Eating regional foods is one of the highlights of travelling in France. But how do you know which restaurants to choose? Today, we share 6 of our foodie finds for the Centre – Loire Valley region where you can be sure to eat the best produce the area has to offer.
The Maison Forte de Reignac, in Dordogne, France is one of the most unique châteaux we’ve ever visited – it’s carved out of a cliff!
Tasting Organic Cognac in Poitou-Charents
I don’t know much about Cognac, but I know I like it. So I was thrilled to visit organic Cognac producer, Brard-Blanchard, during our recent visit to Poitou-Charentes, France.
Flipping through the tourism documentation for Normandy, my eyes paused on a photo of dramatic coastal cliffs and rolling green pastures, captioned ‘Little Ireland.’ We had loved our driving tour of Ireland a few years ago, and an Irish-like landscape in France sounded too good to be true.
In the heart of France lies Puy de Dome, an inactive volcano. It is actually one of a chain of volcanos making up Auvergne’s Regional Natural Park of Volcanos. Surprised there are volcanos in France? I was too.
“An Arboretum?” Andrew asked. “That should be interesting.” His voice dripped sarcasm.
“What? You don’t like trees?” I shot back.
“Trees are fine but I can see plenty of them all around us.” It was true. We had been spending a lot of time in the forest during the past few weeks and we were driving through the Forest of Orléans to reach our destination.
We’ve been on the road, on our European Motorhome Adventure, for a month and a half now. We’ve travelled through 24 departments in France and spoken to dozens of fascinating people – chefs, farmers, hoteliers, naturalists, wine-makers, artisans, tour-guides, and more. No matter where the conversation begins, we always arrive back at the same themes: Balance, Choices, and Sustainability.
It’s been 70 years since the defeat of Adolf Hitler and Nazi Germany. Today, it’s hard to imagine what it took to win the war: the human sacrifice, the technology, and the planning. Visiting Normandy and the D-Day landing beaches can help put it in perspective.
Jumièges Abbey, in Seine-Maritime, Normandy, France was once known as France’s most beautiful ruin – We went to see if the rumours were true.
