Aug 6

Aug 6 Day One in the Loire Valley

Last week we drove the 6 hours to visit family friends in the Loire Valley. While there we of course had to visit at least one of the many castles that are scattered around the region. Chateaux Brézé is a famous fortified castle well known for having the largest dry moat in Europe, and numerous underground rooms and tunnels. These underground rooms were to be used as a place of refuge if the castle was ever attacked and consisted of bakeries, stables, and three wine presses that are still functioning.

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For dinner we ate at one of the well known restaurants in the area that is within a cave. Candles fill the rooms giving off a beautiful and intimate light. A specialty of the area are fouace, which are little pieces of bread that were used in the past to see if the ovens were hot enough in bakeries. If the small piece of bread inflated with air quickly, the oven was hot enough. Today the small pieces of bread are eaten with rillettes (similar to pâté), cheese, pickles, and butter.