L' Isle Verte, Montsoreau, Loire Valley - 14th - 22nd June 2022
After leaving our 2nd rally site at La Guyonniere, we ventured Northeast for a couple of hours, eventually arriving at the delightful village of Montsoreau. It's one of Frances prettiest villages, nestled alongside the mighty Loire. The journey, in convoy with Robert & Bridget was somewhat uneventful, I don’t even recall circling any roundabouts more than once!
Camping L’Isle Verte is nestled amongst neatly laid out hedges and trees, which whilst a little compact in places did provide some much-needed shade as the temperatures began to soar throughout the week of our stay. The site sits between the main road joining Montsoreau to Saumur, and the River Loire river and is only a short 10 minutes walk from the village centre.
This is where you find the boulangerie/patisserie (selling a range of amazing mouth-watering cakes) and a very well stocked supermarket, described by some as a veritable TARDIS. There's also the local Boucherie and the strategically positioned bar “Lion D’Or or Golden Lion!
Later that evening we enjoyed a warm welcome from our host Clément, the owner of the site and the President of the C’est si Bon group. This was followed by a Table Grill, a cook your own barbecue with a great selection of different meats and vegetables. On this occasion it would have been difficult to criticise the chef !
The following day we all went on a walking tour of Montsoreau, learning about the commune’s history, its culture and way of life, especially the troglodyte dwellings set into the cliffs around the village. The area has always been wealthy (stone, wine, and fruit). The Chateau, the only one built on the bed of the Loire River was also the first to be built in the Renaissance style in France.
After leaving our 2nd rally site at La Guyonniere, we ventured Northeast for a couple of hours, eventually arriving at the delightful village of Montsoreau. It's one of Frances prettiest villages, nestled alongside the mighty Loire. The journey, in convoy with Robert & Bridget was somewhat uneventful, I don’t even recall circling any roundabouts more than once!
Camping L’Isle Verte is nestled amongst neatly laid out hedges and trees, which whilst a little compact in places did provide some much-needed shade as the temperatures began to soar throughout the week of our stay. The site sits between the main road joining Montsoreau to Saumur, and the River Loire river and is only a short 10 minutes walk from the village centre.
This is where you find the boulangerie/patisserie (selling a range of amazing mouth-watering cakes) and a very well stocked supermarket, described by some as a veritable TARDIS. There's also the local Boucherie and the strategically positioned bar “Lion D’Or or Golden Lion!
Later that evening we enjoyed a warm welcome from our host Clément, the owner of the site and the President of the C’est si Bon group. This was followed by a Table Grill, a cook your own barbecue with a great selection of different meats and vegetables. On this occasion it would have been difficult to criticise the chef !
The following day we all went on a walking tour of Montsoreau, learning about the commune’s history, its culture and way of life, especially the troglodyte dwellings set into the cliffs around the village. The area has always been wealthy (stone, wine, and fruit). The Chateau, the only one built on the bed of the Loire River was also the first to be built in the Renaissance style in France.
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Thursday was a free day and the temperature began to soar, topping 40’C on several days (unbeknown to us this was good preparation for the UK temperatures to come!). A few of us found some respite from the heat in the site's swimming pool. Although for the serious swimmers the sight of 20 plus Brits cooling off and having a good old natter probably wasn’t quite what they expected!On Friday morning we went on a coach trip for a guided tour of Chateau Villandry. This is one of the few chateaux that are still furnished and gives a good insight into the luxurious lifestyle of the French aristocracy. After the visit, we had time to visit one of the local restaurants before rejoining the coach.
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Saumur, the local town was just a short bus or taxi ride from L’Isle Verte and many of those on the rally enjoyed a trip or two (or three) allowing us to explore this vibrant white town with its majestic Chateau dominating the skyline. When we visited, along with Robert & Bridget, we took a local taxi in and enjoyed a pleasant day exploring the area, initially by hopping on the little train that trundles around the main sights.
Interspersed between the searingly hot days were some very wet nights with some stunning thunderstorms. The rain did not however dampen our spirits, even when on the Sunday of our stay we all got together and celebrated the 51st wedding anniversary of Graham & Barbara in style with fizz and cake. They did want to do it in 2021 when we should originally have been in France, but COVID got in the way! During the evening, which was hosted by Ray & Carol, we also enjoyed some nice nibbles, more drink, and a hellishly hard music quiz, although I think the difficulty depended on who’s team you were in.
Interspersed between the searingly hot days were some very wet nights with some stunning thunderstorms. The rain did not however dampen our spirits, even when on the Sunday of our stay we all got together and celebrated the 51st wedding anniversary of Graham & Barbara in style with fizz and cake. They did want to do it in 2021 when we should originally have been in France, but COVID got in the way! During the evening, which was hosted by Ray & Carol, we also enjoyed some nice nibbles, more drink, and a hellishly hard music quiz, although I think the difficulty depended on who’s team you were in.
Finally, on our last night we were treated to a hog roast on the terrace, prepared and cooked by Clément. This was enjoyed by all and a fitting end to our week in the Loire; we may also have had a little more wine!
We also had a small presentation for Ray and Carol in recognition of all the work they had done in organising the rallies in France.