One of the most important and well-known gardens in France at Chateau de Villandry(37 Indre-et-Loire, Centre) has gone organic. No more synthetic seeds, chemical fertilisers or pesticides etc – just environmentally friendly insects and techniques.

In the heart of the Loire Valley on the south bank of the Loire west of Tours, the Chateau is well worth a detour.

The 16th-17th Century chateau and its gardens host “Kitchen Garden Days” (Les Journées du Potager) every September (25-26 September 2010) and the Night of 1000 Lights  (Les Nuits des Mille Feux) when the gardens are illuminated with candles each July (2-3 July 2010), both of which offer enhanced opportunities to view the spectacular gardens.

Château de Villandry
37510 VILLANDRY

A great way to try (and to buy) wines in the Loire Valley is offered on Saturday 15 August 2009 with a wine festival being held in the streets of Bourgueil (37 Indre et Loire, Centre) – Fete des Vins du Val de Loire hopefully the weather will be fine as it is in the open air! Wines from other parts of the Loire Valley aill be on offer, including those from one of our favourites – Domaine Octavie at Oisly, whose Touraine AC wines are always a delight.

Bourgeuil AC is a small Loire appellation between Tours and Saumur, a few kilmetres north of Chinon. Production is primarily for red wines (plus a very small production of rosé) made from the Cabernet Franc grape (although up to 10% Cabernet Sauvignon can be added). There is also the smaller appellation of St Nicolas-de-Bourgueil which has the same grape varietals, and which I challenge most imbibers to distinguish from Bourgueil AC (or Chinon AC for that matter).I used to think of Cabernet Franc reds as a little dry and dusty, but in good years they can develop a wonderfully fruity style (raspberries?) whilst still full-bodied and with noticeable tannins – and recent good summers have helped to produce more attractive wines.Bourgueil (37 Indre et Loire, Centre) is a small Loire appellation between Tours and Saumur, a few kilmetres north of Chinon. Production is primarily for red wines (plus a very small production of rosé) made from the Cabernet Franc grape (although up to 10% Cabernet Sauvignon can be added). There is also the smaller appellation of St Nicolas-de-Bourgueil which has the same grape varietals, and which I challenge most imbibers to distinguish from Bourgueil AC (or Chinon AC for that matter).I used to think of Cabernet Franc reds as a little dry and dusty, but in good years they can develop a wonderfully fruity style (raspberries?) whilst still full-bodied and with noticeable tannins – and recent good summers have helped to produce more attractive wines.

Bourgueil Tourist Office

The Cathedral of St Etienne of Bourges, built between the late 12th and late 13th centuries, is one of the great masterpieces of Gothic art and is admired for its proportions and the unity of its design. The tympanum, sculptures and stained-glass windows are particularly striking. Apart from the beauty of the architecture, it attests to the power of Christianity in medieval France.

As an extra bonus, the Cathedral is illuminated as night as part of Les Nuits Lumière de Bourges

ievery Thursday, Friday and Saturday night in July, August and September 2009 from dusk.

Additionally on Fridays 3  July 2009, 29 August 2009 and 18 September 2009 locals will be in costume, and on Fridays 17,24 and 31 July 2009, 7 and 14 August 2009 there will also be the opportunity to taste the wines of the region (Vins du Centre, which includes Sancerre, Quincy, Reuilly, Menetou-Salon, Poully-Fumé, Coteaux du Giennois and Chateaumeillant AC)

More info on Bourges
Find the best rates for Hotels in Bourges
Train Tickets from UK to Bourges with Eurostar

More info on the wines of Centre

For more info see www.vins-centre-loire.com

“The Segway PT (Personal Transporter) is unique! Each machine is a self-balancing electric transportation device. Teamed up with two computers, gyroscopes automatically respond to your body’s movements, «sensing» when it should speed up and slow down in order to keep you in balance while moving up to 12mph!
Only 5 minutes to master – Learning to use a segway is a magical experience and comes naturaly. It is the first time we get carried by a machine which seems to move by itself.

Currently on offer in the towns of Loches  (the royal housing, trave around the Bachelet park at the bottom of the majestic donjon and meander around the paved alleyways of the citadel. ), Amboise (from Amboise castle to the famous Clos Luce manor house, where Leonardo Da Vinci once lived …the heights of the city to the panoramic view of the Loire) and Tours ( the majestic cathedral, the royal castle and the old Wilson bridge.)-

For more info Tel: 02 47 30 95 35 (in France) see  www.freemove.fr

There are also Segway Tours in Paris – see  http://citysegwaytours.com

For more info see www.chateau-ferte-st-aubin.com

la Ferte St Aubin is situated south of Orleans on the N20, just west of the Sologne (an area of wild natural beauty, and a few kilometre north of Lamotte Beuvron, birthplace of the Tarte Tatin!

To the west you will find the wine appellations of Touraine where Isabelle and Noe Roubillaud runs Domaine Octavie iand Cour- Cheverny AC where Michel Gendrier runs Domaine des Huards.

Styling itself the “Villages for Lovers” (le village des Amoureux) the website at www.village-saint-valentin.com/ is very French and just a tad too pink for my liking. I an told that there is an annual festival on 14 February to celebrate their patron saint, but details were a little thin.

It appears that if there ever was a Saint Valentine, he was a very obscure saint, and any connection between him and a celebration of love is probably a very recent phenomenon, probably manufactured by florists, greeting card manufacturers and makers of pink ribbons!

The other option is to head down to Beaujolais and the village of St Amour (amour = love). The village is home to one of the Beaujolais wine crus, and is in fact the most northerly, which is probably better known for its voluptuousness rather than finesse! Again there it is unlikely that there ever was a saint called Amour, but is thought to be a derivation of Saint Amateur , a roman soldier who converted to Christianity and founded a local monastery. No obvious Valentine-inspired events here, which might make it a more attractive and less commercialised venue to take your paramour. Certainly the scenery is charming, even if the vines will look a little stark this time of year.

For more info on Beaujolais wines see www.beaujolais-wines.com

Or there is the Fete du Baiser (Festival of the Kiss) at Roquemaure near Avignon (30 Gard, Languedoc-Roussillon) although the name has now been changed to the “Lovers Festival” (Fete des Amoureux”) which takes place on the weekend of 14-15 February 2009.

The relics of (a) Saint Valentine lay in Roquemaure since 1868. Every year, the weekend nearest February 14th, the town recreates the arrival of Saint Valentine’s relics and celebrates the love and romanticism this mythical Saint now symbolises.
Roquemaure turns into the town of love legends, returning to its 19th century aspect with more than 800 traditionally costumed people, horses and carriages, store fronts decorated in 19th century fashion, an old post office selling souvenir postcards (valentine cards), a fountain of Lovers, a market with over 60 ancient trades, a bandstand and wooden merry-go-rounds. For the occasion, the streets are given the names of the most famous lovers in French literature. To the sound of oboes, bagpipes, drums, and shepherd’s pipes, folkloric dance groups animate the town, along with jugglers and acrobats. Lovers can hum the prettiest love songs played by the barrel organs in the streets of the ancient town. The relics are symbolically paraded on Sunday morning so that Saint Valentine blesses Roquemaure again. This completely free romantic festival was created 17 years ago.

As an added bonus the winemakers of the local Appellation of Lirac AOC have chosen this weekend to celebrate their Festival of Vine Pruning! “On the Sunday morning of Saint Valentine’s feast, seven carts loaded with vine shoots from the seven main vine varieties of the Lirac appellation accompany the procession of Saint Valentine’s relics in the streets of the ancient part of the village.”
For more info see www.saintvalentin.org/

The younger visitors can enjoy the manger scene, a welcome parade for Santa Claus and for both young and older there is the ice skating rink in the place des Epars.

For gourmets you can try “grandes spécialités chartraines” :such as Mentchikoffs (fine chocolate wrapped in Swiss meringue), sweet soft macaroons or  le Cochelin, a delicious festive patisserie made from flaky pastry in the shape of a man which you dunk in choclate or jam!

For more info see www.chartres-tourisme.com

With lots of razzamataz, commercial sponsorship, scandal and sporting achievement, it is a spectacle well worth seeing – especially as it is free. However, the downside is that the Tour can cause major disruption with roads closed for hours, hordes of people and traffic – and all hotel rooms along the route booked.
In 2009 the tour starts in Monaco on 4 July 2009, travels down the Mediterranean coast into Spain to Barcelona – then up through Andorra to the Pyrenees. With a skip to Central France the route heads east through northern Burgundy to Alsace, south the the Alpes and then heads for Paris and the final stage which finishes on the Champs Elysees on 26 July 2009.
Sat 4 July Monaco
Sun 5 July Monaco > Brignoles
Mon 6 July Marseille > La Grande-Motte
Tue 7 July Montpellier
Wed 8 July Le Cap d’Agde > Perpignan
Thu 9 July Gérona > Barcelona (Spain)
Fri 10 July Barcelona > Andorra
Sat 11 July Andorra> Saint-Girons
Sun 12 July Saint-Gaudens > Tarbes
Mon 13 July rest day – Limoges
Tue 14 July Limoges > Issoudun
Wed 15 July Vatan > Saint-Fargeau
Thu 16 July Tonnerre > Vittel
Fri 17 July Vittel > Colmar
Sat 18 July Colmar > Besançon
Sun 19 July Pontarlier > Verbier
Mon 20 July rest day – Verbier
Tue 21 July Martigny > Bourg-Saint-Maurice
Wed 22 July Bourg-Saint-Maurice > Le Grand-Bornand
Thu 23 July Annecy > Annecy
Fri 24 July Bourgoin-Jallieu > Aubenas
Sat 25 July Montélimar > Mont Ventoux
Sun 26 July Montereau-Fault-Yonne > Paris Champs-Élysées

For more info on the Tour de France see www.letour.fr

There is always a great carnival atmosphere surrounding this prestigious race, which tends to attract many of the top names in the sport.

The best advice is to avoid Tours city centre for the day, unless you want to see the event – although the main routes and the A10 autoroute should not be unduly affected.

For more info see www.letour.fr/

If it is climate change, then this may cause a little concern, as the best Sauvignon Blancs are cool climate wines – so maybe England may come into the reckoning in another 10-20 years!

I confess to being a little cynical about Wine Awards – there are so many awards that it ends up a bit like Google searches – you know that just because a wine is at the top of the list does not necessarily mean that it is in any objective sense the best – but also how many of us bother to read the results on the 3^rd,4^th or lower pages, which just might hide the “nugget” which is what you are looking for.

However a quick skim of the International Wine Challenge results 2008 did reveal an old favourite – a wine which I first imported over 10 years ago – Domaine Joel Delaunay’s Touraine Sauvignon 2007.Domaine Joel Delaunay is situated on the valley sides above the river Cher – a small family run domaine, which always offers a warm welcome.

Majestic are offering their Domaine Joel Delaunay 2007 Touraine Sauvignon AC – “Rich, steely Sauvignon just bursting with gooseberry fruit, from a superb small grower.” and it won a Gold Medal in this year’s Wine Awards.

http://www.joeldelaunay.com/

Other examples of great Loire valley whites include another Touraine Sauvignon from Domaine Octavie at Oisly, and the wines of Michel Gendrier at Domaine des Huards in Cour-Cheverny.

The Chateau is also a fancy hotel and was the setting for an American TV series “Joe Millionaire”

The Château de la Bourdaisière is a magnificent sixteenth-century castle offering spacious and refined bed and breakfast rooms and apartments. Château de la Bourdaisière is set in a 140-acre park located between Tours and Amboise France, just an hour from Paris on the TGV – France’s high-speed train.

The castle was built by François the First for his favourite and is the setting for the program ‘Joe Millionaire’ on Fox television in 2003. Relax by the large open-air heated swimming-pool, enjoy a game of tennis or simply enjoy the pleasure of staying at this most remarkable French castle in the heart of the Loire Valley.

For more info see www.chateaubourdaisiere.com

The Telegraph (19 Aug 08) includes a boat trip up the Rhone Valley as one of its top 10 river cruises:

Navigating France’s mightiest river is a favourite for wine aficionados and foodies. A cruise through Burgundy and Provence gives you the chance to visit vineyards (think Côtes du Rhône and Châteauneuf-du-Pape), explore Lyon – the gourmet capital of France – and enjoy historic towns such as the fortified city of Avignon and the Roman ruins in Arles. The countryside is equally superb: its fields of lavender and sunflowers were an inspiration for artists such as Vincent Van Gogh, and as the river drains into the Mediterranean you’ll see the famous white horses of the Camargue.

The route includes many worthwhile stops for visits to suit all tastes, but it is also remarkably rich in potential wine visits as you’ll pass through appellations such as Costieres de Nimes, Cotes du Rhone (north and south), Lirac, Tavel, Chateauneuf-du-Pape, St Joseph and Hermitage – and if you branch onto the River Saone north of Lyon you can explore Beuajolais and southern Burgundy!

It should come as little surprise that rivers and canals tend to offer good access to good vineyards – vines often grow best on the steep valley sides with their good drainage and aspect to the sun.

A more modest trip than the Rhone, could be a canal trip from Auxerre (89 Yonne, Burgundy) close to Chablis and down the Canal de Bourgogne to Dijon and the Burgundy vineyards; or a trip down the Canal Lateral de la Loire for Sancerre AC, Pouilly-Fumé and Coteaux Giennois. By using the Canal du Nivernais and the Canal de Briare you could even manage a circular route via Auxerre.

Of course, Rick Stein’s French Odyssey was based on a canal trip along the Canal du Midi and the Canal Lateral de la Garonne and included the vineyards of Bordeaux, Cotes du Marmandais, Buzet, Fronton, Minervois, Corbieres and the Coteaux du Languedoc.

For another set of options try Hilary Wright’s book Water into Wine: A Wine Lover’s Journey Through The Waterways of France which also includes itineraries in the lower Loire. Cognac, Alsace, Lorraiine and the Lot.

For more info on the canals of France see the website for VNF (Voies Navigable de la France) now much improved and in English!

There’s a new free map and guide available from InterLoire (the official wine body for the region) to the vineyards of the Loire Valley available to download and in English:-

The light glistening on the river and its tributaries is a wonderful sight. The cellars carved into white limestone, magical châteaux, magnificent gardens, hillsides covered in vines ; hundreds of sights that still hold the memory of kings, queens, princes and artists like Rabelais, Ronsard, Balzac, Leonardo da Vinci, and Joachim du Bellay… The Loire vineyards offer charm, grace and surprise around every corner. It is a region for good living, a valley of abundance, a source of flavourful wines and generous aromas,and we would like to share all that with you.

This wine region (which does not include other appellations which are nevertheless close to the River Loire such as Sancerre, Pouilly-Fumé, Quincy, Menetou-Salon etc – these are all classified as “Vins du Centre” ) does cover the Loire from the Atlantic to Orleans and includes 68 separate appellations and has more than 7,000 wine producers making it France’s third most important vineyard.

For each winemaker there is a comprehensive entry – e.g. for one of our favourites, the Domaine Leduc-Frouin in Anjou:-

Domaine Leduc-Frouin
The Leduc-Frouin estate invites you to discover its wines in a guided tasting session. Guided tours upon request. Groups: tours and wine tastings, reservations necessary for meals.
Monday – Friday: 9 am -12 pm / 2 pm – 6 pm, Saturday: 2 pm – 6 pm, and mornings by appointment only.
AOC Anjou Blanc ; Anjou Gamay ; Anjou Rouge ; Anjou Villages ; Cabernet d’Anjou ; Coteaux du Layon ; Rosé d’Anjou ; Rosé de Loire ; Saumur Brut.
Antoine et Nathalie LEDUC La Seigneurie – Sousigné
T:02 41 59 42 83
info@leduc-frouin.com
www.leduc-frouin.com

This is an invaluable guide to wine touring in the region, which does offer many delights for the wine and food enthusiast and others.

Download the map and guide
For more on Domaine Leduc-Frouin see www.frenchduck.co.uk

In the medieval heart of old Tours (37 Indre-et-Loire, Centre) there is a celebration of local basic and garlic (Foire à l’Ail et du Basilic) on 26 July 2008.

This colourful fair cum market has its roots in the Middle Ages when Tours was a major commercial centre, and now offers an excuse to decorate the streets of Vieux Tours with over 150 producers and exhibitors offering fresh basic and pungent garlic and in many different gastronomic creations, including the traditional Andouillettes Grillées au Vouvray – grilled chitterling sausages in sweet Vouvray wine – a local speciality!

Even if you cannot make that date, Tours is famous for its markets with a traditional style market every day somewhere in the city. I stumbled across the Flower Market (Marché aux Fleurs) running along the middle of Boulevard Béranger one Saturday morning which was so bright. colourful and fragrant that the memory lingers – also on Wednesday mornings.

Then on the first Friday of each month there is a Food market (Marché Gourmand) in the Place de la Resistance.

For more info see www.ligeris.com

We always enjoy visiting Domaine Octavie, where Madame Isabelle provides a warm welcome – their Touraine Sauvignon AC is always excellent – this part of France is ideal for producing top quality Sauvignon Blanc – the region includes Sancerre, Menetou-Salon, Quincy etc.
We were also impressed with the Touraine Gamay AC, which had a remarkable depth of flavour and structure – ideal to accompany a grilled lamb steak (tranche de gigot. Another testament to the changing climate methinks – as Loire valley Gamay could never have reached such a level of intensity 10 years or so ago.
Domaine Octavie, Oisly, 41 Loir-et-Cher

Whilst some of the performances are ticket-only affairs, on Sunday there is an open air concert in the Parc de la Sous-Prefecture from midday where you can have a picnic and taste some of the local wines and cheeses (and listen to a Saxophone trio called “The New Ducks”!).

The local Touraine AC wines are predominently Sauvignon Blanc for the crisp dry whites, and Cabernet Franc or Gamay for the reds. Local cheese include Sainte Maure de Touraine – an aged Goats Milk Cheese.

There is likely to be a lot of music and festivities throughout the town.

For more info see www.petitfaucheux.fr (in French)

On the weekend if 7th & 8th June 2008 the village of Sainte Maure (37 Indre-et-Loire, Centre) celebrates the local goat’s cheese with a 2 day festival. with plenty of opportunit for eating, drinking, dancing and music – learn more about this cheese and about the “guest” Cheese Region which is the Basque country (Pays Basque).

The cheese is an aged Goats Cheese – quite different to the fresh goats milk cheeses you normally see. It is cylindrical in shape, often covered with ash and with a straw running through the middle, which helps it to mature. It has Appellation Controllee (AOC) status which means that only cheese from this areas can be so called, and there are strict rules on its content and making.

According to the Dorling Kindersley guide to French Cheeses (Eyewitness Companions) this cheese is “mature, balanced, round with salt sourness and an aroma of walnut”

For more info see www.sainte-maure-de-touraine.fr/

You can now enjoy a one of these very French machines by hiring one for a day or half-day in St Omer (62 Pas-de-Calais, Nord Pas-de-Calais).

Les Belles Echappees also hire out Citroen 2CVs, tandems and trikes and offer a number of packages which can include route suggestions, restaurant and hotel combinations etc.

Les Belles Echappées invite you to a journey off the beaten track in search of simple pleasures connected with emotion and collective memory.

You can find a video showing the 2CVs in action on You Tube Les Belles Echappees translates as a good time or break!

Les Belles Echappees, Chemin des murs, Ferme de l’Abbaye – 62500 CLAIRMARAIS
Tél : 03.21.98.11.72

There are other options for raking to the road “a la francaise” – e.g. the 2CV tours of Paris with 4 roues sous un Parapluie (4 wheels under 1 umbrella); Or hire a classic Citroen TA in the Loire Valley with Quart de Tours (37 Indre-et-Loire, Centre)

Further south Joffreny Tours offer classic and modern British cars (and others) for touring the French countryside from their base near Chalus (87 Haut Vienne, Limousin) – although helpfully they have an office in the UK

Lots to do and see – Hire a classic standard MGB Roadster, a V8 MGB Roadster, a BMW Z3 Roadster or a Triumph Stag (soft-top or hard-top) and take off on a sightseeing tour of the Limousin, Charente and Dordogne, in west central France, with all of its historic towns and picturesque chateaux, and sample some of the fine food and wine along the way. This is beautiful touring country and there are very few cars on the road…

It all started in Paris with the Velib’ Scheme – an amalgam of Velo (cycle) and Liberte (free), which has been a tremendous success.

Vélib’ is a Self Service “bike hire” system available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. Multi pick up and drop off location allows you to pick up your bike from one service point and drop off to another.

You need to subscribe, but for visitors there are 1-day and 7-day subscriptions and after the first 30 minutes you pay by the half-hour – e.g. a 90-minute hire will cost just €3 and you can pick up and drop off your bike at any of the hundreds of self-service stations across the city.

The Velib’ scheme has been based on a similar scheme VeloV in Lyon (69 Rhone, Rhone-Alpes) France’s second city. The combination of these eco-friendly and fitness focussed schemes is now spreading throughout France:-
VeloCite in Mulhouse (68 Haut-Rhin, Alsace) and Besancon (25 Doubs, Franche-Comté)
Vhello in Aix-en-Provence (13 Bouches-du-Rhone, Provence)
Le Velo in Marseille (13 Bouches-du-Rhone, Provence)
Velo in Toulouse (34 Haut Garonne, Midi-Pyrenees)
Nantes (44 Loire-Atlantique, Val de Loire)
Rouen (76 Seine Maritime, Normandy)
Bordeaux (33 Gironde, Aquitaine)
Velostan in Nancy (54 Meurthe et Moselle, Lorraine)
Velo+ in Orleans (45 Loiret, Centre)
Velomagg in Montpellier (34 Herault, Languedoc-Roussillon)

This is clearly a popular scheme, mainly aimed at local residents but may also offer a different way of seeing some of France’s major cities from a different perspective. However, I would recommend choosing a city with good cycle lanes and paths – you do get the impression that traffic in many of France’s cities is not very forgiving with errant cyclists – so do not try cycling around the rond-point of the Arc de Triomphe in Paris!!

Inevitably there are some urban myths developing – such as the fact that there are always plenty of bikes at the bottom of the Butte de Montmartre, but none at the top – for obvious reasons. And you can get caught out in busy locations if you cannot find an empty slot in which to return your bike!

A car & minibus hire company in Port Vallières (37 Indre-et-Loire, Centre) just west of Tours on the Loire offers self-drive hire of the Citroen TA which could offer a great way to explore the vineyards and chateaux of Touraine (Touraine AC, Vouvray AC, Cheverny, Cour-Cheverny AC etc).

Quart de Tours, 184 Quai des Bateliers, Port Vallières, 37320 Fondettes

Other options for drving classic cars in France can be found at the  Chateau Hotel de la Barre near Le Mans (72 Sarthe, Val de Loire) :

Test drive your dream car across 200 km of scenic roads and reach full acceleration and performance during two laps on the legendary 24 hours Le Mans circuit. Or go straight to the track for any number of laps from 4 to 24! A Ferrari 430 or 599 GTB, a Lamborghini Gallardo Superleggera 530, a Porsche 997 GT3)

Or for a more british experience see www.the-classic-route.com where you can hire a classic Morgan sports car from the British owners and tour the delightful roads of SouthWest France(32 Haute Garonne, Midi-Pyrenees).

And in Brittany (and  other locations including Paris and Amboise) you can hire and drive classic Citroen TAs with Vintage Roads

For more on the Tour de France 2008 see www.letour.fr/
For details of coverage on ITV see www.itv.com

For more on the Tour de France 2008 see www.letour.fr/
For details of coverage on ITV see www.itv.com

However there are significant sections of autoroute which are toll free – most often these are around major towns and Cities (Paris, Bordeaux, Lyon etc).

In the North, the A16 is toll-free from Boulogne (J29) to the Belgian border (J36) via Calais and Dunkerque. The A25 from Dunkerque (J20) to Lille is free, so you can reach Lille from the main Channel ports without paying a toll!. Also all routes from Lille to the Belgian border.
The following autoroutes are toll free (as at September 2007)
A16 (part of the Autoroute des Estuaires (estuaries)) from Boulogne-sur-Mer (J29) to the Belgian border(J36)
A20 (L’Occitane) from Vierzon (J6 junction with A71) to Brive-la-Gaillarde (J53) via Chateauroux, Argenton and Limoges
A25 from Dunkerque (J20 with A16) to Lille
A28 from Abbeville (J1) to Rouen (J14)
A30/A31 (Autoroute de la Vallée de la Fensch) from Thionville (J1) to Toul (J12) via Metz and Nancy
A38 from Dijon (J33) to Pouilly-sur-Auxois (J24 and the junction with the A6)
A63 (Autoroute de la Cote Basque) from Bordeaux to Bellin-Bellet (J20)
A64 (la Pyreneenne) from St Martory (J20) to Muret (J25)
A68 (la Tarnaise) from Monastruc (J3 NE of Toulouse) to Albi (J11) via Gaillac
A75 (la Meridienne) from Clermont-Ferrand (J15) to Pezenas (J59) (except for the Millau Bridge) via Issoire
A77 (Autoroute de l’Arbre (trees)) from Pouilly (J26) to Nevers (J37)
A84 from Caen (J46) to Rennes (J25) via Avranches

Our tastes in wine tend to be quite individual, and I always seek out those wines which stand out from the bland, branded crowd so often presented on supermarket shelves.

Hence my eyes sparkle a little when I find a wine merchant stocking something really interesting and different – one such recent discovery being Martlet Wines – as they stock one of my more obscure favourites:-

DOMAINE DES HUARDS, Cour-Cheverny AC Cuvée Francois 1er 2002, Romorantin £ 8.25 The little known Romorantin grape is now exclusive to Cour-Cheverny. A favourite of Leonardo de Vinci, it produces a very individual wine. Dry with subtle fruits and a slightly “sherried” flavour.

This was one of the wines we imported at ALLEZ VINS! from Michel Gendrier at Cheverny (41 Loir-et-Cher, Centre) near Blois on the Loire. Made from old vine Romorantin grapes this is very dry and aromatic – and perhaps a bit of an acquired taste. Michel does also produce more approachable whites – such as the Cheverny AC Blanc, a delightful blend of Sauvignon and Chardonnay. Small quantities, and small demand – few customers had ever heard of it, so most sales were at tastings where it was either raved about or dismissed depending on your palate.

So good to find another adventurous wine merchant – Martlet Wines also stocks a range of other top notch French wines – such as the wines of Mas de la Serranne in the Languedoc.

For more on Domaine des Huards see http://www.frenchduck.co.uk/huards.html

2000 candles will illuminate the magnificent Renaissance chateau and gardens at Villandry (37, Indre-et-Loire, Centre) west of Tours in the Loire Valley – culminating with a magnificent firework display.

See www.chateauvillandry.com/