Places to Go: The Loire

The Loire Valley in France is where the language is purest, according to my high school AP French teacher. It's also full of castles, which—as anyone who knows me in the slightest can attest—are sort of my thing.

I've done one or two castles in my time (and that's just the tip of the castleberg), but a whole region of them?

My first French textbook—from 7th grade—was called Allez, Viens! which means something like, "Come on, let's go!" It was a fantastic way to learn French because it includes videos of people doing horrible skits and even old commercials (a SNCF ad from the '80s featuring puppets singing a song became a class meme before memes were even invented).*

It also introduced all the various Francophone regions, and one of them was the Loire. Thus, the Loire was one of my first impressions of what it must be like to be French and a castle dweller. As all French are, of course.

One day, I'd love to rent a car and drive around the Loire, visiting vineyards and scaling ramparts. Here's a list.

Both from Making Magique

*After some searching and trying to remember more than "et ta marraine aussi" and the "oui ouis," I FOUND IT:


Pub SNCF carte Kiwi 1987 by odilederey