Fly and drive France

Low cost, good value! We wanted to spend a few days at Ferragosto (mid-August) outside Italy; our wallet didn't allow us to consider seaside destinations because they were too expensive, so we came up with the idea of visiting the Loire Valley, since summer here coincides with the hotel low season. We booked Ryanair to Beauvais and from there, hiring a car, we headed for Blois (about 250 km of motorway). The road from Blois to Tours runs alongside the Loire, a flat and very green area, dotted with at least sixty castles and manor houses, from the most sumptuous and imposing (the summer residences of royalty, like holiday villages) to more modest manor houses. Finding the castles is very easy, because many are clearly visible from the main road while others are anyway signposted along the way.

During the trip we came across lots of campers equipped with bicycles; in fact it's a bit like being in the middle of the countryside, all flat and very comfortable for biking. For sleeping we went to guesthouses; watch out for the signs outside the houses reading CHAMBRE D'HOTEL; we always landed well, at the home of kind ladies, good prices and clean rooms, nothing to complain about even when the bathroom was shared, but you should always ask to see the room before buying!!!!!! The castles are not FREE ENTRY, in fact the average is ten euros per entry; CHAMBORD - CHENONCEAU - VILLANDRY - AZAY LE RIDEAU I think are the most beautiful, each with different characteristics; Chambord is in the middle of the countryside, very imposing and resembles a fairy-tale castle, and you can also visit the interiors.

Chenonceau, besides being very scenic because part of the castle stretches over the river, also has a beautiful flower garden. Azay le Rideau is a lovely castle reached via a tree-lined avenue, but its feature is the English-style garden; the moat around the manor becomes a little lake in which the building is reflected, and a small wood with streams and little waterfalls frames it. The last one we saw was Villandry; the little castle is nothing special compared to the others, but the park is something marvellous. The fruits of the kitchen garden change from season to season and in autumn the orange pumpkins add a touch of colour, while the Renaissance gardens are extremely well-tended and create geometries and patterns. At the entrance they hand out a leaflet illustrating the symbolic meanings of the various gardens inside.

After three days of castles we were, frankly, a little tired, so we fled to the coasts of Normandy and Brittany between Dinard and Mont st Michel. Mont st Michel is a village, I think medieval, built on a rock in the middle of the lagoon. We slept in Pontorson, and found no small difficulty in finding a bed, because here it seems a great many pilgrims always arrive; anyway I know it's also possible to stay inside the village of Mont st Michel (there must be two hotels). The village is connected to the coast by a causeway flanked by two large open areas where you can park and walk the last steps before entering the village. You can only do this when you don't happen to be there at the same time as the full moon phase; in this period the tide rises so much that it floods the road and the car park below, making Mont st Michel a true island.

St Malo and the Emerald Coast of Dinard, along the panoramic road, are certainly worth a visit. Even though it was August and the very long beaches were particularly inviting, you really can't swim, the water is far too cold!!!!! Afterwards we moved on to Honfleur, a big mistake because it's the holiday resort par excellence of the over-forty French, all the hotels full, and we found one only thirty km from the coastal town and clearly they bled us dry. It looks a bit like San Remo, but there's not much to do; we stayed just long enough for a fish dinner on the seafront and a little stroll. A true revelation, on the other hand, was Rouen; the historic centre looks like the set of The Hunchback of Notre Dame and there are Gothic cathedrals scattered around, first of all the cathedral painted by Monet in several canvases.

After Rouen we made a little hop to Versailles to see the gardens and - surprise - there's an artificial lake where you can hire a boat and row and row and row. In the afternoon the trip ended with a baguette avec fromage and a nap on the lawn. AU REVOIR