My husband and I hired Luc to take us on a private 2 day chateau trip to the Loire Valley in early April 2024. The trip was awesome! Everything he mentioned on his website was accurate and completely fulfilled. All activities, meals, accomodations, transportation and wine was included in the price. Upon arrival he took us to a very cute town with a great coffee/pastry/chocolate shop. The restaurants for lunches and dinner were high quality and great service. Our wine pairings with the food were fun and tasty. Our first night was a private dinner in a lovely setting and Luc dropped us off and picked us up when we were done. We toured several chateaus at our own pace. Luc took care of the admissions and made sure we were comfortable with audio guide recordings. We met up at an agreed upon spot when we were finished. We also visited a winery and did a couple different wine tastings throughout the trip.We stayed in his troglodyte for our accommodations. I highly recommend staying there. It was immaculate and finely decorated and all needed amenities were available. There was a spacious private patio that was super cute. Unfortunately for us the weather didn’t allow us to get much use of it. Luc even left us a breakfast basket on our front step the following morning. We really enjoyed seeing the countryside and touring through some of the small villages. The train ride to and from Paris was a quick easy 45 minute trip. The station in Vendome is small and we had no problem finding our host.Luc is a prompt, courteous, knowledgeable tour guide. His English is easily understandable, and he has a vast knowledge in many areas. His attention to detail does not lack. He is a safe driver and attentive to all needs. We felt like we received a lot of service and amenities for the cost.

What a wonderful experience my husband and I had on our first trip to the Loire Valley. I can’t imagine trying to do this ourselves so it was a true privilege to have Luc as our guide and expert. Even with some travel complications outside of our control Luc adapted the schedule for the day to allow for as much as possible, even getting us a special late day wine tasting. The restaurant/lunch that we had was one of the best meals during our entire trip (the rest of the time we were in Paris). Not only was Luc knowledgeable about wine making but also the history of the area and shares some of the best stories… Don’t think twice about using his lovely service!

If you desire an extraordinary private tour of the Loire Valley in France, Luc Bonhomme and his tour company, Loire Valley USA is for you. Besides being a kind and knowledgeable guide with a keen sense of humor, he researches the best restaurants for meals and croissants/coffee to eat along the way. In addition to three chateaux he took us to visit, he researched and found fascinating people for us to meet. He introduced us to the President of a nonprofit museum that celebrates the Martinerie NATO base in Chateauroux, where thousands of Americans served from 1951-1967. He also arranged a tour of another museum dedicated to the American Military during that period. Luc’s amazing research discovered another lady who had worked at the base for ten years with the Americans. Luc gave us tours of the two museums, the old La Martinerie Army base, the Chateauroux-Deols Airport, the hospital where my sister was born, and the old American apartment complex where we lived for three years of my childhood. In addition, we met the son of the first American hamburger joint in France – Mike, son of Mike from Maine in downtown Chateauroux, who we discovered was in my second grade class in the American School in 1958. My husband and I would highly recommend Luc to anyone wishing to tour the Loire Valley in France. He went to college in the US and lived there for many years, so he speaks fluent French and English. Our trip was so much fun and informative – We will never forget it.

“Luc was very attentive, accommodating and helpful to tailor the tour me and my group wanted to have in the Loire Valley, to suit our likes. The tour ran smoothly, although on a group of 9 women! The places we saw where as if taken out from a fairytale, food great, amazing wines and of course great company.”

Luc was an amazing guide from start to finish who picked us up on time and was very attentive for the two days that we were in the beautiful Loire Valley. His car was super nice and worked well. When he first picked us up he surprised us with a cool stop to see some rocks that have been used in the Neolithic times. Unexpected and a great photo op. Then we went to see the most beautiful castle named Chambord. Luc had pre-purchased tickets which also included the walking tour with earbuds for us. A nice plus. Everything was well organized and super fun from there. He took us to a lunch that was one of the best I’ve ever had. Three courses of amazing French cooking The first course looked like a work of art but it was actually some kind of Ceviche. The main course of veal was some of the best I’ve ever had. The meal came complete with all sorts of delicious champagne and wine, and Luc introduced us to the chef and the owner, which was an added plus!! Next we went to see the castle where Leonardo da Vinci lived, with all of the beautiful gardens and brilliant inventions he created. The gardens contained many of his sketches brought to life. Just a really cool experience. As if the day could get any better, Luc drove us to the best winery. Not expensive so I paid a lot of money for shipping (but not the wine) to have 18 bottles shipped home. I’ve already had a bottle and it was delicious. To my delight, the bottles were there waiting on my front step when I arrived back from France. From there Luc took us to Château de Beaulieu, our hotel, which was an amazing historical manor set in a lovely valley that seemed steeped with history and ghosts (in a good way). The food there was also absolutely amazing and it was also three courses, so we definitely were not underfed that day. Delicious!! All of this was all part of his one charge. The next day was just as good as the first day, and Luc was on time, although we were not. Somehow I slept in because the manor was so cozy and comfortable. We then were whisked away to Château Chenonceau renowned for being owned and operated mainly by women. What a beautiful place!! Don’t look down when you get to the top because you might faint! The balcony is so high! Also of note was a black room with a very interesting history tucked away on the top floor. Last we visited Chaumont sur Loire perched at the top of the hill. The castle was lovely but the most amazing thing were the beautiful gardens arranged by various countries for an international garden festival. We liked the French ones the best (of course). The American garden wasn’t too shabby either. The theme was resilience, and we saw the most creative gardens based upon this theme. The experience was five star in every way —first class and extremely luxurious. Luc is the ultimate in guides and introduced us to many of his friends, which was also added to our amazing experience. One of the cool people we met was a woman who owned one of the restaurants where we went to lunch. She was able to read my daughter’s coffee grinds, and gave her a free fortune telling that was quite accurate. Cheers to Luc for another amazing lunch!! I honestly don’t know how he puts all this together for the price. It really was a deal. The icing on the cake was our fast train back to Paris- Luc put us in first class. Bravo Luc! Hope to return soon!!