Australians sample the delights of the Loire Valley

Latest comments from the guestbook at the 'Old Walnut Mill' in Barrou

28th May 2017

"We have had a very pleasant week in what has turned out to be the hottest week of the year so far. The house is comfortable and well equipped, thank you and after a couple of weeks in much smaller places we enjoyed the space. Thanks for the strawberries - what a crop you have! The cherries will be ready to take over in a week or two.  Trips to Chenonceau and Villandry were long days but worth it to see these two very spectacular places. More locally Loches, Chedigny (with all its roses) La Roche Posay, Angles-surl'Anglin all had their attractions. We were grateful for the recommendations to restaurants Le Gerbe d'Or (Loches) and Chez Grand Ma (Le Grand-Pressigny) and are happy to commend them to future travellers. It is pleasant to explore the local area, the small roads, the villages and hamlets that are so typically French. Thanks again Jim & Pauline."

Geoffrey & Margaret Grinton,

Melbourne, Australia

First guests enjoyed great spell of Loire Valley spring weather at Les Balcons.

Our first guests of the season (Australians) at Les Balcons  enjoyed a great spell of weather for their visit to the Loire Valley.These are the views from  the balcony on the day of their departure, it had pretty much been blue skies from the day they arrived.

Here is their comments from our guestbook: "As everyone has said it is a great place to stay - very comfortable - good CD & DVD collections. Thank you Jim & Pauline for everything we have thoroughly enjoyed ourselves."

 

Au revoir

 

The Knolls & The Smiths,

Sunshine Coast,

Australia

Choosing a 'home from home' rather than a hotel in the Loire Valley.

It is always interesting to have 'world travelers' visiting our houses here in Southern Touraine it always pleases us when they make a detour from city visiting to include the villages of this beautiful part of France. The Loire Valley offers some great cities as options but the feeling we get is that after weeks in hotel rooms the 'home from home' appeal of a village house has a great draw, even if it is just to have access to a washing machine.We know it's more than that, the last comment in our guestbook at the 'Old Walnut Mill' from some Australian guests sums it up rather well "The space of the cottage after hotel rooms was wonderful" and "Tumbling down to brekky each morning in our PJ's was very relaxing"

Guest appearance...

I love Loches, it's one of our favourite places here in Southern Touraine but I don't like the slogan they have chosen to promote this fine town. "I Loches You" ?? the name Loches translates in English to 'Grouper' which is, as far as I know an ugly big fish...so hardly appropriate!

Why didn't they just leave it as 'I Love Loches' methinks they overthought it!

Anyway they do try and encourage the use of it as in the short video below which features an  "Australian" who just happened to be staying at our rental house the 'Old Walnut Mill'.Can understand her getting involved as she was good fun!

https://www.facebook.com/ILochesYou/videos/650693105095450/

Here is what she thought of her stay at the house:

"Thank you so much for such a lovely beautiful experience in the Loire Valley. We came for 5 days and stayed for 9 in your beautiful home, it made us feel that Sydney, Australia was just around the corner. Your marvellous hospitality was very much appreciated. I wish we could say that we will be back but we are so far away...but we will recommend you to as many people as possible travelling to your wonderful part of the world."

Sharon & Gavin

Australia

June 2016

Bringing tourists to Touraine...

We like the fact that we do our little bit as far as bringing  tourists to Touraine...currently we are delighted to have, Australians in La Belle Vue

an American in the Old Walnut Mill,

a Swiss couple and an English friend in Les Balcons 

                             

plus two English couples in Le Bourg

Sharing...

New guests arrived on Thursday, a lovely couple from Sydney Australia, at the 'Old Walnut Mill' just in time to share our latest batch of fresh strawberries from the garden.

Not enough time for all the Loire Valley has to offer...

The balcony

Said goodbye to our latest guests at 'Les Balcons' yesterday. They had travelled from Australia and visited us as part of a 3 month spell in Europe that was a mix of house swaps and vacation rentals.

Here is their comments from our guestbook:

"This house is a delightful oasis of tranquility.The gardens are exceptional and in particular the covered balcony at the back. Pauline and Jim were extremely kind and generous hosts.
We highly recommend this house as well as the area. It has good cycling routes, many and varied restaurants and the countryside is to die for!"

As we said our goodbyes the said that the area had so much to offer that they would have to return...they would be most welcome!

Welcoming new visitors from Australia to the Loire Valley...

Despite the weather being a little dreich (as we say in Scotland) the wisteria was out to brighten up Les Balcons for the arrival of our latest guests from Australia.

Hi Ho, Hi Ho,it's off to work we go.

February has arrived and the runaway train is fast approaching the station.  After 3 months of down time we are having to think about the impending season.  It is very hard when it is cold and raining to motivate ourselves to leave the fire.

However, today the sun is shining and we have nearly finished some internal tidying up/work at Le Bourg in preparation for this year's guests. Miki, the owner has invested in a woodburner, for which Jim has had to build a raised plinth in the fireplace.


There is a small list of jobs to be done over at Les Balcons  in Le Grand Pressigny  to look forward to as well.

In addition to paying guests this year we are finding ourselves playing host to some family members and hopefully some of our friends, who despite the travel nightmare, are proposing to come visit us.

The booking calendar is looking fairly healthy so far with some previous guests returning and some new ones from as far afield as Australia and America.  We always enjoy meeting new people and have had many an entertaining evening swapping anecdotes over a meal or a glass or two of wine.