Moron France 08

Ronin wrote in news:478e8f00$0$505$815e3792 @news.qwest.net:

Montlouis is a good chenin stay in chenenceau at Le Bon Laboureur nice restaurant in a decent hotel.

We didn't stay there, but my wife and I had dinner at Le Bon Laboureur some years ago. We enjoyed it very much.

Hi Jim,

As chance would have it, I was just driving on the Le Mans course 2 weeks ago... looking for a faucet. Some of the track gets used for the main drag, with Jersey Barriers to force you through endless traffic circles. (This is next to the Musée de l'Auto).

Each year we admire the classic cars coming down from the UK: a real spectacle.

So, from the track you are already on the A28 (practically) towards Tours. This puts Jasnières within very easy shooting distance, perhaps 15 minutes. This is the northern-most of the Loire appellations, where some legendary white is made. Francois Fresneau is making some very good wines. Also his Coteaux du Loir and Pinor d'Aunis are worth seeking out.

Tours is a little bit of a mess, road construction-wise just now, so unless you've time to spare I'd recommend sticking to the Vouvray and Montlouis area. Chinon is always worth a visit but you're likely to sit in some traffic on the Tours ring road.

If you do get over to Chinon, Baudry is worth a visit, making some very interesting wines now. Johan Spelty, also.

There are a few "maisons du vin" in the Touraine, some people like to go to these as a way to explore a lot of the regional wines in one go. Good for discovery. Many like the Maison du Vin de Saumur on the quai in Saumur, and I think it's not bad if not up to the welcome at the old syndicate. You can find more info at

As you get up towards Angers there are a lot of interesting stickies. Angers is also just a hop from Le Mans on the autoroute, although not the same direction. It seems to me there are a couple of excellent restaurants in Angers, though I'd have to look up to give you names.

Sorry, Sancerre is not very close.

Oh, in Le Mans avoid at all costs the neighborhood of the train station if at all possible, at least in the car. They're redoing the station and surrounding roads, it's a parking lot during the day. (This said very convenient to get to Le Mans from Roissy CDG by TGV, it's a direct line.)

-E

DOmaine de Belliviere also excellent

Thank you all for your suggestions! I'm sure we will check them all out. As for Sancerre, as we are coming from the West Coast of the US, (Portland and Berkeley) we are not just going for the weekend - we are going to nose about for a week or so, then my wife and I are going to Scotland for a while with kids and grandkids who live in Italy.

Sounds like a nice trip. According to viamichelin it is 3h36 minutes from Le Mans to Sancerre; bearing in mind that the calculation is using speed limits and no stops, it will almost certainly be a 4 hour drive (there's a lot of National, no passing). For me that's too far for a day trip given that the A/R is 8 hours in the car, so I'd look for a place to stay in the Sancerre area.

If you're a fan of Sancerre and you do get out there, you might try to visit Menetou-Salon, which has very similar character but is less known and hence cheaper.

-E

no passing).

Menetou-Salon,

I'd second that, as I find Sancerre to be close to a wasteland except for a small number of (pricey) producers in Chavignol. Quincy also has some interesting wines, but for a week-long journey how about an excursion the other direction to the Nantais? Are these all going to be day trips from Le Mans, Ronin? Or are you planning on overnighting somewhere?

Mark Lipton

Our usual MO is to have the original couple of days set - in this case Le Mans, then just follow our noses. Serendipity reigns! Thanks again!