Cottage and Regional update

Stay in one of our lovely character cottages in the heart of the Loire Valley in France good wine, good food, river and historic chateaux (castles)
weekly or part week rentals welcome - happy to fit in with your dates
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Vrigny Maison Doiseau

Sleeps 2 couples and 1-2 children + cot

Vrigny Maison Grandmère

Sleeps 2-3 couples 2-3 children + cot

Vrigny
The Barn

Sleeps 1 couple

Bourré
Maison Requin

Sleeps 1 couple
+ cot

Bourre
la Grange

Sleeps
2 couples

Francueil
La Vieille Bioulangerie

Sleeps 2 couples and 1-2 children + cot

Vrigny: There is a lot going on. Both Maison Doiseau and Maison de la Grandmere are being upgraded, there is a new upstairs bathroom in Maison Doiseau and a new downstairs shower room (open late March). We are extending Maison de la Grandmere with a bedroom over the garage with an en suite bathroom. This means there will be three bath / shower room and four toilets in this cottage. Open late March.

Francueil: Francueil is a pretty village just across the vineyard from Vrigny, with shop, bar and vineyard walks. We are purchasing the old bakery right by the church in the village square. It will take us up to two years to complete the work on this cottage which will be lovely when finished; probably four bedrooms all with en suite - two rooms each with a fireplace and corner 'salon' and two-three on the top floor, I thought one double with corner salon and one - two twin rooms. The ground floor will have a large dining / living room with french window to the patio and a large kitchen; bikes inside the back door. Your views on accommodation here will be very welcome.

Just returned form a really hot and sunny stay in Vrigny, and hard work in Bourre clearing up builders rubble and completing the terrasse - apologies to anyone who has stayed whilst the builders work was on, we hadn't realised quite how much mess they had left.

Maison la Grange is now completely finished, and looks absolutely lovely, do look for yourselves!

Saumur - it is the best year since 1959 - they are making a sweet wine called molleux and this is reaching 17% sometimes even 21% naturally!

We have just come back from Bourré where tremendous progress has been made on La Grange, the windows are now all in place, the upstairs above the kitchen has been floored (we are retaining the original 'terre cuite' tiled floor in the front bedroom and the lounge) and the bathroom is about to be installed.

We are returning in January to advise the carpenter on installation of the kitchen; we have purchased a SMEG five burner electric ceramic hob Neff double oven and SMEG double sink plus washer/drier and dish-washer. WE are going to install the hand crafted oak units we originally bought for Maison Doiseau; we have yellow and white tiles for the kitchen worktop and walls amd a pine farm house table.

The pictures above of course are taken during the work, there will be a patio built around the cherry tree which overlooks the river across the valley.

Work on La Grange at Bourré continues apace and is well on course for March thanks to Habitat Traditionnel Touraine; we have just returned from a visit and have seen the roof nearing completion, the lucarnes (bedroom windows in the roof) are now being made, and the masonry is looking lovely. Next will be the windows and doors and then the interior can proceed. We have chosen the bathroom and shower room furniture, the kitchen will be the oak units from Maison Doiseau re-furbished by our 'menuisier' with a Neff double oven and SMEG electric hobs. We have chosen some lovely tiles for the kitchen floor in a burnt reddy-brown colour with yellow and white for the worktop and wall. We have already bought the kitchen table and will be taking down the other furnishings early in the New Year. Bookings now being taken for March onwards.

Work has started on restoration of La Grange at Bourré. Like Maison Doiseau it will have a gourmet kitchen and two double bedrooms; it will have both a bath room and a shower room - so excellent facilities! I anticipate this lovely new cottage will be very popular so book early, it is planned to be finished in March.

Maison de la Grandmere is finished and is really beautiful, I am so pleased with it. This cottage npw suits 2-3 couples with ir without children or a family, it has a lovely master bedroom with colourful bathroom and two lovely bredorroms in the old quarter of the cottage, two more loos and a shower room, a lovely jacobean dining room and large living room with french wondows. Please see the details.

We have just returned from a beautiful week, the weather was warm and sunny, in fact it has been for 4 weeks now and our local farmers are beginning to worry that the vines are too advanced for the time of year, and might get caught by a late frost.

Maison de la Grandmêre extension is nearly finished, the tiles are on the floor, and the bathroom is being fitted this week. I am going out on 24th to complete furnishings and our first guests arrive on 28th April.

This winter we are be restoring the Grange which is the large barn between Maison Doiseau and Maison de la Grandmere; work is now well advanced and the new accomodation will provide a large sitting room and en suite bedroom in addition to current accommodation in Maison Grandmere - The cottage will re-open at the beginning of April and we can now take 2 couples and two or more children / adults

First a picture of Maison de la Grandmere in the lovely hot sunshine we had this last weekend, and then a view of our local vineyard and Chateau des Couldraies!
(if the pictures are not showing please click here)

We are open all winter and look forward to welcoming our guests for autumn and winter breaks. The chateau are open every day except Christmas and New Year's Days.

We shall be fitting a fantastic new kitchen in Maison Doiseau this autumn (which is why this house is closed Nov/Dec for 3 weeks). There will be a six burner electric hob, a double oven, microwave and dishwasher in addition to the existing washing machine and fridge freezer.

Happy New Year to everyone. My apologies for not posting you with the latest - especially on Touraine Primeur - we had a brilliant time, I have got the photos, and as soon as we have a lull will get onto it!

I have not been wasting my time - I have been building you a better bookshop. It is early days but coming on - please visit us on www.travelbookshop.net.

I have also been building links with some of our wonderful hotels locally, more on that one soon, and please visit the hotel pages to see!

14th November 1999
Time for the launch of Touraine Primeur (see News and last year's report) we shall be going over this week for the celebrations and also to visit Chinon to taste last year's cabernet. More when we get back!

We are just back from a lovely couple of weeks in Vrigny; although the weather is turning cooler now, the harvest has been brilliant this year, 'quanité et qualité. When we left everyone was praying the rain would hold off as this could just spoil things, however the 'Bernache' we tasted (ten days old and still fizzing) was excellent, no acidity whatever and we are really looking forward to this year's Touraine Sauvignon.

We visited La Sologne for the first time. This is a lovely area south of the Loire between Oléans and Blois, given over entirely to nature; there are numerous 'étangs' or large natural ponds, where the birds are lovely. You may also even see a wild boar in the forests! The heather was a picture. The brick built half timbered buildings are quite different from the stone cottages of Touraine and are very pretty - well worth a day trip.

Visit le Chateau du Moulin for a guided tour of a very interesting 14th century chateau in the middle of a lake, with some very interesting antiques and good quality tapestries inc;uding one from the 14th century. Also visit Mennetou sur Cher, an ancient fortress town on the Berry Canal between Selles sur Cher and Vierzon. Some really interesting buildings to be seen there.

We are now booking Autumn and Winter Breaks - please see our price list and what to do The wine harvest will begin at the end of September. Touraine Primeur will be launched November 20th to 22nd (see last year for our report on this amazing weekend!

As usual, we shall be open all winter and shall be offering part week bookings and long weekends to enable you to take a few days away to enjoy the culture that our lovely part of France has to offer. More information.

We have just launched our Bookshop Books@Loire.Net. This will offer you all the guide books you need for the Loire Valley, France and other regions such as Paris and Provence. Do visit us you can order directly and most books will be with you in a day or two.

Back from Bourre where the cottage is looking stunning, please see our new page all about it.

We have just visited Bourré to check on progress. Work is nearly completed, and we shall be going out the last week in May to move in the furniture and complete the fittings. The views are stunning, we are sure you will all be very happy with this pretty cottage.

Work is going well on the cottage at Bourré, and on target for completing in May. I have just visited, the windows are in, the wiring has been completed and the plumbing done. The fireplace has been beautifully restored. The kitchen and bathroom will be installed in the next week, the staircase will be put in position, and the flooring completed. It only then remains for the painter to put the finishing touches.

The plan is - John and I shall be staying there the last week in May, we shall complete all the fittings and furnish it ready for our guests to arrive - first bookings available May 31st (Bank Holiday Monday). (see below)

We have just returned from Vrigny and Bourré. M. Mardon from Habitat Traditionnel Touraine and his colleagues, the local artisans, have made tremendous progress with the restoration work in Bourré; new windows have been made in the roof and downstairs, the old êcurie or stable has been demolished to allow for vehicle access, restoration work on the chimney piece has been carried out and the preparation for the stair into the 'grenier' or upstairs done. We have met with the electrician and plumber and taken across there floor tiles, kitchen units and the bathroom suite.The views from the bedroom are absolutely superb, you can see right across the valley and the river Cher.

The River Cher was dangerously close to breaking its banks when we arrived last Wednesday, we really felt for the local people and were grateful our cottages are on the hillsides. We are praying the melting snows won't bring any further likelihood of flood as the waters receded towards the weekend.

We have photos to develop and more news for loire.net which will come through in the next few days.

Visit our new web-site loire.net to find out all about Touraine the region. Details on this site are growing by the day.

We have just returned from spending New Year in Vrigny. It has been a lovely time of year, with warm sunny weather we were able to eat lunch outside on New Year's day! We even saw three lizards on the wall! Our walk in the vineyards was absolutely glorious!

Visited the beautiful Chateau de Chenonceaux on my birthday (29th December); it was quiet, a good time to visit with most visitors spending Christmas with their families. The sun shone and we saw the Chateau in her full glory through the trees on that wonderful avenue which lead to the main door of the Chateau. It was a pleasure to visit this time with my nephew who takes an interest in history of art, and was able to point out to me Tintoretto's 'The Queen of Sheba' and Portrait of Dogs' and the 'Study of a woman's head' by Veronese, three of several interesting originals in the Green Study. My favourite is the 16th Century Brussels Tapestry 'To The Birthwort' also in the Green Room, by my friend, who visited nearly two years ago and is an antique dealer was most impressed by the16th Century Italian Cabinet with mother of pearl and ivory incrustations to be found in François I's bedroom, this cabinet was a wedding present to François II and Mary Stuart. The Chateau is open every day all the year round. It is only a couple of miles by car from Vrigny and makes a lovely walk along the river bank.

	Bourré and the River Cher This spectacular view is taken from our picnic spot, just above the cottages.

The cottage will be restored to provide excellent accommodation for two people, or a couple and a child. We are working to a very high specification and aim to bring your first class accommodation with a fitted corner kitchen in antique pine with split level oven and hob, dining area and sitting area with a lovely traditional open fire. Beams and original features will be preserved.
Upstairs there will be one large bedroom under the eaves, and a beautifully fitted modern bathroom.
Outside there will be a balcony where you can sit and enjoy your local cheese and wine whilst admiring the wonderful views over the Cher Valley.

	The third weekend in November saw the launch of Touraine Primeur - the new Gamay which is so good to drink when it is young. There is always an enjoyable time to be had at the Montrichard Festival that weekend and 1998 was no exception; the extreme cold but bright sunny weather made the party go with a swing 1998 looks like being another good year!
Our cottages are only a few miles from Montrichard. Chateau des Couldraies (just across the vineyard from us) has gained a Bronze Medal for their 1998 Touraine Primeur!
Now is a good time to select your 1997 wines from Chinon, Saumur and Bourgeuil. these wines made from the Cabernet Franc grape improve with age and can be obtained direct from the tank for bottling yourself at very good prices. We can recommend where to go. 1995, 1996 and 1997 were very good vintages and we do recommend you spend some time shopping around!	Wine tasting in Chinon
Read all about the wines of the Region

Touraine is known as the Valley of the Kings principally because of the many fascinating Chateaux built by the French Kings as country houses.

Touraine has some of the best cuisine in France; the markets are full of fresh produce from ‘le jardin de France’ whilst the region’s restaurants boast some excellent chefs. Visit our pages on restaurants and markets in Touraine.

Touraine is also famous for its vineyards – Vouvray, Chinon and Bourgeuil amongst them. This is an excellent time of year to go wine tasting, and visitors are always welcome.

In particular we are still enjoying the fruits of three successive hot summers - 1995, 1996 and 1997 have all been great years for local wines which are there for you to buy. Visit our pages on wines.

The third weekend in November saw the release of Touraine Primeur, this year’s Gamay wine; this is celebrated locally with a wine festival in Montrichard and another in Tours.

The Sunday Times Readers' Survey showed that France is the 3rd favourite place for readers to go on holiday - readers voted France 84.4% on food, 86.8% on environment and 83% on culture. 35% of people book 2-6 months before before they go, although nearly as many book only 3-8 weeks before they are due to go. The most popular months are June to September, but quite a lot of people like to go in April, May and October.

Touraine is a lovely place to visit at any time of the year; there is plenty to do in the winter months, the weather can be very good, and we have plenty of room and lovely roaring log fires! Give us a call and find out more about it!


For more information on Chateau de Chenonceaux