The Loire and Dordogne 2026 - Troglodytes and sea shell facades

Tuesday 22nd September - Montsoreau, Saumur.  Maine et Loire
 
A moving day.
 
We left Bracieux about 10am and drove to Chateau Villandry, which is World renowned for its gardens.
 
It was a nice easy journey and parking was a doddle as one of the group had told us exactly where to park. We had a coffee with John and Jen then walked round the gardens. With my OCD it was all amazing, set out geometrically and every plant and bush trimmed perfectly. The kitchen gardens were split up into large squares with vegetables interspersed with flowers. I can’t help but reiterate just how immaculate they were, there was hardly a leaf or a petal out of place!!  Round the edge of the gardens are some raised gardens and a walkway from which you get a great view of the gardens. Apparently there is a team of 10 gardeners but there wasn’t one to be seen - I reckoned that there is really a group of fairies that come out at night and do all the work 🤣🧚🧚‍♀️ We really loved the gardens and were so pleased we had visited. We didn’t go into the house as we had Rio with us.

The chateau is the last of the great Renaissance châteaux built along the Loire valley. Its history spans over eight centuries of military medieval origin, Renaissance elegance, 18th-century modifications, and 20th-century restoration. 
 
In the 12th century it was originally known as Colombiers and began its life as a fortified medieval stronghold.  

Jean le Breton, Minister of Finance to King Francis I, acquired the fortress in 1532. He demolished the medieval fortress except for the original central keep, constructing a new residence in the French Renaissance style. Having previously supervised the construction of Château de Chambord, Le Breton incorporated large windows, symmetrical arcades, and classical Italianate influences into Villandry. 

In 1754, the property was acquired by Michel-Ange de Castellane, the Marquis de Villandry and ambassador to the King. To match 18th-century architectural trends, he made extensive alterations: adding arcades to enclose the courtyard, installing French sash windows, and replacing the Renaissance grounds with an English-style landscape park.
 

Spanish physician Dr. Joachim Carvallo and his American wife, Ann Coleman, purchased the deteriorating estate in 1906. Carvallo gave up a research career in science to restore Villandry to its original Renaissance glory. He tore down the 18th-century facades and painstakingly recreated the 16th-century formal French Renaissance gardens using archival records and archaeological traces.
 

The estate remains privately owned by the Motse Carvallo family today and is preserved as a UNESCO World Heritage site open to the public.
 
Back to Kiwi for a quick lunch before setting off for Montsoreau which isn’t far from Saumur. We had a good journey until we tried to turn right through a small village which had a no motorhome sign. Fortunately we were able to turn round and continue on a different route. However when we arrived at the campsite there was a car and caravan blocking the entrance so we had to continue on and turn round. Back at the site entrance the car and caravan were still there so we had to drive on and turn round yet again. On our next approach we were able to get in! 
 
We have a nice pitch under a lovely shady tree very close to the River Loire. We sat out and were soon joined by Liz and Kevin followed by Jen and John.

By a sheer coincidence,  some friends from home are also staying on the site in their caravan before heading home on Thursday, so we had dinner with them in the site restaurant. The menu was very small but the food was good and the company was excellent. See you back on Hayling Island, Bob and Ingrid 😍
 
I got a call while we were at Villandry to say that my glasses aren’t going to be ready for at least another week. I’m not going to make any comment!  😢
 
94 miles
What3words
restaurant.limelight.active

 

Wednesday 23rd September - Montsoreau, Saumur.  Maine et Loire
 
Rio decided, at 6am, that it was poo time!  To be fair he had eaten very late last night. I found myself doing the walk again!
 
We were going to the Rochemenier Troglodytique Museum with Liz, as Kevin was going off on his bike. However Google decided that we might like to take the scenic journey which wanted to take us down a 2.3 ton restricted road, needless to say we didn’t actually go down it!  I finally managed to find another route.
 
There are two types of troglodyte (cave dweller), one is the plains/lowland Troglodytes (dug vertically down into flat land) and cliff/hillside Troglodytes (cliff homes which have a visible exterior wall or door).

The Rochemenier Village is one of the best-preserved underground dwelling sites in Europe which was dug into the flat land.  The site features around 20 rooms open to the public, including living quarters, kitchens, stables, barns, and cellars across two separate historical farmsteads.  A completely subterranean chapel carved directly into the rock in the 16th or 17th century, used historically for worship or retreat. The rooms maintain a naturally steady temperature of roughly 12°C–14°C year-round, making them cool in summer and easy to warm in winter.  Rooms display authentic 19th and early 20th century furniture, farm implements, bread ovens, wine presses, and household tools showcasing rural Angevin life. 

 
Farmers excavated open-air courtyards (patios) in the soft rock and carved rooms laterally off these central pits.  The soft, porous rock is called falun, a local limestone composed of fossilised marine shells deposited millions of years ago when the sea covered the Anjou region. It was easy to carve out with simple hand tools.  The site was an active farming community. Excavations created liveable spaces while providing building material (stone and marl) to sell or improve nearby crop fields.  Cave dwellings in the area date back to the Middle Ages (around the 13th century), though most structures visible today were developed and expanded between the 16th and 19th centuries.  The last residents moved out of the troglodyte farms at Rochemenier in the early 1930s.  After the farms were abandoned as primary residences, parts of the caves were used for agricultural storage, wine aging, or livestock before being preserved and reopened as a museum in 1967.  While the historic museum farms were vacated in the 1930s, a few modernised troglodyte homes elsewhere in the wider village of Louresse-Rochemenier are still inhabited today.

Behind the campsite are some white cliffs with a few cliff homes in. 

 
Google managed to take us back the quick way which was right along the Saumur river front. It was really lovely. Saumur is on our list of places to visit next time!
 
Back at the site I had the washing to do whilst sorting out the mammoth Monday blog post which I did using my laptop outside under our lovely tree.

We went and had a cuppa with Ingrid and Bob before meeting up with most of the group for dinner in the restaurant.  I have to say that the food in the restaurant has been excellent. 
 
It was a lovely, but sad, evening saying goodbye to everyone.  It’s been a very social group, most of whom we will never meet again.

We managed to find diesel today at €2.39 (£2.05) which was very good as we have been hearing real horror stories about the price and lack of diesel.
 
50 miles
 
 
Thursday 24th September - Les Sables d'Olonne, Pays de la Loire
 
It was a sad departure from the campsite this morning. Quite a few people had already departed but we were a bit late as I just couldn’t wake up. I had had a bad dream and been shouting out in my sleep!  I was being chased by some fluffy slippers 🤣🤣
 
Liz and Kevin are staying for another night before heading back to Calais and then home.  We will miss all the group but them especially.  Rio is going to be so bored as he just loves Liz, she is definitely on his list of “very favourite people”! 
 
We had a two hour drive to Les Sables D’Olonne.  One town we went round was called Cholet which took me back to the 1970s and The Wombles with the housekeeper, Madame Cholet.  Bernard Cribbins voiced and narrated every character in the series. A great actor and someone I was very privileged to have met on several occasions.
 
Just outside Cholet we found a Lidl so I did a quick supermarket dash and we were on our way again.
 
Google got us to our aire, well almost as the road was closed.  We went round the other way but that was closed too, however we saw some other motorhomes parked up on some spare ground, so we pulled in and got a nice pitch on the edge facing a nice grassy area. In fact it was nicer than the official site which was closed. It did look as if a height barrier had been taken out to allow motorhomes in as the other site was closed.

After a bit of planning we walked a couple of hundred yards to a bus stop and a free shuttle bus took us into town.  It was 31 degrees!
 

I wanted to visit L’Ile Penotte, a neighbourhood which is famous for its house facades, doors, archways, and mailboxes decorated with intricate, multi-coloured mosaics crafted entirely from sea shells (oyster shells, scallops, mussels, periwinkles, and exotic shells).  The artwork was started in 1997 by local artist Danièle Arnaud-Aubin.

From there we walked to the promenade and had a drink at a sea front bar. Richard had a beer and I had a caramel ligeois which was huge!

The beach was really busy with people sunbathing and lots of people swimming.   Poor Rio looked on longingly but it was no dogs until October 1st and, to be honest, there was very little room, even for a small dog!  In years gone by, the Parisians would take the train and spend their holidays there.  Sadly some of the old buildings are now modern flats which rather spoilt the overall look.

We walked to a bus stop and caught the bus back, where we sat out under the awning as it was still so hot.

 

We will go back to Les Sables d’Olonne as there is still a lot more to see.
 
Les Sables d'Olonne is well known for the Vendee Globe, a solo, non-stop, unassisted round-the-world yacht race which is held every four years starting from Port Olona. It takes somrwhere between 65 and 90 days and was started by local sailor Philippe Jeantot in 1989. 
 
Ellen MacArthur was second in 2000–2001 and did it in 94 days and 4 hours.
Alex Thomson was second in 2016–2017 and third in 2012–2013.  In 2016-2017 he completed the race in  74 days and 19 hours.  
Mike Golding was third in 2004–2005.  He completed the race in 88 days, 15 hours. Notably, he managed to finish the final 500 miles of the race without a keel after it sheared off in the North Atlantic.
Pete Goss was fifth in 1996–1997.  Goss made history in 1997 as the first Briton to complete the Vendée Globe. He is best remembered for turning back into a hurricane force storm in the Southern Ocean to rescue French competitor Raphaël Dinelli, an act of heroism for which he was awarded the Légion d'honneur.
The other British man you may remember was Tony Bullimore who miraculously survived after capsizing in the 1996–1997 race.  It became one of the most famous rescue stories in maritime history.
 
121 miles
What3words
racked.clauses.tries

The Loire and Dordogne 2026 - Up, up and away!!

 
Saturday 19th September - Bracieux, Centre-Val de Loire
 
The roundabout day!
 
At 3am Rio decided he wanted to get up on the bed - the bed is too high for him to get up on his own. We really don’t want that happening every night so Richard returned him to his bed and told him, very firmly, to stay there. He tried it once more then gave up and stayed in his bed for the rest of the night. At home he now has free run of the house at night and will sometimes appear on the bed during the night. Motorhome rules are different Rio!!
 
We moved on to the Loire today.
 
There were two ways of going. One way was on a ferry across the Seine and the other was round Rouen. As navigator I just couldn’t make my mind up but finally chose the ferry. While we were waiting five of the group went passed us heading for Rouen so we ducked out of the queue and, like sheep, followed them!

I’m glad we did the Rouen route as the road alongside the Seine was, for me, wonderful. There were very interesting houses, mainly tall and narrowish with high white cliffs behind and a view of the Seine in front of them.  I really fell in love them and now Duclair is the place I want to move to!  We saw the little town the other day and it’s really lovely. Only 1.5 hours from Caen.
 
Going round Rouen was a doddle. We actually crossed the Seine three times.  This bridge is Pont Gustave-Flaubert, Europe's tallest vertical-lift bridge, featuring 86 metre twin pylons designed to lift the road deck so large cruise ships and tall-masted vessels can reach the inner port during maritime festivals.
 

I’d set the satnav for a Carrefour just off the main road at Evreux. Of course it was Saturday morning and busy but we finally found somewhere to park Kiwi and I found my way in - we had actually parked in a very good position. 1.5 hours later I was back - note to self, do not go to such hooooge supermarkets.
 
It was a very flat and rather boring drive down to Bracieux. It seemed to be one roundabout after the other.  We skirted round Chartres and Orleans and could see Chartres cathedral on the horizon at one stage.   Finally we were on the A10, a toll road with an excellent surface and Rio finally fell asleep. He doesn’t like roundabouts at the best of times.

We crossed the Loire River and entered a forest which was rather like the New Forest with cattle grids.  It was a lovely drive through until I glimpsed the most wonderful chateau - Chateau Chambord. It took me a while to comprehend what I had seen - yes it was that amazing. We will go and have a proper look tomorrow.

Our site for the next three days is lovely with everyone in the trees.  I’ll do more on it tomorrow.
 
We had our usual evening meeting. They are getting longer and longer with people chatting on long after the meeting has stopped. This is our fourth trip with Kat and the best weather. In the past everyone has raced back to their vans when the meeting had finished to get warm!
 
The Loire Valley has an extraordinary number of châteaux, largely because during the 15th and 16th centuries the French royal court spent a lot of time in this part of the country. And once the king builds somewhere enormous, everyone else apparently feels the need to keep up.  A 280km stretch of the Loire Valley is now a UNESCO World Heritage Site, not just because of the châteaux but because of the whole landscape — the river, towns, villages, vineyards and farmland which have developed around it over centuries.  The Loire itself was effectively a motorway long before motorways existed. It was a major route for trade and communication from Roman times right through until the 19th century.
 
189 miles
What3words
dishwater.ploy.drains

Sunday 20th September -  Bracieux, Centre-Val de Loire
 
A very quiet day. The morning was spent doing, basically, nothing!!  I caught up on emails and there was chatting to be done 😂. This is our fourth trip with Wandering Bird and is certainly the most sociable, but then again we are all outside more with the lovely weather.
 

In the afternoon we walked into Bracieux which was very quiet and dead as it was a Sunday afternoon. Everywhere  was shut up and not very welcoming. The highlight of the town is the 16th century covered market hall (Halle de Bracieux) which is timber framed and holds weekly markets showcasing local Sologne produce.   The Town Hall (Marie de Bracieux) is 146 years old and quite impressive.

Back at camp we were hosting a communal barbecue and gradually tables, chairs and barbecues appeared followed by people and salads. We had two barbecues, two teppanyaki grills and one airfryer - it all seemed to work really well.  It was a lovely, convivial evening

We have a very early start in the morning. Why?  I will tell you tomorrow!!
 
 
Monday 21st September - Bracieux, Centre-Val de Loire
  
A marathon of a day and a marathon of a post.
 
The alarm went off at 6am, it was still pitch dark outside.  We struggled out of the door at 6.30am and walked to the campsite entrance where we, plus seven others, were picked up by some nice young men and taken to a field in the middle of nowhere!  Got it yet?  Yes, we were going to do a hot air balloon ride 🎈 

We had to work for the ride by helping to get the basket off the its trailer and lay out the balloon - this was all in the dark though we could see the dawn beginning to break.  It was also pretty cold!  

Two huge fans blew cold air into the balloon until it was full, then some gently hot air was blasted in until the balloon was upright.  While watching the balloon I was also watching the sun rising, and that was spectacular too.  

We clambered into the basket, easier said than done, given our landing instructions, then we were up and away.  I thought we were going to hit a wall but we skirted over the top and continued to climb.  It was amazing.  

In the distance we could see Chateau de Chambord with all its gardens laid out.  We got closer and closer and it got more and more spectacular.  

I felt so lucky to be where I was.  Once past the chateau we seemed to drop a bit and I was a bit concerned that we were going to come down in a tree as it was all forest which spans about 21 square miles.  

The good thing about being so low is that we could see wild boar running around and some people even saw deer.  

We could see the end of the forest and, what we thought was, an escarpment, but it was an optical illusion because as soon as the forest ended there was open land with a few houses. 

The pilot told us that he was going to land just before a row of trees and before we knew where we were in our landing positions, which was quite painful as we had to squat for, what seemed like 5 minutes, but was probably only about 45 seconds or so!!  In the end I sat down for the actual, very smooth, landing then had to get myself upright again, not the easiest of things,  I’m sure my exit from the basket was not the most elegant of things, but at least I was out!!  We then all had to work at getting the air out of the balloon and finally out it back into its trailer.  

Our work still wasn’t done as the basket had to be out back on its trailer too.  We were then rewarded by croissants and coffee and finally given our certificates.  What an amazing experience.  In case you are wondering, we didn't take Rio, We left him with Liz and Kevin.

 

Following our return to the campsite, we had Kiwi to tidy up as we had left in rather a hurry and were off to see Chateau de Chambord from the ground.  As I said, the forest is 21 square miles and we had quite a way to go to the motorhome car park. For €15 our parking was valid for 24 hours, so we could have stayed the night.  The only other charge was to go into the actual house which was quite steep at €31 per person.  

We wandered round some of the gardens before I decided that I would go into the Chateau while Richard and Rio went back to Kiwi.  To me the Chateau lacked something.  Most of our stately homes in the UK are magnificent yet homely, but this was grand but bare.  Some of the bedrooms were furnished with, I have to admit, fascinating beds!  

On the fourth floor are terraces which go all the way round and have great views of the grounds.  However, I found the the rest of the floors rather difficult to navigate as there was no route to follow and I know I must have missed bits out.  

In the very centre of the Chateau is a double helix staircase.  Don’t worry, I had never heard of one either!!  It is the architectural centerpiece of the castle, sitting at the intersection of its main hall crossways. The staircase consists of two intertwined spiral ramps winding around a central hollow core.  Two people can start at the base on opposite sides and ascend at the exact same time—seeing each other through inner openings carved into the stone core—without ever actually meeting on the same steps.  King Francis I commissioned it to prevent guests, servants, or visiting dignitaries moving up and down the château's floors from bumping into one another.  I tell you what, it’s a long descent from the fourth to the ground floor!

I met Richard and Rio at a restaurant in the grounds and we had a very good lunch.  Richard had a chicken burger and I had a huge chicken Caesar salad.

 We returned to the campsite for about an hour before going off again, this time to a wine tasting.  We only had about an 10 minute journey to Domaine Daridan, a a 21 hectare family-run wine estate.  Led by Benoît Daridan—the 7th generation of his family to run the vineyard—the estate has been managed by him since 2001. It focuses on sustainable and organic farming practices.  The estate features a 50-year-old plot of Romorantin, a rare white grape variety unique to the region that was originally introduced by King Francis I.  Our sommelier for our visit was a young Italian woman, Eloise, who had studied wine making at university and was very knowledgeable.  The first thing we learnt was that the hot summer had really affected the grapes.  Usually harvesting starts at the beginning of September but because of this year’s dry summer, it started at the beginning of August to prevent the grape skins from becoming too tough.  The grapes were also very small.  We were shown round the steel vats where the fermentation is done and we could hear the wine gurgling away!  Next was the wine tasting which was paired with some “snacks”.  I think I must be a wine heathen as I really don’t like good wines and certainly not red ones!  The four we tasted were not to my taste and two of the snacks were goats cheese - yuk 😂🤣

Back, once again, at the campsite, we had our daily meeting before heading back to Kiwi where I caught up with my writing on the day’s events.  It had been a long but amazing day.
 
The Château de Chambord is the largest and most iconic château in the Loire Valley. Its history spans over 500 years, transforming from an ambitious royal hunting retreat into an emblem of French Renaissance architecture and national heritage.  Following his victory at the Battle of Marignano in 1515, the 24-year-old King Francis I commissioned Chambord in 1519. It was intended not as a primary dwelling, but as a grand hunting lodge to showcase his power, wealth, and sophisticated taste to foreign rivals like Holy Roman Emperor Charles V.  Designed with a central medieval keep surrounded by fortified towers, the château incorporates classical Italian Renaissance aesthetics—a style Francis embraced after his military campaigns in Italy.  Although Italian architect Domenico da Cortona oversaw major plans, Leonardo da Vinci (who served as chief painter and architect to Francis I in nearby Amboise) is widely credited with inspiring the central floor plan and the famous double helix staircase.  Construction took nearly 30 years and required roughly 1,800 workers. Despite the monumental effort, Francis I spent only 7 weeks total at Chambord before his death in 1547.  Days.  Because the château was massive, drafty, far from major towns, and difficult to heat, it was impractical as a permanent residence. Monarchs brought complete sets of furniture, tapestries, and supplies every time they visited and took them away when they left.  For over 80 years after Francis I's death, the castle fell into decay. In 1639, King Louis XIII gave it to his brother, Gaston d'Orléans, who carried out essential restoration work. In 1792, revolutionaries looted the château's remaining furnishings, sold off timber, and left the building in a state of disrepair.  Napoleon Bonaparte briefly granted the estate to Marshal Louis-Alexandre Berthier. In 1821, a national subscription purchased the estate for the infant Prince Henri, Duke of Bordeaux (later known as the Count of Chambord). Although he spent only three days there, he funded extensive restoration work. The French state officially bought the estate in 1930 to begin comprehensive, long-term conservation.  During WWII, Chambord served as a secret, secure storehouse for thousands of national treasures from the Louvre and other museums—including the Mona Lisa and the Venus de Milo—protecting them from air raids and looting.  In 1981, the Château de Chambord and its surrounding forest park were designated a UNESCO World Heritage Site.  Today, Chambord stands as one of France's most visited national monuments, famous for its 426 rooms, 282 fireplaces, 77 staircases, and vast 5,440-hectare walled forest estate.
 
23 miles