Amboise
Amboise is about 15 minutes drive
from La Grange. It has a wonderful château set
impressively above the town - with frequent wine fairs
in the caves underneath. There is a circular
"staircase" up to the château large enough for horses
drawing coaches.
There's also
Chocolatier Bigot (it's run by the
ladies of the family!) which offers hot chocolate milk
made "the old fashioned way" - highly addictive!
Just outside the centre of
Amboise is the
Clos Lucé where Leonardo da Vinci
lived. It now houses a museum of his works as well as
offering a glimpse into his life. I am particularly
fond of the gardens which are simple and restful.
On Sunday mornings there is a large market along the banks
of the Loire. It has a wide range of stalls including food,
local produce, plants, clothes, garden equipment,
kitchenware, and wine. There is also a market there on
Friday morning. It used to be one of our favourite
destinations but we now seem to prefer the market in
Loches.
Loches
Loches is about half an hour drive
to the south of Lavignon. We like the market there, we
often go on a Saturday morning to buy the ingredients
for our weekend meals (it's also open on Wednesdays).
The market is smaller than Amboise, not so popular
with tourists, and concentrates on local products and
foodstuffs. It's also spread through the middle of the
town which has a lot of character, and it has more of
the atmosphere of a local market for local people.
A short walk up the hill brings you to the Logis Royal of
Loches,
Tours
Tours has two web sites,
here's the second one. We like to
visit Les Halles, Place des Halles, in Tours. It's a
covered market (plus open-air in the summer), open
Wednesday and Saturday mornings from 07:30 - 12:30, it
is quite expensive but hard to beat for fresh produce!
We’re also fond of
Place Plumereau, it’s the old
heart of Tours with lots of cafés around it with
tables and chairs to sit out and watch the world go
by. There are also some small streets around Place
Plumereau with several small restaurants which are
worth investigating for lunch!
Blois
Blois is an attractive small
provincial town on the Loire. The chateau is in the
middle of the town and has a unique octagonal external
circular staircase - and it’s a double helix so
that the people going up don’t have to meet the
people coming down!
Montrichard
Montrichard
has a "beach" on the river Cher with a children's
playground, public tennis courts and boating. I find its
narrow main street very attractive and the bridge over the
river used to have a restaurant on it!
Bléré
Bléré
is our nearest town with around 5000 inhabitants. Our
favourite baker is in Bléré, on the main square!
There’s a local market there on Tuesday mornings and
Friday afternoons.
Luzillé
Luzillé
is our nearest village, and for information about the
commune you can look at the
Communauté de Communes
site.
Montrésor
Montrésor is a small town, situated
on the river Indrois,
its own web site has a useful
interactive map. There’s a
chateau that’s worth a visit
too.
Montlouis
Montlouis is the centre of a well
known wine growing area, just on the other side of the
river from Vouvray. There are some nice cafés and
restaurants along the river.
Chenonceaux
Chenonceaux is probably best known
for its chateau - but that’s Chenonceau (without
the “x”!). The village has some good
restaurants along the (very narrow) main street.
