Loire Valley & Central France - Discover France: Experience the Best of France - page 394

quiet, charming Red Benches: rabbit with marmalade, duck with lentils and salmon
with apple vinaigrette, all done with a spicy twist and a smile.

AU BOUCHON LYONNAIS €€
( 02 54 74 12 87; 25 rue des Violettes; lunch menus €12.50, dinner menus €20)
Classic neighbourhood bistro with a flavour of bygone days. The food is straight out
of the Lyonnais cookbook: snails and duck steaks.

Lyonnais

Information
Tourist office (

02 54 90 41 41; www.bloispaysdechambord.com ; 23 place du Château;

9am-7pm)

Getting There & Away
BUS TLC ( 02 54 58 55 44; www.tlcinfo.net ) runs a château shuttle and buses
departing from Blois' train station (tickets €2 on board):
Beaugency Line 16, 55 minutes, four Monday to Saturday, one Sunday.
Chambord Line 3, 40 minutes, four Monday to Saturday, one Sunday.
Cheverny Line 4, 45 minutes, six to eight Monday to Friday, two Saturday, one Sunday.
TRAIN The train station is at the top of the hill on av Jean Laigret.
Amboise €11, 20 minutes, 10 daily.
Orléans €13-20, 45 minutes, hourly.
Paris Gares d'Austerlitz and Montparnasse €34-57, two hours, 26 daily.
Tours €13-19, 40 minutes, 13 daily.

Château de Cheverny
Thought by many to be the most perfectly proportioned château of all, Cheverny (
02 54 79 96 29; www.chateau-cheverny.fr ; adult/child €7.50/3.60;
9.15am-6.45pm Jul & Aug, 9.15am-6.15pm Apr-Jun & Sep, 9.45am-5.30pm Oct,
9.45am-5pm Nov-Mar) represents the zenith of French classical architecture, the
perfect blend of symmetry, geometry and aesthetic order.
Since its construction between 1625 and 1634 by Jacques Hurault, an intendant
to Louis XII, the castle has hardly been altered, and its interior decoration includes
some of the most sumptuous furnishings, tapestries and objets d'art anywhere in
the Loire Valley.