Tel. +44 (0)1273 600030 (UK)
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Community
This tour is wholly provided by local people running small family businesses. We have established a friendly network of like minded people in the locality to help provide sustainable quality tours small groups of visitors which give a taste of the varied range of locally grown or produced delicacies, in the variable terrain & atmosphere that makes up the Loire Valley.
Each element of the tour is provided by a local, small and family run business - transportation, accommodation, catering, local guides, local advice and wine tasting provided by small family run local vineyards, and celebrates the use of produce from local farm producers of wine, cheese, vegetables, fruit, meat, eggs, bread, jam, honey etc.
Our gourmet tour provides the opportunity to see some of the lesser known small scale producers often run by individuals with a passion for their local heritage, traditional methods, recipes and produce. This greatly enriches your experience (you learn about the real locals & their past) as well as helping the local artisan economy.
In Bourgeuil the local vineyards are literally surrounding the property. The proximity to local wine & food producers ensures seasonal, local food is served. In le Grand Pressigny, the environment is more agricultural with producers within 5km in all directions providing goats cheese, milk, cheese, yoghurt, beef, apples, foie gras, rillettes & duck. A good range for vegetables, fruit and nuts are grown on site ensuring food as fresh as it can be is served. The cookery school sources all its produce by building relationships with local producers and visiting them regularly at the local markets.
Environment
The cookery school & both accommodations are situated in former derelict farm buildings which have been restored using local artisans to higher than standard levels of insulation and energy efficiency (double glazing, low energy electrical goods, light bulbs). Our drainage systems are stand alone & treat all waste via a system of sand filtration and biological action on-site without chemicals this focuses us on the use of only bio-friendly cleaning products.
Transportation is provided for collection from airports or train stations and during the tour it is to capacity wherever possible to minimize the carbon waste, the ideal group size for each tour is 4 as this fills one vehicle with luggage.
We recycle plastic, glass, paper, carton and compost. We insist that our guests to do the same and so provide convenient and appropriate means to do this.
We recommend travel to us by train, a much more eco-friendly solution over renting cars, or air transport to minimize the Co2 emissions. We use locally owned and run businesses for all of our external requirements. These include all our suppliers and the places that we visit during our tours and for meals and shopping.
In summary: we believe in operating a sustainable business offering an environmentally friendly holiday, with a high level of interaction in the local community, benefiting our local economy. Of course, anything can be made better and we are striving to do so a shared bottle of wine and a good meal often being the perfect environment for great ideas to be born!
We invite every traveller who books a holiday via us to send in a review. Because we don't run the holidays they're completely independent and unedited... remember to read between the lines though, as two people on the same holiday can have different views!
