We travelled to France with Hertz Europe and Visit French Wine for unforgettable week of castles, wine, history, french food, vineyards, villages, and sunshine – and loved every minute of it. In between the photoshoots, are all of the other images we snap along the way. This is our photo diary, in Analog.
Our very first sight on landing in Paris – the Ladureé truck at CDG Airport.
We landed in Nantes in the late afternoon, and our first stop was an incredible BnB – Chateau d’Yseron in Vallet.
Morning at our BnB
Grape leaves ready to be turned into cosmetics at Sarmance.
A beautiful dinner at Le Favre d’Anne in Angers – I took more photos of food on this trip than I ever had before. We have never traveled with such a strong focus on food and wine before, and it was a really interesting, informative, completely new journey for us – especially me.
Wearing all pink to blend in with the flowers – shop this Dress and Shoes.
The caves at Ackerman cellars were such a cool experience – they seemed endless and housed a museum on the history of wine-making – as well as huge installations from local artists. This installation was made of just strings and pins, with strategically placed lights to illuminate the entire cave.
Breakfast in France.
And of course it wouldn’t be a stop without a glass of wine! This Rosé, made in the town is named for the castle (see the image of the castle imprinted on to the wine glass.) This Chateau was originally built on an island and is still surrounded by water.
Castles and pink flowers! What else do you need for good photos?
A sunset picnic on the river.
We took a wild tour through the underground cave labyrinth at Troglo Degusto – through the week we learned that in medieval times, when the villages and castles were all being built, they mined stone from the mountains and created this massive network of underground caves – that were later used for wine aging, mushroom farming, and during the World Wars. This cave had markings from all of these uses all over the walls, and was full of underground wells, history, and oddities – one of the coolest experiences we had.
Finally made it to Sancerre and the hillsides full of vineyards.
Rooftop views of Sancerre.
And towers from the 14th century! Being from California, I’ve always been so awed by all this history that you can walk through and touch in Europe – here, our oldest structures are from the 1800’s at the most, but in Europe, it seems like almost every village goes back centuries.
Our last castle – Pesselieres.
And finally – Paris! We stayed in Paris just a couple of extra days after the Loire Valley, since you can’t fly through Paris and not stop in the city! We were here last summer and had the most amazing time – it was so great to be back for just a taste.
Every cafe in Paris is beautiful.
One of my favorite hotels in the world.
