NMGOC trip to in the - June 2022

Background Our planned NMGOC trip to Chinon in the this year has been postponed due to Covid but is now provisionally planned for next year. Nothing is finalised except a provisional hotel booking. Six cars so far from this year have provisionally booked to come but we can probably manage a couple more so contact me if interested. I first visited Chinon while on a cycle trip with some of my Swiss friends about 5 years ago and fell in love with the area. So much so that I took Judith there for a few days (she doesn’t cycle) a couple of years ago. On both occasions we stayed in a lovely family run hotel run by a husband Jean-Pierre (French) and wife Jamie (American) who are delightful. It’s an easy day’s drive from several French ports and makes a great centre from which to explore this lovely area of . It means we only have to unpack once but have a wide choice of beautiful day drives to some very interesting places in the region.

Chinon Is an old town situated beneath a fortified castle and next to the River Vienne shortly before it joins the Loire. It has many restaurants of various sorts within a few minutes walk of the hotel. https://www.france-voyage.com/travel- guide/chinon-commune-12807.htm

Hotel Diderot The hotel only offers bed and breakfast but does have a bar for a drink or two to relax after a day’s drive. The hotel itself is quite old but does have a newer wing. It is decorated in typical French style and has a secure car park in its courtyard. Jamie makes all her own jams and preserves, using both conventional and somewhat “interesting” combinations of ingredients, so a wide range of these are served up at breakfast which is typical continental but very adequate. The rooms are very comfortable and have modern facilities. http://hoteldiderot.com/en/home/

What is there to see This area is famous for its wine, castles/chateaux and caves. We don’t all have to do the same thing every day so we could split into a couple of groups if interests vary.

There are several vineyards in the area but one suggestion is a cave at the other end of Chinon from our hotel, about ½ mile flat walk where they do regular wine tasting until 7p.m. It’s a great early evening jaunt after which we can stop off in the town for dinner. Warning - I got carried away and bought about 6 or 7 cases, but having the MG might greatly limit that temptation.

The castles in the area are so varied. Rivau has a fairytale theme with Rapunzel’s hair hanging out of one tower, seven league boots (as tall as me) and many other similar things in the gardens. has massive formal gardens laid out in incredible patterns. Chenonceaux has a banqueting hall several hundred feet long that crosses the river . Chambord is enormous claiming to have 1000 turrets and also has extensive parklands where they were holding jousting and other pageantry when I was there. Chaumont, has an international garden festival from June though the rest of the summer; very creative, a bit like the less formal gardens at Chelsea but much more spread out. There are of course a lot more but one tends to get “Chateauxed-out” after while.

As a rest from the Chateaux there is the fascinating Musée Maurice Dufresne http://musee-dufresne.com/en/ This is an amazing museum of every thing mechanical from guillotines to London buses and industrial machines to toys of all shapes, sizes and ages. It’s a little higgledy piggledy so as you turn a corner you just don’t know what you are going to find, but this is part of the charm of the place.

All the above places I have visited in the last few years, However, Troglodyte caves are also very common in the area, I remember visiting some many years ago, where they either stored wine or grew mushrooms. I can’t remember many details but could certainly do some research here if there was a desire.

Dates and timing The plan is to take the overnight ferry on Sunday 19th June 2022 from Portsmouth to Cherbourg, Caen or St-Malo (timetables have not been published yet). This gives a leisurely drive of about 4 hours on Monday 20th to the hotel if done in one go, but we will try and find an interesting stop on the way. We plan to leave the hotel immediately after breakfast on Monday 27th June to catch an afternoon ferry back to Portsmouth. We should get home late that evening.

Costs It’s a bit difficult to be sure of this at the moment, as there are several unknowns. No ferry costs yet, Pound-Euro exchange rate etc. However a rough estimate would be: about £1000 for ferry and hotel (bed and breakfast) then about £100 a day for meals and incidentals per car/couple.

Kelvin Pitman [email protected]