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For the first time in the series we didn't fly out to our location but instead opted for the car. This may have been a mistake. Le Shuttle is superb and I would recommend it to anyone without hesitation, and France's motorways are good and fast, although not cheap. However, what seems like a small distance on the map to us Brits is in fact an awfully long way on a French map. It took us twelve solid hours to reach the Loire from Manchester. Don't let that put you off, but I would just suggest that you either allow for it or split your journey.
Once there, the Loire is worth every kilometre. Situated almost in the heart of France, and famous for its beautiful Chateaux, it has long been described as exemplifying "La dourer de vivre" - the gentleness of living. It has a pace of life that is about 10% of that of its northern Parisian neighbours. At one time the Loire was a cross-roads for four provinces, or Dukedoms; Maine, Anjou, Brittany and Vendee.
Taking into account the natural pace of life we decided to start with a spot of fishing. This is actually illegal but we didn't have a hook on the line so we were OK! Next, a game of golf perhaps? The Loire has what must be one of the only golf courses in the world to be built entirely on an island. Isle D'or (Golden Island) Golf Club, situated near Angers, is surrounded by the Loire and can only be reached by bridge. It's now owned by a Japanese company who, as always, seem to have done rather a good job on it.
Sticking with sport, if you fancy a game of Boules around this area you are in for a bit of a surprise. In the Loire it is played indoors on a dish shaped floor made out of polished wood and instead of throwing the ball, they roll it. It's quite like our Crown Green bowls, except that the crown is turned upside down!
I think it's best if I work down the river from the west to east, rather than try to do it as we did in the programme. The most westerly point that we travelled to was Nantes (my sister-in-law's home town, not that has anything to do with the price of fish.) Nantes was once a considerable Medieval centre and it later achieved great wealth from colonial expeditions such as the slave trade, cotton, sugar and ship building. The town has many fine 18th and 19th century buildings, constructed from the profits generated during that period. The river is extremely wide here, rather like the Thames in London, and from the now disused section of the cobbled quay that would have once been lined with ships, we looked across the water to the Jules Verne Museum. The actual house where Jules was born was on the former island, Ile Feydeau, and has now gone the way of all things. However, a celebration of the man who gave us 'A Journey to the Centre of the Earth', 'Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea' and 'Around the World in Eighty Days' can be found at 3 Rue de L'Hermitage.
Next stop Angers, capital of the ancient county of Anjou. It was here that the Medieval Counts gained great power. During the 12th century it was under the rule of the Plantagenets and became the regional capital of an Empire that stretched as far as Scotland. Not surprisingly such a power base has one hell of a castle. Chateau Angers was built between 1230 and 1240 by the mother of Louis IX Prince Regent.
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