France - Vaas to Bourgueil
We left our private spot and drove down the south side of the Loir towards Le Lude passing more sleepy villages of cave houses. We had pinpointed a campsite near Marcon by the Loir with a lake which we thought looked good. We arrived whilst it was closed for lunch - we are learning that most campsites close from 12-2pm. We decided to have a look around and realised the site was massive with lots of permanent mobile homes and you could not get near the river, so we drove on to Vaas. Here we found a small municipal campsite and we picked a spot with power. After lunch we walked into town to find the town hall as the campsite instructions stated that if there was no one manning the site that is where you had to pay! So Mike found his way in and they sent us back to the site to be met by the campsite women who we could pay. We then had a short walk round the town to return to the site to find our neighbours were an English couple we had met at Chateaudun. So we had good chat about cycling and golf.
In the morning we headed for Le Lude. We managed to park in the shade at the free aire so left the dogs and headed into town. Le Lude has an amazing chateau which was rebuilt around 1500 and has two facades- the French Renaissance side faces town whilst the 18th century Neo-Classical side faces the fine gardens. We had a pleasant walk around the gardens, old kitchen and stables. It was lovely to walk through the beautiful rose garden and admire the views across the lower gardens and Loir.
From here, after seeking advice at the Tourist Office we headed to Luche-Pringe where we managed to park and walk down the river which the dogs loved. We then had a picnic lunch on a bench overlooking the pretty Merve Mill.
After lunch we headed to Bourgueil. We thought we would try and stay at a vineyard with France Passion. Just outside the town we found Domaine de L'Asseliere. We were welcomed by a very friendly French 'vigneron' who directed us to some trees amidst his vines. What a find! We basically had a grassy area to ourselves where the dogs could roam freely. Once settled we had a quick explore and found a row of fruit trees, so picked up a couple of fallen peaches for breakfast. We then went to buy some wine! After a private tasting we purchased three lovely bottles of Cabinet Franc - one of which we sampled with our sausages and salad.