Les Derniers Jours
Mention of the Loire Valley inevitably conjures up images of young couples biking by a romantic chateau with a wine glass balanced in their free hand. Now picture two sexagenerians madly racing through city streets in search of a free parking space, or racing ahead of a busload of septuagenarian tourists to avoid being trampled, or frantically searching for a public washroom after risking a bottle of our landlord's finest tap water. To tell the truth, we actually enjoyed our time in the Loire. We did see chateaux, we did drink wine, and although we never climbed aboard a velo, we did do our fair share of hiking. So, sit back, pour a glass of Vouvray sparkling wine, and let le fleuve Loire roll by. The Chateau de Chaumont overlooking the Loire Among the many misconceptions you may harbour about the Loire, I expect one of them is that the Loire and the Loire valley are largely coterminous. As it turns out, the Loire Valley refers to a section of the river, about 1/4 the...