The Loire Valley was one must-see wine destination on my international travel list. Famous for its sauvignon blancs (Sancerre and Pouilly-Fumé are two well-known appellations in the Loire Valley that I was partial to), the region also features a large numbers of châteaux built by French nobles in the 15th century. I was so motivated to maximize my time in the valley that I woke up at 4:30am in Bordeaux to catch a 6:03am train to Tours.

I opted to rent a car during my stay even though I didn’t plan to use it for much more than getting to/from my accommodations and the train station. Uber wasn’t available, and taxis didn’t seem to be plentiful based on what my research told me, so rental car it would be.

My Accommodations in the Loire Valley

In my mind, there was only one type of place to stay in the Loire Valley, and that was a château. I booked a room at the Château des Arpentis, in the village of Saint-Regle, and a short drive from the town of Amboise. While the amenities were limited (no restaurant, no gym), the château had just 13 rooms, and was situated on spectacular grounds.

As much as I would have enjoyed hanging out at the château pool, I didn’t wake up at 4:30am to sunbathe. I had some wine tasting to do.

Loire Valley Wine Tour

I had booked a private wine tour through the aptly named Loire Valley Wine Tour. My guide Colin was a delightfully chatty Englishman who was also the proprietor of the tour company. He and his wife had relocated to the Loire Valley a few years prior with plans to retire, but life didn’t work out exactly as expected. Colin had started to host wine tours to supplement their income, although I suspect that he also enjoyed having something to do outside of the home.

One fun fact about the Loire Valley: it is huge. It includes 87 appellations and spans an approximate area from Nantes to Orléans, which would take nearly four hours to drive between. I’d be tasting in the appellations of Chinon, Bourgueil and Saint Nicolas de Bourgueil since I was staying near Amboise. As I mentioned earlier, the Loire Valley is famous for its Sauvignon Blancs, but it also had some great Cabernet Francs. I was in red wine country, so Cab Franc it would be for most of the day.

In all of my prior wine tours in France, things had been kept relatively tame. Yes, the French love their wine, but it’s to be enjoyed with food, in the proper time and place. Overindulging is not acceptable behavior. This time I was with an Englishman, however.

Colin had quite the itinerary for me, and I was ready to take it all in. He had already made it clear that this was not a wine tour for me to merely drink and enjoy the sights; I needed to buy wine and support the local economy, too. No problem! I would gladly ship some wine home.

We visited seven wineries, if I remember correctly. Sadly (or not), I was too busy tasting wine and chatting with Colin to take many pictures.

And a quick note about the Loire wine: it was cheap, especially for France. I was looking at prices between $7-30 for good quality bottles. Even with shipping costs, I figured I was saving money on what I would pay for similar quality wines back in New York.

After a long day, Colin was nice enough to stop at the supermarket so I could pick up some food to prepare a makeshift dinner (recall that my chateau had no restaurant; in addition, I was in no shape to drive). I was exhausted after my early AM wake-up call (and who knows how much wine), but I still delighted in the surroundings upon arrival back at my weekend château.

I was now able to get into my room since it understandably wasn’t ready when I arrived at 8:30am. The very French guy at reception was surprised (dare I say, shocked) that I was traveling on my own, but he quickly recovered and showed me to my room.

Touring the Châteaux

For my second full day in the valley, I had booked a small group château tour through A La Francaise, the same company that coordinated my Bordeaux wine tour. I drove into Amboise well before our planned meeting time, parked, and wandered the town on my own before the temperatures got too hot.

Next, I met up with my guide (a lovely French girl in her 20s) and my fellow travelers (an adorable family of four). At first I was dismayed that I’d be joining the tour with three children, but I quickly fell in love with the family: mom (divorced), two sons (ages 11 and 9), and one daughter (age 6). The family lived in London, but the mother was originally from France, and the kids went to a French school in the UK. Their father was from Australia, although I didn’t get the sense that their Aussie heritage played into their identity much. The girl stuck close to her mother, but the two boys were independent and curious, chatting with me, asking questions and making observations that I found hilarious.

Chateau de Chenonceau

Our first stop was the Château de Chenonceau. While the estate dated back to the 13th century (at least), the current building was erected in the 1500s, and was owned by a long list of French nobles, including Diane de Poitier (King Henry II’s favorite mistress, also 16 years his senior) and Catherine de’ Medici (Henry II’s wife, who seized the château from Diane after the king’s unfortunate death in a jousting tournament).

As we toured the property, the mother quizzed her kids on French history facts: “What year did the French Revolution begin?” (1789) “What year did World War II begin?” (1939) Miraculously, the kids didn’t complain at all. It was cute to see how much they all enjoyed learning.

Château de Villesavin

While privately owned, the château did feature a museum open to the public, and the tour had arranged for our group to have lunch there. Apparently, the upkeep associated with owning a château can be quite expensive, so tourism helps to supplement the operating costs.

The French-Aussie Brits all enjoyed wine with their meal (the little girl was not a fan, but the two boys were budding oenophiles). The nine-year-old was particularly entertaining, commenting on how he couldn’t wait to be old enough to drink alcohol (he was not allowed to drink at home, only in France), although he understood that wine was not for getting drunk, just to enhance the enjoyment of a meal.

After lunch we had some free time to wander the property on our own.

Château de Chambord

Our third and final château of the day would be the massive Château de Chambord. The château was built in the 16th century as a hunting lodge for King Francis I, but he only spent about seven weeks there in total, bringing an entourage of 2,000 people for his hunting trips.

After the tour, we retired to some shaded picnic tables for an aperitif spread of wine and cheese. The boys entertained me some more with their innocent questions and statements. “Did you vote for Trump? What do you think of him? Just so you know, we’re not a Brexit family. We’re preparing for the apocalypse. Why did you quit your job again? What did you do before you quit?” Their mom tried to get them to stop bothering me, but I found it all quite endearing, and was sad to see them go at the end of the afternoon. The idea of having a couple French bébés suddenly seemed almost appealing. I did still have five more nights in France…

Then it was back to the train station to return my rental car. Driving stick was like riding a bicycle – it all came back to me – and I was happy to consider my second international driving experience a success. As much as I had enjoyed driving through the French countryside, I was happy to get rid of the car. Next, I would be getting on a train to Paris (a ride just over an hour) for my last four days in France. I looked forward to seeing what the last leg of my trip would bring.