The daily diary of a wandering restaurateur
May 8 - The Road to the Loire Valley

We made it to Avrille in good order, wandered around the town a bit and picked up some bread, ham and cheese for a picnic. Avrille is a suburb of Angers and, while a pleasant place, does not have the charm of the old stone villages.

Since we were not expected until 3:00 so we followed the signs for a chateau near the town. We found the building but it is not open to the public, except for one or two ground floor rooms that are used by the local golf course! It was a decent enough place for a picnic, however. After a nosh, it was naptime. (Maybe we are getting old after all!)

We connected with Claude and Marie Magnien, our ATC hosts, and expected to settle in, catch dinner somewhere and see the area tomorrow. Instead, we were taken underwing and promptly escorted on a tour of the old town of Angers. It was a holiday weekend and they had more free time than usual. We did not take the castle tour in Angers (they had already begged off, saying they had seen it too many times!)... but we were castled-out anyway. We walked around the old quarter of town which still has some great medieval buildings left. They tell us that it is often the setting for shooting period movies.

The nicest surprise of the day was that they invited us to dinner at their home when we returned. As with our first dinner of the trip it was simple -- white asparagus, ham, the first French potatoes of the season, bread and wine, followed by a cheese plate and fresh strawberries. Perfect!

Around Angers

La Maison Magnien


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