camping through la loire

The only thing I could think of to top week one of adventures in La Loire is a second week in La Loire, but this time we got to throw in a 1977 VW Combi and a couple of fun-loving newly-weds to liven things up!

When my uncle and his girlfriend invited us camping, we had no idea that we would actually be taking part in their honeymoon. We had found out a couple of weeks earlier that the pair had eloped in the most romantic of ways in Italy. Since then, they had been traveling around Europe in luxury until our camping adventure was to begin. After we picked up the combi which we were renting for a week, we set off in a bright eyed state of excitement. Our first stop would set the food and wine standards quite high for the week with pigeon terrine, Loire valley goats cheese, saussicon and celebration bubbles from the region.

 

Loved our morning coffee's made on the camper's little stove..

 

We made the most of a beautiful night to drink Loire bubbles and watch the sun set over the river.

 

One of our favourite winery tours/tastings was at Bernard Baudry's. He was kind enough to open up for us, show us around and treat us with amazing French wine-maker hospitality.

 

 

This set-up was used to demonstrate the effect that the terroir can have on different wines. Bernard used this as a way to explain how wines grown on certain land can take on different flavours and textures.

 

Here is a little idea of how big our picnics were growing by the end of the week. We had selection down pat and I think this was my favourite picnic as we stopped and ate amongst the vines, drank freshly bottled wine and ate far too much of the amazing bakery goods, meat and vegetables that La Loire has on offer. A stand out from the picnic was a lentil salad with fetta and the goose rilletes (god only knows why it tastes so good). I think this was one of our last picnics, and probably the ultimate!

 

 

eating our way through la loire- the hotel Diderot

The hotel Diderot at Chinon boasted about their 50 types of jam breakfast. As breakfast is rarely included in the price, we normally just grab a croissant on the road, but I love jam, so we thought we would splash out. Then we ended up staying another night, and as breakfast was so good the day before, we splashed out again. Here was the breakfast order of progression.

Organic apple juice, big hot pour-your-own coffees with steamed milk, yogurt with goats cheese, honey and walnuts, a big basket of baguettes, brioche and croissants, and then there were the jams. So many different jams lined the centre of all the tables in the breakfast room all sitting happily with a colourful spoon. We were advised that if we didn't like any of our flavours we were to move tables or go and swap the jams. yummmmmm

 

 

 

 

 

eating our way through la loire

When planning our trip through the Loire in France, all we could think about was all the wonderful food and wine we would get to drink. We headed off to Angers bright eyed and excited for the next two weeks!

When we arrived in Angers we had a lazy stroll around the Angers market, a waffle drizzled with chestnut cream and take-away coffees. The market was huge with great looking produce. If only we had a kitchen we could have cooked up a dream. But we had vineyards to visit so we left Angers after a walk around town and headed to our first winery of the day, la Domaine des Baumard. A gorgeous big gate led into a maze of vines and a lovely big house. We tasted many glasses of deliciousness and left with a bottle of the loveliest wine. But more on that later.

Then we continued along la Loire, stopping in little towns for coffees or baguettes for terrine sandwiches. We had a lovely afternoon and arrived in Saumur later that day. We luckily found a hotel in town and headed out for bubbles. After a long appero, we had a lovely dinner upstairs at le cafe de la place.

 

We had dinner at le Café de la Place in Saumur. A vibrant a laughter filled restaurant with a good looking menu and wine list. Despite the cold we sat outside drinking Loire bubbles and contemplating what to eat. 

 

 

Jim ordered Terrine. It came served in it's pot and you sliced off however much you felt like (imagine the health and safety problems this would create in Australia!!). It came with a big jar of cornichons and was possibly the nicest entree ever.

 

I had a fish-cake with a creamy sauce and a fresh dill. It was nice but a little sad looking compared to the Terrine.

Our third day in la Loire began in Saumur. We climbed the hill to visit the imposing castle that looks over the town. While a lot of the castle was closed for renovations, it made for a great lookout point over Saumur. After a walk through the sleepy town we headed to Saint-Hilaire-Saint-Florent to visit some wineries. We were in luck as Ackerman, one of the wineries, was hosting a special tasting day. Bubbles and Macaroons, these are a few of my favorite things!

 

A pretty lovely picnic spot where we ate baguette, pate de campagne and some fresh fruit. Yumm

 

 

After a brief over-night stop in Tours, we headed further east direction Amboise. We ended up having a delicious picnic with newly bottled wine (which tasted somewhat like cider) and goats cheese from la Loire right on the sun-drenched banks of the river. 

parisian love continued

I really like adventure, and change, which unfortunately means that I am leaving Paris for a little wee while. It makes me sad, Paris is so lovely and entertaining. If Paris was a boy I would marry him in the drop of a top-hat. Here's some of the stuff we did in our last few days in Paris.

3 course lunch at our favourite local cafe, 'aux petit onions' where there is always an abundance of lovely food, wine and atmosphere. Followed by a stroll down our street, and a trip onto Ile saint Louis, a little bit of Ladurée and a delicious lunch at the marché des enfants rouge...