Latest news with #CentreValdeLoire
Telegraph
21-06-2025
- Telegraph
Three places to find ‘la France profonde' – for those exasperated by the 21st century
If I had a fiver for every time I've been asked to indicate ' la France profonde ' (deepest France), I'd be a very rich man. Well, not really. I'd have about £245. But that's 49 people who have asked me directly. This suggests that there must be thousands, maybe millions, of people interested in the subject who don't know me, or don't dare ask. So I'm assuming that this France profonde is a much-sought place. Why? It may be that it offers a misty promise of our own half-remembered past, when all villages were pretty, all butchers and bakers were family-run and front doors were left unlocked. There were no smartphones, designer drugs or hysterical 24-hour news channels. Woke was what happened when you stopped being asleep. So where is it? Both nowhere and all over the place, for la France profonde is as much an ideal as a destination. But some spots get close. Here are my top three for 2025. Cher, Centre-Val de Loire A good way to prepare for this département, or county – south of the Loire, west of Burgundy – is to tackle Le Grand Meaulnes, one of the best-selling French novels of the 20th century. Alain-Fournier's only work (he was killed early in the Great War) mines the lurking sense of the arcane in a deep, green and much-bypassed landscape. Thus will you be ready for narrow lanes which track through encroaching woodland, by rivers and half-seen lakes. Low-slung villages fold into their surroundings, apparently impervious to the 20th century, never mind the 21st. Strange beliefs infiltrate long, rustic silences – for this is also the traditional French capital of witchcraft. Le Grand Meaulnes fits right in, a tale of adolescent love and adventure and the mysterious spaces in between. You may start by paying respects at Épineuil-le-Fleuriel, whose school Alain-Fournier attended, and used as starting point for the novel. Wonderfully, the old school has been restored exactly as it was in his time. Moving north, headliners include Noirlac Abbey (near St Amand-Montrond) whose pure white Cistercian stones soar, decorated only by light and shade. The cultural season here, in pretty much the exact centre of France, justifies a trip. Nearby county capital Bourges is a skip back to well-rooted bustle, its remarkable cathedral and half-timbered streets just a villein or two short of perfection. Linger a while, before moving further north, edging into the Sologne district which Alain-Fournier characterised as 'useless, taciturn and profound'. One must, he said, 'pull aside the branches to discover this countryside'. As fields and forest close in, one makes for La Chapelle-d'Angillon, where the writer was born, and then Nançay, where he spent youthful summer holidays. Round here, it's easy to believe that the fantastic and the rational are opposite sides of the same coin. Later, we leave the universe of Le Grand Meaulnes for half-timbered Aubigny-sur-Nère. Here, la France profonde bumps into l'Ecosse profonde – deepest Scotland – in a gush of abundant jockery: saltires, kilts, whisky and a 10ft monument to the Auld (Franco-Scots) Alliance outside the library. Why? The town was given to the Stuarts by French king Charles VII in payment for their help against the English in the Hundred Years War. Scottishness got a grip and, though the Stuarts were around for only 250 years, the links remain. Aubigny revels in them, not least in the annual Franco-Scottish festival, this year from July 11-13. Should you be looking for irrationality, this is a splendid spot to start. Where to stay In Aubigny, the Hotel La Chaumière colonises a 19th-century post-house: bare stone, beams, the works, plus a good restaurant (doubles from £95). Nearby, the Logis Relais du Cor d'Argent at Argent-sur-Sauldre has practical rooms and an equally good restaurant (doubles from £64). Creuse, Nouvelle-Aquitaine If anyone says to me: 'I'll drive you to the Creuse', I say: 'Lead on, Captain. Take me there, that I might never return.' It's that sort of place. The county is found where the Massif Central cedes to the Limousin. Hardly anyone lives there and no-one visits. Well, a few. It is the least visited of all French counties, which indicates how daft tourists can be. But it means you have it to yourself, and that's good. The Creuse is wild enough with moorland and heath, forest and pasture heavy with Limousin cattle. The landscape undulates with elemental interest sufficient to hold the attention entirely, yet bearing no risk of frenzy. After a few hours there, I sigh so happily that my nerves slacken. They barely stiffen for the duration. Roads wind through countryside ruffled like yeoman England, but hotter. Aromas of flowers, hay and cows come in through the window and then you're in Crozant. The village – at the rocky junction of three rivers – had its own school of 19th-century painters, led in by Claude Monet. It's a good story, told at the Hotel Lépinat, once the artists' boozer, now an information centre. Close by, La Souterraine is a grand little spot, its old stones warmed by sun, small-town commerce and a sense of self-sufficiency. Beyond, the granite Monts de Guéret rise forested and harbouring. Set the car south, along lanes of little consequence, to Aubusson. Crouching below the rock-faces along the Creuse river, Aubusson has been weaving the world's most celebrated tapestries for 500 years. In the past, this wouldn't have detained me very long. Now, though, I've been to the Cité Internationale de la Tapisserie, seen works by Picasso, Braque, Le Corbusier and Jean Lurçat and realised there's more to tapestries than faded fabric on château walls. Thus to the Plateau de Millevaches, where moors and woodland tumble into remote villages and then down to Lake Vassivière. The possibilities for activity – hiking, biking, riding, sailing – are enticing for those with energy. The rest of us may stroll and look and reflect that this could be Canada, if only there were moose and maple syrup. Where to stay In Aubusson, the Hotel des Maisons du Pont has rooms scattered through venerable riverside houses ( from £77). In Roches, south-east of Crozant, head for the Domaine de la Vergnolle for chambres d'hôtes rooms and over-water cabins ( B&B doubles from £59). Loire valley, Centre-Val de Loire The Loire valley is where I dream of going when exasperated by the 21st century. It runs to rhythms redolent of gentler times, but with decent plumbing. North of, and parallel to, the mightier Loire (the one with the big châteaux), this tributary flows into a past of forests, vines and wild flowers, of cliffs, meadows and white-stone villages bright with proper shops and deep-rooted confidence. From light, green and watery Vendôme – where, as a schoolboy, Balzac read so voraciously that he would fall into 'a coma of ideas' – the valley meanders in and out of white-stone villages bright with proper shops and busy ladies bustling with baskets. At Thoré-la-Rochette, you might tackle Côteaux-du-Vendomois wines, peppery from the local pineau d'aunis grape. Downstream, Lavardin – crammed between hillside and river – would be standing-room-only, were it in Provence or Tuscany. Nip into the church for medieval frescoes (a Loire speciality) and move on to Montoire-sur-le-Loir. You may have heard of this town. On October 24 1940, Hitler and Pétain met to set the seal on their collaboration at the railway station right here. Presently, the station hosts a museum telling the tale. At Trôo, as chalk cliffs edge the valley so, over a couple of millennia, locals dug homes into the rock-face, creating a vertical troglodyte village on four levels. Farm workers moved out by the middle of the 20th century. Artier types moved in, for cave-dwelling is in vogue these days. But Yuccas Cave has been kept as it was when farm workers Zéphrim and Désirée Didé and their six kids lived there until 1965. And so to St Jacques-des-Guérets, with the valley's best church frescoes, Couture-sur-Loir, where 16th-century poet Pierre de Ronsard was born, and Ruillé-sur-Loir, for Jasnières wines. In La Chartre-sur-Loir, the Hotel de France epitomises all that's best in provincial French hotels. On my last visit, it smelled splendidly of flowers and furniture polish. But don't take my word. The hotel is quite near Le Mans, so has hosted key teams from the 24-hour race (Aston Martin, Porsche, Ferrari) plus associated luminaries: Steve McQueen, Jackie Onassis and Bobby Kennedy ( doubles from £91). The fascination persists, not least at the Château du Lude – as imposing as most châteaux in the grander Loire valley to the south. So please don't hesitate. Or, as Pierre de Ronsard wrote: 'Live now, believe me, wait not until tomorrow. Gather the roses of life today.' Where to stay Apart from the Hotel de France (above), we favour the Auberge du Port des Roches – pleasing hotel, good restaurant – at Luché-Pringé (doubles from £80).
Irish Times
09-05-2025
- Irish Times
What will €210,000 buy in France, Spain, Montenegro, Morocco or Co Tipperary?
France: Indre In the hamlet of Menetou-sur-Nahon in the picturesque Indre department of the Centre-Val de Loire and about equidistant from Tours and Orleans, this four-bedroom, all-en-suite detached house extending to 160sq m (1,722sq ft) is on about an acre of land and has an outdoor swimming pool. The nearest food market is on Saturdays in Chabris, 4km away. The beautiful Valencay Chateau is a 10-minute drive away. Price: €207,000 Agent: 3 The Gables, Ballylooby, Co Tipperary Ireland: Co Tipperary Set between two mountain ranges, the Galtees and the Knockmealdowns this corner of Co Tipperary borders counties Waterford and Limerick. Number 3 The Gables in Ballylooby is a three-bedroom, two-bathroom terraced house extending to 117 sq m (1,2750 sq ft) that boasts a B2 Ber. It has a back garden and is within a three-minute walk of the village national school. Cahir railway station is 9km away. It is for sale by auction on Thursday, May 15th. Price: AMV €210,000 Agent Spain: Galicia Spain: Galicia Perched on the northern Galician coast, on the shores of the Cantabrian Sea is a three-bedroom, two-bathroom detached house in the heart of Marina Lucense. Just 7km from both Foz and Burela, it has direct access to the small beach and is adjacent to a pier you can dive off at high tide. The smartly decorated property, set over two floors, features an outdoor terrace and extends to about 135sq m (1,453sq ft). Price: €220,000 Agent: Montenegro: Tivat Montenegro: Tivat The tourist resort of Tivat, on coastal Montenegro's Bay of Kotor, is a yachting and watersports paradise. It has a large marina and high above it in the residential area of Mezina is this two-bedroom, one-bathroom property that boasts views of the sea across the surrounding red terracotta roofscape. It extends to 96sq m (1,033sq ft) and is being sold fully furnished and comes with one parking space. READ MORE Price: €210,000 Agent: Morocco: Essaouira Morocco: Essaouira On the outskirts of the port and resort city of Essaouira, on Morocco's Atlantic coast, is this three-bedroom, three-bathroom, detached villa that comes with a swimming pool where you can cool off after a day spent on the water enjoying the Alizée trade winds that make the city's crescent-shaped beach such a magnet for wind, kite and sea-surfers. The property, in Ounagha, 23km from the metropolis, extends to 240sq m and has a contemporary design. Price: €220,000 Agent:
