Last few days to visit the International Garden Festival here in the Loire Valley

You have until Sunday to visit the International Garden Festival at Chateau Chaumont-sur-Loire here in the Loire Valley.

You can see more pics. here

Monday's Loire Valley chateau - Azay-le-Rideau

Loire Valley church for Sunday - Abbey church of Notre-Dame in Beaugency

More detail here

Something for the weekend at Chateau du Rivau

image courtesy of amboise-valdeloire

‘Festival des Fleurs d'Automne’ October 28th and 29th ... discover the marvellous blossoms of autumn over the weekend at Chateau du Rivau.  More details here

Glorious October blue skies over the Loire Valley

Chateau de La Guerche

Temperatures in mid twenties and clear blue skies...and its October here in Centre-Val de Loire!

Brocantes / Vide-greniers this holiday weekend, in the Loire Valley...

Azay-le-Rideau

Brocantes / vide greniers Sunday 29^th October

* Up to 50 stalls ** 50 to 100 stalls *** 100 to 200 stalls ****More than 200 stalls    ? Unknown

AZAY LE RIDEAU  Vide-greniers Foire au Pomme ***

CERE LA RONDE  Foire aux Chèvres Vide-greniers

LOCHE SUR INDROIS  Bourse aux Vêtements, Jouets et Materiel Puériculture

REUGNY EN VOUVRILLON  Foire a la Bernache / Brocante ****

SAINTE MAURE DE TOURAINE  Vide-grenier **

Cher (18)

Indre (36)

Loir-et-Cher(41)

Loiret (45)

Maine-et-Loire(49)

October sunset over Chateau du Grand-Pressigny

Chateau du Grand-Pressigy

Would make a good setting for all things Halloween!

Tours in the Loire Valley in October

The pretty fountain at Place Jean Jaurès in Tours...taken during the delightful spell of weather in the first week of October !

A taste of Leonardo at Amboise in the Loire Valley

A visit to Amboise for the Chateau and the town itself is well worth it but add to this the Leonardo de Vinci connection and it makes for a good day out. His home for the last three years of his life was at 'Clos Luce' in the town and the local tourist industry have made the most of this by turning the house and gardens into an interesting homage to the great man.

Read more here

Loire Valley church on Sunday Saint-Jean-Baptiste,Montresor

As you walk the pretty streets of Montresor in Southern Touraine, along with the chateau, the other dominant feature of this beautiful village is the church of Saint-Jean-Baptiste.

In our opinion one of the prettiest churches in Touraine.

You can see more of the church here

Seeing the light in Montresor

If you visit beautiful Montresor  here in the Loire Valley then you have visit 'Exhibition le Gemmail' currently on display in the 'Halle des Cardeux' it is breathtaking. Gemmail a process developed in the late 1930's in France by artist Jean Crotti which became known as the 'Art of Light'. As an art form it was popularised during the 1950s with works inspired by paintings of  Degas,Picasso, Monet and others, Picasso actually produced a number of pieces himself.The name derives from combining the words 'gemme' precious stone and 'émail' enamel,the binder used to build up the three dimensional panels.

We had visited exhibitions here before and found the building is worth the visit alone but adding this display is inspirational and a credit to the village for securing what may prove to be a permanent exhibition of these beautiful pieces.

More from Montresor in the Loire Valley in France

October in beautiful Montresor in the Loire Valley, France.

Montresor in the Southern Touraine area of Centre-Val de Loire is listed as one of the most beautiful villages in France (Plus-Beaux-Villages-de-France) and is a certainly delightful...even in October

Francois Rabelais - a giant of a man?

This is the statue of Francois Rabelais sits in 'Place Anatole France'  in Tours near the university that bears his name. He is much celebrated here in Touraine as one of its 'sons' though apparently the exact whereabouts of his birth are open to conjecture, 'near Chinon' keeps him within its boundaries. 

As a monk, humanist,physician and writer he is a fine example of the importance of education to the many young people who climb the steps of the nearby building. His most celebrated work 'Gargantua and Pantagruel' was written under the name Alcofribas Nasier (an anagram of François Rabelais). It tells the story of two giants,a father, Gargantua and his son, Pantagruel. It is, according to what I have read about him,said to have been written in "an amusing, extravagant, and satirical vein".  Maybe I should seek out a copy!

Pont Wilson Bridge in Tours, France

Today we are featuring one of our favourite bridges over the Loire river...the 'Pont Wilson Bridge'in the city of Tours. The photograph above was taken at the beginning of the month on a fine October day. We have said before about how this mighty river doesn't feature that much in the city but at the bridge is where they try and bring it to life. We almost always take a walk up Rue Nationale if we are visiting the city to catch a perfunctory glimpse of the river here and depending on what we find we linger or turn around happy in the fact that river and city life flows on.  

It is during the summer that this part of river comes alive with  the setting up of 'La guinguette de Tours'  with a diverse range of programmes under the banner of 'Tours sur Loire' . We have only ever visited it during the day but can imagine it must be buzzing on an evening - we will have to give it a go next summer.

Away from 'high season' it is a place for reflection.

Beautiful start to a beautiful day in Touraine yesterday

Sunrise over Barrou in Touraine Sud

Loire Valley Church on Sunday...St. Etienne, Chinon

You can read more here

Back to summer for the weekend in the Loire Valley

With temperatures set to climb to 27°C over the weekend it's back to blue skies over the river Loire

Chateau d'Usse

See more here