Maison des Arts / Casa 1

Our family of five really enjoyed our four-night stay at Maison des Arts House, and particularly appreciated the very warm hospitality of Leticia and her son, Alex. We were welcomed to their spacious, clean, and well-appointed home and shown around the absolutely lovely grounds. The pool was a wonderful bonus during the hot summer days. We loved hanging out together with our hosts, conversing over wine and cheese. The only downside was the absence of fans, especially in the upstairs bedrooms, which were stifling hot with the windows closed, and bug magnets with the windows opened. Overall, this was a wonderful base for our exploration of the Loire Valley chateaux. Thank you, Leticia and Alex! We hope to see you again!

Leticia's residence (actually two adjoining residences, but the other was vacant while we were there) is beautifully and artistically furnished and decorated. It comes very well equipped with everything you might need, and it has an extensive and beautifully landscaped garden where the birds never stop singing (and, very notably, a resident cuckoo bird that we first thought must be a living-room clock.) Of the two bedrooms, one is classically decorated, while the walls of the second are covered in original art depicting various fairy tales. Although there is a second bathroom downstairs, the two bedrooms (on the upper floor) share a nicely appointed bathroom with a spacious tub and hand-held shower fixture. This is the perfect launching place for visits to the castle (2 km distant -- go either at the 9 A.M. opening or, as we did, at 4 or 5 P.M., as the crowds leave well before the 7 P.M. closing.) The high point for us was the bike trip that took us from the castle to nearby Bleré (about a 9-mile round trip.) We recommend renting your bike from the Canoe company downstream from the castle. For 10 euros for a 4-hour half-day, you get an excellent 24-speed bike (unlike the clunky 3-speed bikes we have seen elsewhere in France.) There are various places to eat in relatively easy reach, but our favorite was very close by: les Charmilles (tasty pizza and salads as well as many other dishes.) The one issue we had was that the wi-fi did not work in the house for the first two days of our stay. Leticia was very helpful in assisting us to find a work-around (even though she was out of the country at the time). I was convinced that the problem was that the router was unable to penetrate the thick stone walls of the residence, but on the third day, the wi-fi suddenly started to work even in the house, so I am completely mystified as to the source of the problem or how it was fixed. The point is that Leticia did everything possible to address that concern, and that in every other respect, this was for us the ideal place to stay. A beautiful and enchanting place, not to be missed.