Oh la la, It's the Loire Valley...

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Ahh the Loire Valley! Finally here we are amongst the vines! That makes us sound a bit like raging alcoholics but we were both looking forward to relaxing for a few days in the valley.

The Loire Valley is absolutely lovely, certainly my favourite area in France so far. There are miles of vineyards, fruit trees, sunflowers and beautiful little villages all lining the Loire River. Surprisingly enough, very few tourists. The traffic hasn't been a problem, even moving at Brian speed. French roads are amazing - traveling through rural France in a van is just so easy.

We stayed the first night in a little vineyard overlooking the vines in Souzay-Champigny. The vineyard is a member of the French Passion organization, so campers are allowed to stay overnight in their properties for free. Of course, the decent thing to do is to buy a bit of their produce but our hosts disappeared after seeing us and we didn’t see them the next morning. Maybe Brian was a bit too feral looking for them?! We felt a bit awkward leaving the next morning without saying goodbye but at least we did make some attempts to buy their wine!

The site was fantastic. Everything we could have wanted: a cat roaming about, two ponies in the field next door, a couple of hens and a view directly over the vines. In the morning we awoke to an amazing sunset. Bliss.

After exploring the chateaus, nearby villages and the underground caves in the area, we decided to move further down the Valley. We found a campsite right on the Loire and did an awesome bike ride in the afternoon. I have found my absolute favourite French village so far. I could have easily stayed here longer! We especially loved the little baker van that visited the campsite in the morning, selling croissants and pastries…

We happened to be in France during the country’s National Day. In the evening we heard elephant noises (yes, elephant noises!) as we were sitting outside Brian, eating yet another French loaf and cheese. Curious, we wandered out onto the road to see what was going on. It was a strangest parade we have ever seen. There were old tractors dressed up to look like African villages. All the people were dressed as Africans and the kids all had their faces painted black. The kids threw confetti into the crowd. By the end of the parade there were at least a couple of thousand people milling about. I have no idea where they all came from and till this day we have absolutely no idea what the whole thing was about! At midnight there was an awesome fireworks display over the river, which was worth the wait!

On our drive out of the Loire Valley, we passed through miles and miles of sunflowers. Absolutely stunning…

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