Great views, fine wine and chickens make a trip to Le Loir and the Loire Valley well worth the effort

IT’S not often you check in to a hotel and are shown a chicken with your name.

But then Hotel de France in the Loire Valley is a one oeuf.

The bird in the photograph was called Audrey, just like my wife.

We had come to sample the region’s wines, not its poultry.

But the hotel’s friendly director was keen to show Audrey her feathered namesake.

And why not? It was an attractive bird after all.

Expat Sally Carpenter moved to France three years ago with her partner Paul Jeffryes.

They took over the running of this picturesque hotel on the banks of Le Loir river (the quieter little brother of the famed Loire) — and the birds were proof they had embraced the Gallic Good Life.

And that, of course, also includes wine, which was what most interested my wife about this trip.

When I also mentioned Hollywood legend Steve McQueen had stayed at the hotel, our own Great Escape from the kids was rapidly turning into her ideal short break.

Eurostar and the TGV whisked us from London to Tours, then a hotel transfer to the village of La Chartre-sur-le-Loir.

On stepping through the ivy-clad entrance you are greeted by photos of Hotel de France’s famous past, a roaring, romantic ride through the halcyon days of the Le Mans 24 Hours race.

Upstairs, the hotel’s 22 beautifully decorated suites are named after racing legends that have stayed there.

We took up residence in the chic and spotlessly clean Carroll Shelby suite (he won the 1959 Le Mans), while other guests occupied rooms dedicated to British drivers Sir Stirling Moss, Sir Jackie Stewart, Graham Hill and Derek Bell.

Inspired by our surroundings, we sped off to the hotel restaurant and refuelled with sirloin steak and the flambéed prawns (we ignored the poulet as a mark of respect) and washed it down with plenty of the local red, Coteaux du Loir.

The next morning we set off on our trip to the local wine caves — an 11-mile circuit navigated by bicycles.

The hotel will give details of where to go and how to get there.

Usually, my wife would refuse to ride a bike, yet she took off like someone competing at the nearby Le Mans circuit — proof that a claret and stick approach does work.

We screeched to a halt at Domaine Gigou. After a tour of its wine- making process from the charming Dorothy, we left with two bottles of a sparkling red (something we had never encountered before).

Next we headed to Domaine des Gauletteries for a fascinating tour of the underground tunnels used to store wine for generations (the tuffeau stone walls keep the temperature at 11-12C).