Culture of La Touraine/ Loire Valley?

Question

doing a french project, please also site sources. Thanks!

Answer 1

The Touraine/Loire Valley region is actually the heart of standard French culture. It doesn't have any features that might seem "exotic" to standard French culture like Alsace with its Germanic heritage, the Provence with its strong Roman influence, Normandy with its Viking past or the Basque Country with its unique ethnic group in Europe.

The people of the region descend from the Gauls, considered to be the ancesters of the French and the Touraine is where standard French is spoken the best. When people ask about which French accent is considered "neutral", it's the accent of Touraine that is considered the reference.

It is nicknamed "the garden of France" because the Renaissance Kings and court members had residential castles built there: the famous Loire Valley castles. There had been royal castles there since the Middle-Ages though since Chinon was where King Henry II Plantagenêt (father of Richard the Lionhearted + husband of Alienor of Aquitaine) was established in the 12th century at the time when a large part of western France was under British rule.

It is also famous for its wines. You will find more info on wikipedia.org and some pages of the tourist office website:

http://www.tourism-touraine.com/GB_en/