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Lording it in the LOIRE valley châteaux
You can’t translate the word château. “Castle” is too warlike, “palace” too
regal – and besides, they’re all so different: some are grim and broken
keeps, others lofty Gothic castles or exquisite Renaissance manor houses.
Many are elegant country residences whose tall, shuttered windows overlook
sweeps of rolling parkland. And a few – the finest – are magnificent royal
jewels set in acre upon acre of prime hunting forest.
Today, the aristocracy no longer lord it over every last village in France,
but a surprising number still cling to their ancestral homes. Some eke out a
living offering tours, and the most fascinating châteaux are not always the
greatest palaces but the half-decrepit country homes of faded aristocrats
who will show off every stick of furniture, or tell you stories of their
ancestors in the very chapel where they themselves will one day be buried.
Some owners, enticingly, even offer bed and breakfast. You get a vividly
personal sense of France’s patrician past when you wake up and see the
moonlight shining through the curtains of your original, seventeenth-century
four-poster – as at the Château de Brissac in Anjou. Or when you gaze from
your leaded window down an ancient forest ride in the Manoir de la
Renomonière in Touraine, or draw a chair up to the giant stone bedroom
fireplace at the perfectly tumbledown château de Chémery, near Blois.
As for the great royal residences, most are now cold and empty. National
monuments like Chambord, a “hunting lodge” with a chimney for every day of
the year, or Fontainebleau, where the Mona Lisa once hung in the royal
bathroom, are the stunning but faded fruits of a noble culture that
cherished excellence and had the money to pay for it in spades. But thanks
to the tourist trade, many châteaux are recovering their former glory. The
French state now scours auction houses all over the world for the fine
furnishings flogged off by the wagon-load after the Revolution. Once empty
and echoing, the royal palaces will soon be gilded once more – if not,
perhaps, occupied.
Need to know
Château de Brissac, Brissac-Quincé (02.41.91.22.21, www.chateau-brissac.fr);
Château de Chémery, Loir-et-Cher (02.54.71.82.77,
echateaudechemery@wanadoo.fr); Manoir de la Rémonière, near Azay-le-Rideau
(02.47.45.24.88, www.manoirdelaremoniere.com).
24 MORE IN BRIEF
Swimming under the Pont du Gard, LANGUEDOC
The Pont du Gard is 8km from Uzès, from where there are frequent shuttle
buses. For more information, visit www.pontdugard.fr
Washing it down with cider, NORMANDY
The Route du Cidre is a 40km loop linking the main cider-producing villages in
the Pays d’Auge. The best cider makers display a “Cru de Cambremer” sign
outside their farms, and many offer guided tours and free tastings. For more
information, visit www.calvados-tourisme.com
Read the Times Online article: Freewheeling
through Brittany
Climbing the MONT ST-MICHEL
Buses to Mont-St-Michel leave from the train stations at Pontorson, St-Malo
and Rennes. It’s free to access the Mont but parking on the island or
connecting causeway is €4. Further details can be found at www.ot-montsaintmichel.com
Read the Times Online article: Turning
the tide at Mont St Michel
Wine-tasting in BORDEAUX
Local tourist offices and Maisons du Vin provide lists of producers offering
vineyard visits. Most visits are free, though more famous châteaux may
charge up to €8. It’s always best to phone ahead, especially off-season or
if you’d like an English-speaking guide.
Read the Times Online article: A
honeymoon drive through Bordeaux
Paying your respects at the NORMANDY landings
The Normandy landing beaches stretch west from the mouth of the River Orne
near Caen to the Cotentin Peninsula south of Cherbourg. Informative tours of
the landing beaches are offered by the Caen Memorial (www.memorial-caen.fr).
Read the Times Online article: Beauty
and battlefields in Normandy 60 years on
Macaroons fit for a monarch, PARIS
Ladurée (Mon-Sat 8.30am-7pm, Sun 10am-7pm; www.laduree.
fr) is at 16 rue Royale, and also has branches on the Champs-Elysées and
rue Bonaparte.
Braving the elements on the BRITTANY coast
Ferries from Portsmouth and Weymouth serve St-Malo on Brittany’s northern
coast, while Plymouth, Cork and Rosslare have services to Roscoff, about
175km west of St-Malo in Finistère. Southwest of Roscoff, Pointe du Raz
occupies the westernmost tip of Finistère (and Brittany). For more
information on Brittany, visit www.brittanytourism.com
Partying the night away at a summer FETE
Village festivals and celebrations are held the length and breadth of France
throughout the year, although the summer usually brings a glut. There’s
usually no entry fee, but there tends to be a small charge for food and
drink – ten euros or so will see you fed and watered all night.
Shaken and stirred at the Casino de MONTE-CARLO
The Casino de Monte-Carlo (www.casinomontecarlo.com),
Place du Casino, is open daily to visitors aged 18 and over from noon.
You’ll pay €10 for entry to the Salons Europe , and €20 for the Salons
Privés, which open at 4pm.
Cathar castles in the LANGUEDOC
The Château de Peyrepertuse sits above the village of Duilhac, around 25km
from Perpignan in Languedoc-Roussillon (daily: Feb, March, Nov & Dec
10am-5pm; April, May and Oct 10am-6.30pm; June & Sept 9am-7pm; July &
Aug 9am-8.30pm; €5; www.chateau-peyrepertuse.com).
On the art trail in the COTE D'AZUR
For more information, visit www.chez.com/renoir/cagnes.htm;
www.musee-matisse-nice.org;
or www.antibes-juanlespins.com/fr/culture/musees/picasso
Bar-hopping in the Marais, PARIS
The Marais is right in the centre of Paris and comprises the €3 and €4
arrondissements; convenient Metro stations are Hotel de Ville, Rambuteau and
St Paul. Classic bar-crawl stopoffs might include Andy Wahloo, 69 rue des
Gravilliers; Lizard Lounge, 81 rue du Bourg-Tibourg; Guillame, 32 rue de
Picardie; Les Bains, 7 rue du Bourg L’Abbél; and Chez Richard, 37 rue
Vieille du Temple.
Prehistoric cave art at PECH-MERLE
Grotte de Pech Merle (mid-Jan to March and Nov to mid-Dec by group reservation
only; April-Oct daily 9.30am-noon & 1.30-5pm; €7 mid-June to mid-Sept,
rest of year €6; www.quercy.net/pechmerle)
is two hours’ drive north of Toulouse. Tours are conducted in French, but an
English guidebook is available.
Deluxe dining in PARIS
Lasserre is at 17 Av Franklin Roosevelt, Paris (01.43.59.02.13, www.restaurant-lasserre.com).
Reckon on at least €120 per head at dinner, €75 for the lunchtime set menu;
there’s also a seven-course menu dégustation at €185; prices exclude wine.
Men must wear a jacket and tie.
Seeing the Bayeux Tapestry, NORMANDY
The tapestry is housed in the Centre Guillaume le Conquérant in Bayeux (daily:
mid-March to April & Sept-Oct 9am-6.30pm; May-Aug 9am-7pm; Nov to
mid-March 9.30am-12.30pm & 2-6pm; €7.60; www.chateau-guillaume-leconquerant.fr).
Read the Times Online article: Bayeux
and life's rich tapestry
Sloping off to the French ALPS
France’s skiing season runs from January to April – outside that you’ll be
taking a chance or will be restricted to glacier skiing. For more on winter
sports, visit www.skifrance.fr
Champagne tasting, ÉPERNAY
The Office de Tourisme, 7 Avenue de Champagne, Épernay (03.26.53.33.00, www.ot-epernay.fr),
has information on touring all the town’s champagne houses. To organize a
private tour of the Chateau de Bligny, call 03.25.27.40.11 well in advance.
Read the Times Online article: Tripe
and champagne for supper
Hiking Corsica's GR20
The GR20 is open from early June until mid-October. Most people need between
10 and 13 days to complete all 15 étapes. Accommodation along the way is
provided by basic refuges, whose gardiens also sell provisions (at
extortionate prices).
Musée d'Orsay, PARIS
On the Left Bank opposite the Tuileries gardens, the Musée d’Orsay’s (www.musee-orsay.fr)
entrance is on Rue de la Légion d’Honneur. The nearest Metro is Solférino;
Musée d’Orsay is the closest RER station.
Lunch in a rural French RESTAURANT
Expect to pay €15–25 for a four-course lunch in a traditional rural
restaurant; this often includes wine and coffee.
The jewel of BERRY: Cathédrale St-Etienne
Entrance to the Cathédrale St-Etienne, place Etienne Dolet, is free
(April-June & Sept 8.30am-7.15pm; July & Aug 8.30am-7.45pm;
Oct-March 9am-5.45pm), but you can pay €5 to climb the tower, or €9 to
descend into the crypt as well.
Feeding the senses at a PROVENCAL market
Virtually every town in Provence holds a market at least once a week. Among
the biggest are those in Aix-en-Provence (Sat; 9am-12.30pm) and Marseille
(Sun; 8am-7pm).
Communing with Carnac's prehistoric past, BRITTANY
Carnac lies just off the Atlantic coast in southern Brittany. The Route de
Alignments follows the course of the three main alignments, with car parks
along the way. There’s a visitor centre at the Alignements de Kermario
(daily: May & June 9am-7pm; July & Aug 9am-8pm; Sept-April
10am-5.15pm; www.carnac.fr).
Taking a trip up the Eiffel Tower, PARIS
The tower is open daily (mid-June to Aug 9am-midnight, last entrance for top
floor 11pm; Sept to mid-June 9.30am-11pm, last entrance for top floor
10.30pm). It costs €11 to take the lift all the way to the top, €7.70 to the
second floor and €4.20 to the first (€6/€4.20/€3.30 if you opt for the
leg-wearying stairs). For more info, visit www.tour-eiffel.fr
