It was in October of the year 2000. We were both feeling pretty burned out. We decided to spend a week in the Loire Valley in Vouvray, followed by a week in Champagne and Normandy, and then a week in Paris. After the week exploring the Loire Valley, from Chinon to Chenonceaux and Chambord and Blois, we were driving over to Reims in Champagne just for fun. Half way from Vouvray to Champagne we needed to have dinner and spend the night before continuing. We ended up in a place called Cosne-sur-Loire, which is right across the river from Sancerre. We had spent a day in Sancerre a few years earlier, so we decided to try some other place.
![](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgNRbMVYhwFif3AFAKANltAGUpBxpTAaf6H_oKVVuU3jj_dX0SC27Sry4Hq2wr7m9YfJfoJfzrMbN8Gef-tbDCGvSXnyE0fG0D4gtHFuo27tsC_V0YWYAgcqKAjXT4frFXsTUhyphenhyphenhbQYbvbOT26hgvzWf2a0CjaK9CQ5jr3hHjCqHK0046tRpoWv/s860/1P0004676c.jpg)
Here's the hotel. It was part of the Logis de France chain. We had stayed in Logis de France hotels before and liked them. This one happened to have a very good restaurant, and it was really bustling that evening. The food was excellent but I don't remember what we ate. —
Relais in the name of the restaurant basically means a roadhouse or tavern. I can't remember if we had a reservation or not.
![](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjUMTcR0LxYBhWKXIBqNzrdxVzD_ryvZQuf4n9PAiNgIy78D40nCh_lu3y0EdUgvEod1sRBlH2kkJopfa7VBUW0AhJbk7Z_YxFKB88T87n-nyF21or8buE1ZFNxwompZ7eFT69aLGtISJmAMPNS1terejiMgfg-GuJytBYP7bL99LKLyoXlkUgA/s860/5P0004684c.jpg)
Two years later, we had decided to explore the possibility of selling our San Francisco house and relocating to France. We started our search in the Loire Valley because we had liked spending a week there in 2000. We looked at houses in Amboise (near Vouvray), in Montrichard (close to Chenonceaux), and in the Saint-Aignan area. We ended up finding a house we liked in Saint-Aignan. I wonder if we should have looked at houses around Sancerre and Cosne.
We love this part of France and know Cosne and the Logis where you stayed. We still visit occasionally to buy wine - Pouilly Fumé and Sancerre. It’s hard to get good bottles of these wines here in the Drôme, sadly.
ReplyDeleteYou made the right choice, but there are so many good places to live and eat in France it may make you wonder.
ReplyDeleteYou certainly do seem to have landed in a good spot, as far as the rest of us can see!
ReplyDeleteI discovered this fantastic blog through a mention in the palmetto state armory military discount code, and I'm thrilled to have found such delicious recipes. Keep up the great work!
ReplyDeletehttps://savingcentstogether.com/promotions/palmetto-state-armory-military-discount