Loire Valley Sights 5/8-23/2008

After visiting Paris and Noyon, we toured in the Loire Valley. This map shows many of the places we visited in the Loire Valley. We stayed in Rochecorbon, just to the east of Tour.
The Loire Valley: Mushrooms and more.
We toured the caverns devoted to cultivation of mushrooms.
Entrance to underground mushroom cultivation area. There are many kilometers of underground tunnels, hacked from limestone used to build chateaus in the Loire Valley. Repurposed to cultivation of mushrooms.
Our hostess lectured on the cultivation of mushrooms on bales of select hey.
Beds of mushrooms.
Closeup of mushrooms growing on media.
Mushrooms come in many varieties.
The immensity of the mushroom caves can be appreciated in this shot.
More mushrooms proliferating on bales of hay.
The hay is special — free of horse droppings, etc., that might carry spores of the wrong "stuff."
The best restaurants in France get their mushrooms from these caves.
Leaving the mushroom caves.
Shitake beer.
Shitake mushroom beer.

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