The garden villages around Loches
Loches itself is worth the detour—as evidenced by its inclusion in the "Plus Beaux Détours de France" (France's most beautiful detours)—but it is also worth spending a few extra days in the area to...
Loches Cité royale
Loches: where were we? We promised to return after our first Tour de France in the spring of 2023, and for this second trip, organized in collaboration with Explore France, we included a stop...
Nantes and the fil vert between past and future
Nantes, the former capital of the Dukes of Brittany and now the capital of the Loire-Atlantique department, can be explored by following a nearly 20-kilometer green route that allows you to discover the city's...
Le Havre, the resurrected city
Le Havre inspired and gave rise to the Impressionist painting movement, born from a painting where Monet painted the first impressions at dawn during the "blue hour," half an hour before sunrise when the...
Rouen the capital of Normandy
Rouen was our base for exploring the other Normandy, the one far from the D-Day beaches we first visited three years ago with Otto. We chose this city as a starting point for easy...
Dijon, the pearl of Burgundy
Dijon is considered the pearl of Burgundy, whose Duchy was one of the most powerful and influential European states of the late Middle Ages, dominating the political and economic scene between the 14th and...
Saint-Étienne, what a surprise!
Saint-Étienne, capital of the Loire department and eternal rival of Lyon, capital of the Rhône department, both geographically in the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes region, is a surprising city! And it was the first stop on the...
Loire (almost) new to explore
Loire is synonymous with castles, among the most beautiful in France, built on both sides of the river that gives its name to the Valley and near its tributaries. The Loire is the longest...
Mont Saint-Michel: wonder destination
Mont Saint-Michel has been considered the "wonder of the West" for centuries and we have wanted to visit this marvel, one of the most magical places in the world, for a long time. And...
Children of a minor Loire
Children of a minor Loire: this is how we wanted to call the medieval fortresses, the Renaissance castles, the enchanted gardens and the hidden and lesser-known treasures of the Loire Valley which seduces from...