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by Paul Kirkham Think of France and one invariably conjures up a select bundle of images in the minds eye, namely wine, perfumes, food and chateaux. Add to this, swathes of gloriously lush countryside, dense, wild forests and wide, meandering rivers and you are just about scraping the tip of the essence of The Loire Valley.
The Loire is a land that can take you on a visible, tangible journey through time, from the birth of man with pre-historic troglodyte caves, through the renaissance with it’s magnificent cathedrals up to modern day technology with the futuristic “Futuroscope” theme park in Poitiers and of course, the age of the motor car with Le Mans. As a tourist, the Loire Valley will cater for all tastes from those who want to expand their knowledge to those who are simply quite content to watch their waist-lines expand. Such is the variety and beauty of the whole region that UNESCO recently added the whole of the Loire Valley to its list of World Heritage sites. How could you refuse? If simply meandering round the area at your leisure and soaking up the culture and the stunning architecture is your thing, then you will not be disappointed. Everybody from the ancient Royalty of both England and France to hordes of writers and painters such as Da Vinci has left their mark on this area of France. The Loire used to be the playground of the Royalty and their legacy has been a string of magnificent, fairytale chateaux lined up and down the banks of the Loire river, which is, incidentally, the last free flowing river in Europe and leads to an abundance of wildlife along its course. 1 of 4 |
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