Loire Archives - Europe Up Close

The Loire’s Castles and Gardens

Published/Revised November 29, 2017 By Marilyn McFarlane This post may contain promotional and affiliate links. EuropeUpClose may receive commissions for purchases made through links in this post. Please read our disclosure for more info.

Touring in the Loire Valley means you don't have to travel far to see the grand chateaus and pretty villages that dot the landscape. The Castles in France are simply stunning. John and I stayed in one place, Chenonceaux, and found a multitude of treasures on short day trips along and over the rivers that wind through this green, broad valley.The farthest we drove was to Fontevraud Abbey. ... Read Full Article

An Insider’s View of Nantes, France

Published/Revised June 14, 2014 By Jen Westmoreland Bouchard This post may contain promotional and affiliate links. EuropeUpClose may receive commissions for purchases made through links in this post. Please read our disclosure for more info.

Recently, I caught up with Kate Thomas, an American Francophile who currently makes her home in Sainte-Luce sur Loire, a northeast suburb of Nantes. She was gracious enough to share with me all of the reasons she loves this singular city, located in western France - just 30 miles from the Atlantic coast.What brought you to Nantes, Kate?I arrived in Nantes four years ago completely by ... Read Full Article

Chartres Cathedral: “Clad in a Garment of Gems”

Published/Revised June 14, 2014 By Marilyn McFarlane This post may contain promotional and affiliate links. EuropeUpClose may receive commissions for purchases made through links in this post. Please read our disclosure for more info.

The greatest Gothic cathedral in France stands in Chartres, a pretty town on the Eure River in the Loire Valley. Chartres is only an hour by train or car from Paris, and many visitors make it a day trip — ride through the countryside, tour the cathedral, have lunch, ride back — and some wonder why all the fuss over one more medieval stone church with soaring spires, flying buttresses, ... Read Full Article

Exploring Blois, Chambord, and Cheverny

The 3:47 train from Paris (sounds like an Agatha Christie title) slid swiftly southward into the green Loire Valley, and by 5:30 John and I were in Blois. The hilly town of 50,000 people, rising from the banks of the wide Loire River, was the first stop on this tour of the valley and its famous chateaus.Armed with maps from the tourist office, we set off in the rain to explore. The Old Town ... Read Full Article