Luccotel Hotel Loches

Well we didn't really stay in Tours so I can’t say much about it. I don’t even really remember the campsite we stayed at! That’s why I should write these things right away!

The only thing I remember is the Mistletoe. I had been wondering what the big balls in all the trees were and while we were in Paris my uncle explained that they were mistletoe ...

... that the property holds, but it's what gets put in that comes out. And I'm sure that if you know what to look for you can taste hints of that grace and character in the wine that is made there.

So it's with a heavy heart that I bid farewell to all my friends in France, however briefly we met. There's no way that the times that I've had wont shape the rest of my experiences in my travels, and for that I'm grateful.

From Amboise we had a short drive to Chenonceau where we keen toursits along with one tour group we there early and had to wait 10 minutes until the chateau opened for day. Once through the gates it was a lovely walk through the forest where the leaves were all changing colour - amber, yellow, red - so pretty. As we approach the end of the forest the chateau appears before us and its like stepping into a fairy tale. The chateau sat on ...

... Now came the hard part, trying to decide which chateaus to visit as we knew we could not visit them all. In the end we bought a multi-chateau pass to Cheverny, Chombard and Blois and then had to buy Chenoceau separately.
Why choose these chateau's? Chenonceau for the fairy tale chateau, Cheverney for the extravengant interior and furnishings, Blois for the architecture and Chombard for its grandness.

... some drinks in Amboise which is currently my favorite destination that is close to the Meslerie. The Loire valley has so many gems though, it would take forever to uncover them all, so I will choose my battles, and hopefully win several of them before I leave.

So, I leave you with a few pictures from my day trip to Amboise/Chenonceau and a promise that there is more to come soon.

Things have been running pretty smoothly here at Le Meslerie. Just finished a great push of harvesting and pressing more grapes, 950 liters yesterday (which is laughable by pnuematic press standards, but by hand it's pretty damn good). It's with a heavy heart that I realize that my time here in France is dwindling, but this also means that more adventure is to come, hopefully the good kind.

After ...

I took a day trip into Tours, which is the biggest city around here. It's a pretty amazing places, I still have a lot of exploring to do here yet, but I wanted to post some pictures of my first trip that I took into Tour alone.

Enjoy

... a year. This was very special in many ways, because it was actually the first bottling of the wine under the new owner of Le Clos de Meslerie, Mr Peter Hahn. It was really fantastic to be a part of this, because it was a new experience for mostly everyone involved, so excitement filled the air.

Since then we've had one weekend were some harvesters have come ...

Moby is running well. We stopped slightly further south than originally intended as we decided to spend Wednesday at Futuroscope. I might be doing (and most probably am) the French a complete disservice by suggesting that some years back, some brainstorming went on as to how to attract tourists to this part of France as this is just the middle of France with not much going on in the way of wine or river setting. Futuroscope was the result.
As you approach on the A10 you catch a ...

... its narrow windy streets. the weather stayed marginal - warm, muggy and sometimes wet, but didnt stop us looking around and enjoying this thoroughly.

Tuesday, Bastille Day was spent at the Parc du Beaval Zoo - the kids were totally over ABC (Another Bl&^%(^y - insert Castle/Chateaux/Church) - so we went for something completely different, but followed it up with fireworks at Chatillon sur Indre ...