Loire Valley – Saumur (En)
After 5 hours of driving, we arrived in Saumur, a city in the Loire valley. Our camping was on an island crossing the bridge from the city centre. Camping Offard, really good price, 17 euros, with very good facilities, plots very big and toilet paper and toilet seats, but the best is the swimming pool and bar/restaurant with views of the castle. We really recommend it. And the location is great, as you walk to the bridge, cross it and you are in the city centre! So we went every place walking with Asha.
We went walking with Asha to see the city. From the camping you walk next to the river bank until you arrive at the bridge, then you cross the bridge and you are in the city centre. The riverbank way is beautiful, with amazing views of the city and on the river, there are houseboats where people live, and the boats are really cute. The Loire valley is totally different to the Dordogne area, it is full of castles and palatial buildings. You can do a drive and see up to 40 castles!
We went to explore the city centre where there is a square full of restaurants and bars and a carousel, we saw a small church and were looking for a place to have dinner where we could understand the menu and not too expensive. We finished in a Portuguese-Brasilian restaurant where the little terrace was full and the owner was Portuguese from Oporto and spoke perfect Spanish. His wife was Brazilian and we share a typical Brazilian plate called “Feijoada brasilera”, black beans with meat and rice. It was delicious!
Another day we went to see the rest of the city, where we saw the main church and walked to the top of the castle where the views are amazing! The castle was originally constructed in the 10th century by Count of Blois, as a fortified stronghold against Norman attacks. It changed hands several times and in 1621 was converted into an army barracks. Nearly two centuries later it was converted into a state prison under Napoleon Bonaparte. In the first part of the 20th century, the city of Saumur acquired the castle to convert it into a museum.
Our neighbours at the camping were a Spanish couple from Gijon, Asturias, Bea and Javi. We passed a really good time with them, and they gave us very good advice about what to visit here in France and Holland and where to stay and visit in the north of Spain. It is a pity we do not have pictures with them but we hope to see them again! We will stay in contact!
And now we are in a town called Genne, in another area of the Loire Valley, also next to the river. You can see all this in the next post!
