You want to escape from Nantes, Rennes, or Paris? There are some unusual and discreet addresses lost in the forest just two hours drive from your home. There is also a site that lists all the natural and atypical addresses to live experiences or time. It is PitchUp.com, a platform that manages a million reservations per year. Once again, it is useless to travel far away. France is full of incredible places. The following we explain it to you for a romantic weekend in the Loire Valley.
The castle of Cheverny
The first step of this romantic weekend in the Loire Valley begins with Cheverny. The program of this short stay having been concocted by the teams of the Tourist Office of the Loire Valley Center, it is with closed eyes that we go to the castle of Cheverny.
This castle you inevitably heard about it. When the draftsman Hergé is about to launch the adventures of Tintin, it is the castle of Cheverny which he takes as a model. The Belgian draftsman removes the two wings, and that is how Moulinsart, the castle of Captain Haddock, was born.
But this castle is not limited to its resemblance with the famous comic strip. The castle of Cheverny is mostly one of the most beautiful castles of the Loire Valley.
Sleeping in a yurt in the forest
On the edge of the woods, there is an unusual campsite just a stone’s throw from the Cheverny castle and the Chambord castle. This place in the middle of nature is better known under the name of the Happy Chance. All the comfort of a yurt fitted out like a small Parisian apartment. But in the middle of the trees, a return to nature to take a breath of fresh air.
This campsite assumes its promises and ambitions entirely, which are summed up in a beautiful quotation from Cicero. “If we take nature as our guide, we will never get lost. »
For L’Heureux Random, via Pitch Up. La Petite Mesnerie, 41 700 Contres. tel: 06 84 25 71 69
A militant workshop towards food self-sufficiency, all gently
In 2019 the Loire Valley celebrated the 500 years of the Renaissance. On the occasion of this anniversary, the event was too beautiful to try to make a parallel with our time. Are we capable of correcting what is wrong in our society? And how do we do it?
A closer look reveals that many local initiatives are flourishing all over the country. By chance, we discovered the “Grange aux savoirs faire”. A local collective and an initiative whose goal is to allow people to regain control of their food. Gone are the days of the food industry giants producing soulless products. Products that are always cheaper or with more margins. Products that are regularly pointed out for the presence of sweeteners and where the taste is sometimes replaced by a little salt or a little sugar.
Why is this? Well simply because salt is a flavour enhancer. It dilates the taste buds and therefore brings out the taste of the product better. “If you’re not a great cook, increase the amount of salt, your guests will love it. “In the meantime, the food authorities are begging the various players in the food chain to lower salt levels.
Unusual cooking workshop at La Grange aux savoirs faire
At the barn of knowledge to know how to do, we are very far from these preoccupations. The idea is to do everything ourselves, to find pleasure in eating healthy and especially without wasting a lot of time cooking. A promise kept the time of one morning to prepare a savvy and copious breakfast.
During workshops organized every week, the friendly members of the barn with their know-how teach practical and straightforward recipes. Because even in our societies of written tradition, it can be interesting to go through oral transmission and gestures. On the menu, aperitif cakes with lemon thyme, sushi with Shizo, small balls of goat cheese with marigold flowers. But also fresh vegetables with nasturtium sauce and Falafels with herbs accompanied by a light mint cream. Without forgetting the cheesecake with its fresh herbs and as a dessert, the Panna Cotta à la Monarda and its apricot coulis.
And for this cooking class, we had the adorable Juliette as our chef who animates some of the workshops. But Juliette works mostly on the rehabilitation of aromatic plants and edible flowers. All this through her company lacabaneaplantes.com. Her leitmotiv? Don’t attack the system; make it old-fashioned”, B. Werber.
To stroll along the Loire River
The Loire is not a navigable river; on the other hand, there are some associations which benefit from a kind of exemption or tolerance from the administration.
Navigating on the Loire between Chaumont and Blois is a very effective way to escape. For those who wish to prolong this ride on the Loire, it is perhaps the occasion to rent a bicycle to discover the most significant river of France. Every year it is almost a million visitors who choose to discover the Loire by bike.
But let’s come back to our boat trips. Nothing is more romantic than to let yourself drift with the current. And why not to stop on an island for a few hours to celebrate the summer.
Admire the stars and sleep in a bubble.
In Sologne, there is a very unusual accommodation which is located in the middle of 60 hectares of forest. It is the bubbles of Sologne an autonomous site in the heart of nature.
A remarkable address that we have found thanks to our partner pitchup.com a reservation site for unusual and nature-friendly accommodation in France and more than 65 countries around the world. This reservation platform was created by a former member of “lastminute.com” and above all this site manages nearly one million reservations per year. Pitch Up thus offers an excellent alternative to hotels or private booking websites.
In a world where everything tends to become uniform, where everything is the same, it is sometimes useful to take one’s things and go and settle down in an atypical place. A place outside the conventions, where you are alone and where you can finally be yourself. A place where one stops existing through the eyes of others. Yet “Alone” in the middle of the woods, in a hut, a tepee, a dome or a small chalet. A place where we reconnect with our loved ones and the people around us, a place where we finally take the time, it is also all that is hidden behind the notion of unusual accommodation.
The bubbles of Sologne. Address: lieu-dit de Glatigny, 18 410 Brinon sur Sauldre.
The castle of Saint-Aubin, a place frozen in time.
Going up towards the north of the Sologne, you will find a charming castle. Just like Cheverny, the castle of Saint-Aubin is entirely private.
On the other hand, its owners had a good idea not to maintain the place too much. One thus finds the patina of time and the wear of fabrics which are sometimes more than 300 years old. And it is relatively successful because it is even easier to go back to the pas
The most sought-after gastronomic addresses in Sologne
Lamotte-Beuvron, the gastronomes’ landmark
There are addresses that we exchange between friends, addresses whose existence we would like to keep as secret as possible. To begin why not go to Lamotte-Beuvron. A gastronomic restaurant where the cuisine is generous and where the owner is colorful. La P’tite Marmite is a very good address, a place where everything is perfect and where you won’t get bored. If you wish to have a table, it is better to make a reservation and follow the restaurant’s schedule. It’s simple, this restaurant is very much in demand and is often full.
La P’tite Marmite, 38 rue de l’égalité, 41600 Lamotte-Beuvron. tel: 02 54 88 01 94
Rendez-vous at Onzain, a former hunting lodge transformed into a Relais et Châteaux (Relais and Castles)
Other address and other establishment. In an absolutely sumptuous setting, you will find a superb establishment more known under the name of Hauts de Loire. It is a relay hotel and castles but also a two-star Michelin restaurant. This place is also equipped with a swimming pool, a spa and a bistro all on a 70 hectare property. The original building was in fact a former hunting lodge and is today one of the most beautiful addresses in the Loire Valley. A place imagined and orchestrated masterfully by the chef Rémy Giraud.
To spend a good time there why not push the door of the “bistrot”. A convivial place which proposes an affordable menu for about thirty euros. It’s just perfect, from the service to the dishes served.
Hotel, restaurant, spa & Bistro, Les Hauts de Loire, 79 rue Gilbert Navard, 41 150 Veuzain Sur Loire. tel: 02 54 20 72 57
photo credits : Yann Vernerie
Thanks to Romain, Camille and our partner pitchup.com and to the participation of the regional committee of Tourism Centre Loire Valley, without whom the realization of this stay would not have been possible.