or the river
at Montrichard. About 15 minutes drive away is a large
open-air water sports area at
Chemillé sur Indrois covering an
area of 35 hectares and offering swimming, sailing,
and windsurfing.
Son et Lumière
A number of the chateaux arrange son
et lumière performances in the evening, pageants with music
and lighting effects. Of course there is a big one at
Chenonceau, but the one at Montrichard has a good
reputation.
Golf
We are not golfers so we can't offer personal
advice, however there is a pretty comprehensive list of
sites related to
golf in France is available on the
official French tourist office web site, and here are
a number of golf courses at chateaux, for example at
the
Château of Cheverny.
Caves
To build the chateaux of the Loire valley,
local stone (tuffeau) was quarried locally. That left a
large numbers of holes in the ground which were - and are
still - put to good use. Most commonly you will find them
used for storing wine at a constant cool temperature, but
there are also mushroom farms, restaurants, houses, and
even one
village carved
in stone underground.
Beer
Believe it or not, there's a micro-brewery at
Céré la Ronde called
Brasserie de la
Pigeonelle.
Bicycle hire
There is a shop in Bléré (close to the Tourist Office)
called Les Deux Roues which offers bicycles for hire.
There’s another in Amboise, about 20 minutes drive
away.
Mini-châteaux
For those of you who prefer to laze
in the shade but still want to have "seen" all the châteaux
of the Loire, try the
Mini-châteaux. This is a park close
to Amboise (in fact you drive past it to get to La
Grange) where they have built miniature replicas of
many of the famous châteaux so you can see them all in
an afternoon. You could also regard it as a taster, it
might help you to pick the château(x) you really want
to visit for real!
Ballooning
We often see hot air balloons flying
close to La Grange, have a look in the photo gallery for
some examples. If you'd like to try ballooning you can book
balloon flights in the area which depart from Amboise and
Chenonceaux among other places. It's not cheap but it
offers some superb views of the countryside. You can try
Art-Montgolfières and
Touraine Montgolfière.
Light Aircraft
Very close to La Grange, near the
village of Franceuil, you can find a
company offering
trips in the area in light aircraft. They offer a
number of different routes flying close to a selection
of chateaux.
Nuclear power stations
France generates much of its
electricity (something like 80%) from
nuclear power and the Loire is
known as the nuclear river because there are so many
nuclear power plants along its length (power stations
need lots of water for cooling and the Loire is a very
significant river). There's one which you can see from
the autoroute as you drive down between Orleans and
Tours, St Laurent, and another near Chinon which is
also the home of the
Musée du Nucléaire.
The Templar Knights
There's always been a lot of
interest in the Templars - especially since Dan Brown
published The Davinci Code - and there is a lot of Templar
history in the Loire Valley. We have recently visited the
Prieuré St Jean du Grais (a lovely
place in private hands, open in the afternoons, and
there is also a small
gîte there!). You could also visit
the
Commanderie Templière d'Arville
between Vendôme and Chartres, and the remains of of
the Basilique St. Martin, in what used to be
Merovingian Martinopolis, now joined with Tours.