I'm back! Summer in France
Touring, Loire ConneXion, and Paris Summer Olympics
The summer season took off like a shot! It’s been busy. I am a travel planner, event organizer and guide in the Loire Valley via my business, Loire Valley Concierge. I also am a travel guide in May, June, July, September, and October for a luxury boutique tour operator accompanying small groups of 8 to 16 people primarily in Provence, the Loire Valley, and sometimes the Champagne region. It’s been wonderful and exhilarating welcoming guests here from around the world, making new friends and sharing my love of France, its culture, traditions, heritage and breathtaking beauty! I was delighted when the local La Nouvelle République featured an article about Loire Valley Concierge in April, after having covered the network Loire ConneXion in 2021.
Loire ConneXion is a network I created with a group of close friends 14 years ago that brings together English-speaking and bilingual expats and immigrants living in the Loire Valley with French locals. I organize monthly events for Loire ConneXion in and around Amboise. Friends living in the Loire Valley in places like Tours, Blois, Chinon, and Preuilly-sur-Claise (not far from Loches) have also organized events in their area under the Loire ConneXion umbrella. This network has been a valuable source of support and friendship to our international community living in the Loire Valley, and the greatest, most heart-warming of all is how many French locals enjoy our events and support Loire ConneXion too! In July, Loire ConneXion met up at the Sauvage Guinguette nestled along the Loire River in Chargé, a 10-minute drive from Amboise. It was beautiful and fun to catch up with so many friends after months on the road!
What is a guinguette, you ask? A guinguette is an open-air, riverside pop-up restaurant open only in the warm, summer months. It's a fun place to enjoy a drink, a meal, and live music underneath a garland of lights - a perfect venue to meet friends to watch the sunset over the riverbank. There is another fantastic guinguette in Amboise called Chez Oscar & Suzette that serves delicious food. The view of the Loire River and the Royal Castle of Amboise is lovely. The Guinguette in the city of Tours is also popular and lively! There are guinguettes all over the Loire Valley each summer! Check them out if you’re here before they close down around mid-September as the cool weather of autumn arrives.
Loire ConneXion also enjoyed a Meet-Up in May at a friend’s home and his troglodyte caves (thank you, Eric!). Eric is an American who has made the Loire Valley his home too and generously opened his beautiful home to us! We had a great turnout, and professional musicians in the group played for us. What a treat! Loire Valley Concierge clients here on tour from the USA also stopped in for the fun! They enjoyed meeting our Loire ConneXion group - one of the advantages of working with a travel planner who lives locally! You are invited into the homes of friends and family and experience life as we do in France.
Another of our regular favorite spots for Loire ConneXion events is Le Shaker Pub on the Ile d’Or (the Golden Island) in Amboise. Le Shaker has the best view of the Royal Castle of Amboise, and in the summer, you can enjoy drinks on the terrace and watch the sun set behind the Castle, the Loire River at your feet, hot air balloons floating above. Another regular meeting place in Amboise is Art is an Ale Brewing, owned by French-American couple, Matthieu and Katie. At Art is an Ale Brewing, you can enjoy a flight of their locally-brewed craft beer to taste in a hip, industrial space! In the summer, they have a great outside beer garden. When I am in town, I’ll organize a special event like a private tour with the owner of a Château. For example, Loire ConneXion enjoyed a private tour with Henri Carvallo, owner of the Château & Gardens of Villandry who always gives the warmest welcome to his family home!
The Loire Valley castles host fabulous events throughout the summer - concerts, picnics, open-air cinema nights, wine and food tastings, and more. Also fun in the summer is biking the Loire à Vélo or Loire by Bike route, 900-km of biking following the Loire river! Bikers are everywhere in the Loire Valley spring, summer and fall. In the summer, also enjoy canoeing and kayaking on the Loire River or one of its tributaries like the Cher (kayak or canoe under the arches of the Chenonceau Castle!), the Indre, the Vienne... Also extremely popular in the summer are hot air balloon rides and boat excursions on a toue or gabare, traditional flat-bottom boats of the Loire River, used centuries ago for fishing and transporting goods. You can picnic aboard or even stop on an island in the middle of the river.
This summer 2024 has, of course, been marked by the highly-anticipated Paris Summer Olympics. Paris has been the breathtaking backdrop for sporting events held at some of the city’s most iconic venues from beach volleyball in front of the Eiffel Tower, to fencing in the Grand Palais to equestrian events at the Château de Versailles…not to forget, the surfing competition held in Tahiti! I have loved watching the talented athletes compete and am in awe of their skill, strength, determination, and discipline. Those in Paris for the Games have said the ambiance has been wonderful, festive, and celebratory! I applaud the athletes and have been moved to tears watching their Olympic dreams come to fruition, with my beloved France, my adopted country, as the backdrop.
Have you been watching the Summer Paris Olympics? What are your thoughts? Have you been inspired to plan your next trip to France?
Check out my website Loire Valley Concierge to plan a magical experience in France! Until then, enjoy your summer!
Sending best wishes from the Loire Valley,
Summer
Summer...you are so fabulous...love reading about your latest adventures and discoveries...always fun and informative! Keep up the postings in between all of your fortunate guests. Bisous always from Florida!
Phew Summer! What energy! I sit in awe! Emphasis on sit! Do you ever sit and do a Xword? Like many high achievers you are so modest...