Messing about off the boat

The chateau de la Lorie seems like Loire only dyslexic, but that's it's real name.   It's a tidy little pile, about a half-hour ramble from our mooring at Segré, so we strolled over to it on the Saturday morning to take a look.

Their website here tells you all you need to know, but the guided tour was worth doing.  I rather got the impression that the guide's favourite story is of when Queen Elizabeth the Queen Mother came to dine, and the oven chose that one day in all its entire life, to explode.  Cue secret service running about to see if it was a IRA plot, and chefs going off their heads, dashing into Segré to find something to feed the Queen Mum.

After the tour of the house you can stroll around the grounds as much as you like.  Worth the detour.