On the Loire...

Where Go the Boats?

Dark brown is the river,
Golden is the sand.
It flows along for ever,
With trees on either hand.

Green leaves a-floating,
Castles of the foam,
Boats of mine a-boating -
Where will all come home?

On goes the river
And out past the mill,
Away down the valley,
Away down the hill.

Away down the river,
A hundred miles or more,
Other little children
Shall bring my boats ashore.

Robert Louis Stevenson 13 November 1850 – 3 December 1894

Is it me or is the Loire Valley Tropical ?

Half way through the season now and the opportunity for an evening off beckons so we head off to our little cottage by the Loire River (La Petite Maison) in the commune of Chênehutte Trèves Cunault for an evening of rest and relaxation.

It’s a beautiful evening but so hot and we decide to cycle to the guinguette in Chênehutte - Le Futreau - a beautiful 10 minute ride along the Loire à Vélo cycle path that follows the river for over 800kms.

Now for those of you un-familiar with the term a 'guingette' (in this region of France) is a riverside restaurant or bar with live entertainment invariably from a French crooner and accompanied by particularly bad dancing.

The sun was shining and the Cremant de la Loire was chilled and delicious......

Chance to relax on the riverside deck before dinner.....

Our bikes were used as a prop to display the menu.........

There was evidence of at least the start of some very bad dancing..........

The restaurant was buzzing, full with about 60 people all patiently waiting in various stages of being served. Chantal (with extremely larged pencilled in eyebrows) was crooning away and everyone was happy.

The opportunity for some frivolity was obviously high on these ladies agendas....!

.....when BAM from out of no where, whistling down the river, comes the most powerful storm you can imagine. It was the first gust that sent the whole scene into disarray. The sky went black, tables blew over, umbrellas went flying, bottles and glasses broke as they hit the deck! Small children were tucked screaming under their parents arms and run to shelter. It was a scary moment and the rain came so heavy and fast that my pave’ de boeuf frites was swimming in seconds.

How to empty a restaurant in 2 seconds flat.....

Quick grab the bottle......

The restaurant across the road was instantly turned into what looked like a refugee centre. We watched with dismay as all the soaked diners simply sat down at new tables and waited for service to recommence amongst the chaos. They should have been wearing Don’t Panic - Normal Service will be Resumed as soon as Possible T-Shirts . Only in France! We helped the struggling waitress carry tables across the road in an attempt to restore some order and helped clear the debris from the deck.

We had left our dogs on the veranda back at the house and feared for the worst. Willow is so frightened with storms and we thought everything else would be awash so we jumped back on our bikes and cycled quickly home - to find it bone dry not a drop of rain had fallen - the dogs lying there with their 'why are you back so early look on their faces'.

The calm after the storm....... It was as if it had never happened!

Up on the roof high above the Loire River.

There are over 100 steps to climb to reach the top of Treves Tower that is after you have climbed the steep hill to the entrance and then negociated another 20 steps to the front door. So thank goodness it is only open one weekend a year!

Every September in France we have a weekend of "Patrimoine" call it a Heritage Weekend if you like. This involves many of the private properties opening their doors to display the cultural wealth hidden within their walls and grounds. We had been itching to see inside the Treves Tower for many years so this was our lucky chance.

The Tour de Treves was built by Foulques Nerra III Count of Anjou on a site that has been occupied since the gallo-roman period. The village of Treves being situated between Saumur and Angers on the south bank of the Loire River made it an important defence point and the height of the tower afforded excellent look outs both up and down stream.

Inside the tower was in a lot better condition than I had been anticipating. Each floor is made up of a beautifully vaulted chamber which were a lot smaller and cosier than expected due to the walls of the tower being around 4 metres thick!

The lower ground floor housed the 'ice room' where the wild boar would have been kept chilled, next floor up the old kitchens, then the dining chamber, bedrooms and then out on the roof. Surprisingly small really for such a tall tower. Somewhere in the midst of it all is the arms room from which the canon could be shot from all directions giving the tower excellent protection.

Once out on the roof top though the views are superb along both directions of the Loire River and of the village of Treves with it's old tuffeau houses with slate roofs. During Foulques Nerra's time the tower served as the dungeon to a Chateau that once stood on the site and a barage was run across the river to act as peage so that Foulque could collect taxes from boats passing up and down stream with their goods.

Looking upstream along Loire River towards Saumur you can see how sandy the riverbed is after the very dry summer. There are two quays in Treves which were used for the transportation of tuffeau and it is said that Dutch Mariners owned many of the houses. You can still see evidence of this today with the properties that had greniers (attics) high above the river so that goods could be kept dry.

A quick peak into one of the beautiful private gardens in Treves.

If you would like to stay in the beautiful village of Treves click here to see details of our Riverside Cottage for which rental options are available.

Come back to read details and see pictures of our visit to St Mace' the 11c Gallo-Roman Chapel that sits on the hill above Treves and houses frescos from the roman period.

Treves and Cunault from the Loire River

Sue takes to the helm.

There is no better way to appreciate the villages along the banks of the Loire River than by boat. So this weekend (our last weekend off before La Grande Maison re-opens for the season on the 23rd March) we headed off to our little cottage in Treves and waited for Pascal to deliver the latest addition to our fleet "Little Tern". We couldn't wait to get her out on the water and sailed straight away down to the tabac in Cunault for lunch.

Approach by water to Cunault

Elise our friendly neigbour in Treves has just taken over as the chef at La Cale. So if you want a spot of reasonable lunch then 11 euros gets you, for example, a salad of rillauds as a starter, salmon in a beurre blanc with vegetables and a plate of cheeses or a dessert . Washed down with a small pichet of local rose for 4 euros we sailed home very content.

Micaela tackles the tricky navigation over the shallows!!

Home in sight as we pass the Treves Tower

Where have they gone? I wanted to take the bigger boat!

The following day we were a little more daring and sailed around the island of Treves and out into the main river where the current was much stronger. If the river seems large from the banks then try sitting in the middle of it! However it is so beautiful and serene and there are plenty of herons, egrets and other birdlife to spot. We celebrate our 'maiden voyage' proper by mooring up on a beach and watching the sunset over Saumur Chateau in the distance with a bottle of Cremant. The end to a perfect day and the most beautiful spring weekend in the Loire Valley.

Chilled Wine on the Beach!