Thirty-four years had elapsed since my last visit to the Chateaux of the Kings in the Loire Valley. An email from Pascale inviting me to visit La Tourainière, her chambre d’hote near Tours was all it took to send me on the road.

To create a full two-day excursion I bookended the visit with a night at the elegant Grand Hotel du Lion d’Or in Romorantin-Lantheny a member of Relais & Chateaux.

M and I broke up the trip from Paris with a stop in Orléans and a simple lunch at the plaza where an equestrian statue of Jeanne d’Arc stands guard. We arrived at la Tourainière just in time to grab a shower and dress for apéritifs and dinner.

Clive and Jeannie from London were the other guests in this 3 –room gem. Pascale and Serge served local charcuterie and a Chinon rosé poolside.

Dinner was served in the family dining room highlighted by a tagine de poulet and a scrumptious dessert tarte. Conversation flowed as easily as the wine (don’t worry Pascale speaks English and Serge understands but more importantly he’s always ready to pour another glass.)

It was a lovely night and we enjoyed the fresh air with a homemade eau de vie and a Bolivar Cuban cigar from Serge’s humidor.

After a restful night in our super comfortable room featuring a giant bathtub and big, thirsty towels we strolled the grounds accompanied by Baya, the family dog, before lingering over a bountiful breakfast of Pascale’s homemade pastries, fresh fruit, yogurt, orange juice and coffee.

Chateau de Condé, formerly owned by the American millionaire Charles Bedaux and site of the marriage of Wallis Simpson and the Duke of Windsor.

I first encountered the wines of Chinon at Kermit Lynch’s shop in Berkeley where he introduced Joguet to America. Everyone speaks English and they pour generously.

Next stop was brief visit to Les Hautes Roches, a unique hotel built into the cliffs overlooking the Loire in Rochecorbon. We lingered over a flute on the terrace after owner Christine Rosenfelder gave us a tour.
It was getting late and we still had to traverse the valley so M pointed her Twingo east and off we went in search of the Grand Hotel du Lion d’Or. Originally built in the 16th century by a friend of Francois 1er in the hands of Didier et Marie-Christine Clement it glitters.

The maison is set around and inner courtyard where we relaxed before dinner over flutes of champagne Ruinart rosé with an assortment of Amuse-guele that gave us a delightful sample of what was soon to come out of Chef Clement’s kitchen.

His cooking is influenced by the herbs he finds in the surrounding forests of the Sologne as well as exotic spices from Babylon, Pondichéry, Japan and forgotten spices from the Middle Ages.

We were seated in the main dining room dominated by a spectacular balloon-shaped chandelier and the culinary concert began with a variation on a theme–white asparagus from the Sologne three ways: Gelée a l’Estragon, avec crème glacée d’Asperges; crue au jus d’Orange avec lait d’amandes & citronelle and warm with a sabayon of petit pois et poudre de Bacon. Our sommelier selected a 2009 Cheverny from the Domaine de Veilloux of Michel Quenioux.

This was followed by one of my favorite fish, a Saint-Pierre (John Dory) in sweet curry with crab, orange and mint that managed to be slightly sweet, tart and refreshing–bravo. The 2005 Cour-Cheverny la porte dorée from Philippe Tessier was so good that we stopped atthe winery on our return to Paris to buy a case.

The plump Pigeon farci façon Babylonienne avec abricot et Epices Douces was succulent. Our 2008 Bourgeuil les Quartiers was a special cuvée made expressly for the Lion d’Or by Yannick Amirault.

Dessert was an assortment of color, flavor and texture, crumble de Rhubarbe with milk-shake à la grenadine-nothing like those thick concoctions of four youth, lait glacé au Thé Vert Sakura and my favorite a soufflé of warm bananas with passion fruit sorbet-perfumed air.

The final wine of the evening was the 2008 La Folie des Roses from Xavier Frissant, floral to the nez and bouche-a lovely conclusion to an impeccable evenng.

I can’t wait to go back in the fall when the forests of the Sologne yield their game and M. Clement applies his mastery to their preparation.