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Our Weekend In Vallée du Loir & Le Mans – Part 1

amomentwithfranca · 16 August 2019 · 24 Comments

One of my favourite things to do as a family is to take the girls to explore new places together and create new memories. I am so lucky we are able to do this and especially when we are invited to visit new places on press trips. As was the case with our last trip to spend a weekend in Vallée du Loir & Le Mans.

Ad-Presstrip: I was invited by the Vallée du Loir & Le Mans Tourist Boards to a press trip to visit the area. Everything was complimentary for the purpose of this blog post. 

I was so excited to visit with Nick and the girls and take them to somewhere we hadn’t visited before. There was a full itinerary planned for us starting with our travel on a Brittany Ferries from Portsmouth.

Travelling Via Brittany Ferries

It was an early start as we had to be in the queue to check from 7.15 am. Luckily we had stayed over in Aldershot so we were close by. It takes around 45 minutes to check in after which we went to our cabin. The girls loved this and immediately wanted to pull open the bunk beds to check them out. The rest of the journey consisted of us checking out everything on board.

They had a movie for us to watch but the girls were too busy exploring so didn’t watch it, but we did spend a lot of time in the arcade! How cool is it they have an arcade on the ferry!

Arriving In France

Our trip was to take us to explore to Vallée du Loir and Le Mans. The Loir Valley is charm itself located on the Sarthe River. A favourite with hikers and nature lovers alike, the hillsides of the Sarthe River are decorated with troglodyte wine cellars, traditional villages, splendid chateaux and luxurious gardens. if you are looking for a picturesque holiday off the beaten track, The Loir Valley won’t disappoint.

We arrived in France at 3 pm. This gave us plenty of time to get to Vallée du Loir and our accommodation. We were staying at Camping La Plage in Mansigne, Pays De La Loire.

It is such a beautiful place. The views were beautiful. We stayed in one of the chalets on site, and were able to use the facilities including a swimming pool and a gorgeous lake with its own beach too! The chalets are separate from the campsite in a self-contained area and each one comes with a TV, a coffee maker, a toaster, a microwave, a mini-oven, a dishwasher and a washing machine.

After a long day of travelling the girls were really hot and desperate to get into the pool. So we decided to all go in before our dinner reservations to cool off and have some fun. I was so impressed with how clean the pool was. It is a covered pool and looks as if it was just built. After some fun in the pool, it was time to head back and get ready for our dinner reservations.

La Table De Laurène

La Table de Laurène is a charming bistro that appeals to both tourists and locals alike. With over two years of service providing authentic cuisine in a Parisian style decor, it is recommended you book ahead to be guaranteed a place at this restaurant. I don’t know about you but it sounds amazing don’t you think?

The owners spoke very little English but this didn’t stop us from ordering our dishes. We all understood each other at the end. Our dinner was delicious. The girls ordered burgers with fries and Nick ordered beaf and I ordered pork. We were given first a lovely gazpacho and salmon as a pre snack. Then I had Le poelon campagnard as a starter. It was really nice. The girls and Nick had ice cream for dessert. I couldn’t eat more.

It was really busy when we arrived which was good to see and surprisingly there were still many children dining. However, I suppose this is normal in France. I would definitely agree that you should book and not just turn up as you may not be able to dine.

We then headed back to our chalet for some rest as our next two days were fully booked so we could explore everything the region has to offer.

Exploring Vallée Du Loir

First thing in the morning we woke up and got changed to start our day. The girls were very excited to explore the area. While I was getting ready they went for a quick walk around the campsite. It was sunny and had beautiful views.

We went to Château du Lude – we loved this castle. It was huge and it has gorgeous gardens. The family was still living there which is very exciting. We arrived before it was open to the public so we saw some members of the family playing with their kids. It gave us a completely different experience seeing them there.

The girls were then changed into princesses outfits to go around the castle. We visited their different rooms which were used by the family. It was so nice. We took so many photos in the garden. We were lucky that we had a tour guide with us so we got some lovely family photos that morning.

We spent all morning walking around the castle. After that, we went to Zoo de la Flèche. The zoo visit was AMAZING. I can highly recommend this zoo to visit because they have so many animals that I have never seen in person before. The highlight for us was the polar bear. It was massive. We saw him swimming and also walking around so we were very lucky.

The girls loved the giraffes, elephants and also white tigers and white lions. We have been so many times to the London zoo but this zoo was a completely different experience for us. We really enjoyed it.

We then went back to the camping site for more swimming and walking around. The girls went with Nick to the beach area and they caught the most amazing sunset. We then had a lovely dinner at the chalet admiring the views of the lake. It was really lovely. We stayed that night at our chalet and enjoyed each other’s company.

We had a great first day we all really enjoyed it. To find out what we got up to over the next two days make sure to catch my second post Our Weekend In Vallée du Loir & Le Mans – Part 2. I will also be doing more in-depth posts on all the attractions and places we visited. I feel this is great information to have especially if you are visiting with children!

Have you been to Vallée du Loir & Le Mans before? If yes, which places did you visit around the area? 

*Disclosure: I was invited by the Vallée du Loir & Le Mans Tourist Boards to a press trip to visit the area. Everything was complimentary for the purpose of this blog post. 

Thanks for stopping by,

Love you all ❤️

Franca  💋

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Filed Under: Press Trips, Family, Food, Kids, Travel

Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. Samantha O'D says

    3 September 2019 at

    Great photos, looks lovely

    Reply
    • amomentwithfranca says

      3 September 2019 at

      Thank you

      Reply
  2. Dion Petrie says

    6 September 2019 at

    Looks like a lovely place

    Reply
  3. Lynn Neal says

    6 September 2019 at

    The Chatueax looks like a wonderful place to explore!

    Reply
  4. Kelly Knowles says

    6 September 2019 at

    Pictures are lovely

    Reply
  5. Rachael Sexey says

    8 September 2019 at

    Your pictures are beautiful

    Reply
    • amomentwithfranca says

      8 September 2019 at

      Thank you

      Reply
  6. Veronica Lee says

    15 September 2019 at

    I would love to explore the chateaux. Fabulous photos as always, Franca.

    #Kcacols

    Reply
  7. Lydia C. Lee says

    15 September 2019 at

    How gorgeous! #KCACOLS

    Reply
  8. Tracey Bowden says

    15 September 2019 at

    This looks like such a lovely place to stay it’s so pretty #kcacols

    Reply
  9. Karen, the next best thing to mummy says

    15 September 2019 at

    Looks like you had a great weekend#kcacols@_karendennis

    Reply
  10. Sam says

    15 September 2019 at

    Looks gorogeus and perfect for a family holiday x #kcacols

    Reply
  11. Fiona Cambouropoulos says

    15 September 2019 at

    I always think a holiday starts when you reach the airport or ferry terminal. Looks a wonderful place to stay and the pool looks great fun #KCACOLS

    Reply
  12. Enda Sheppard says

    17 September 2019 at

    Looks like a fab place, great pix, and you all look so chilled! #KACOLS

    Reply
  13. Ella @ Typical Mummy says

    19 September 2019 at

    We love France but have never visited this area before- somewhere to add to the very long “to-do” list!! The chateau looks absolutely stunning and the zoo sounds amazing!! #KCACOLS

    Reply
  14. Jo (A Rose Tinted World) says

    19 September 2019 at

    What a lovely place! The chateau looks like something out of Disney, and ferries have definitely changed since my last #KCACOLS

    Reply
  15. Madeline (This Glorious Life) says

    20 September 2019 at

    It looks amazing, what a beautiful part of the world! The zoo sounds brilliant too, I bet the girls loved it! x #KCACOLS

    Reply
  16. Tracey Carr says

    25 September 2019 at

    I have never been to that part of France but like everywhere in France it looks beautiful! I would love to bring my girls there some day #KCACOLS

    Reply
  17. Twicemicrowaved tea says

    25 September 2019 at

    This looks like a great place to visit (especially the restaurant!). How lovely that your girls got to wear princess dresses in the chateau. My little girl would love it! #kcacols

    Reply
  18. cassie says

    25 September 2019 at

    It looks and sounds so beautiful and so simple to get to. I really need to bear this in mind as I try to get out of staycation mode. #KCACOLS

    Reply
  19. Jade says

    25 September 2019 at

    I haven’t been to Vallée du Loir & Le Mans but would love to go. I think I had assumed it was more of a grown ups holiday so great to see that there is the zoo and the accomodation seems really family friendly. May have to bump this up my list.

    Reply
  20. Kelly-Anne says

    26 September 2019 at

    Wow, honestly this place looks so amazing. I would love to stay somewhere like here as it looks like a great place for families #kcacols

    Reply
  21. Crummy Mummy says

    28 September 2019 at

    We’re going to France next year & are planning a stay in Champagne – planning & booking it now & cannot wait! #KCACOLS

    Reply
  22. Bread says

    28 September 2019 at

    Looks lovely. I haven’t been to France in years. #kcacols

    Reply

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Hi, I'm Franca, a lawyer mum of 2 gorgeous girls married to my best friend, living in London. Award nominated parenting & lifestyle blogger. Read More…

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