Château du Rivau, Loire Valley France Day Trip

by Paige Donner

Planning a day trip from Paris is always a fun undertaking. Even if the designated day or weekend is still weeks away, just thinking about getting out of the city and into some good countryside fresh air feels exhilarating.

Château du Rivau in the Loire Valley offers just such a day trip. This château has been renovated and refurbished with painstaking TLC by its family owners. Today, one of the daughters also runs the newly opened restaurant which serves up the fresh vegetables she cultivates on the property in the way of fresh soups and salads. Served with warm, crusty just-baked bread and some of their very own AOC Chinon (Cab Franc), this makes for a delicious, hearty, healthy meal any time of year but especially in late winter or early spring when there is still a nip to the air.

Château du Rivau es des Ecuries Royales (royal stables) et ses jardins de conte de fées (fairytale gardens) stand ready and waiting to welcome you. What’s more, these gardens are deserving of their ‘fairytale’ designation since they have preserved some of the oldest strains of seed and vegetables found in the Région Centre-Val-de-Loire and are labeled CCVS (Conservatoire des Collections végétales Spécialisées).

The nearest main train station is in Tours and then you can arrange with the château in advance for their driver to come and collect you for the picturesque 45 minute ride to the property. In all, it’s about 2 hours journey from Paris.