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Categories: Loire Valley, Off the Beaten Track in France
Discussed in this Episode
- Saumur
- Chinon
- Château de Saumur
- Château de Brézé
- Château de Montreuil-Bellay
- Château du Riveau
- Château de Montsoreau
- Abbaye Royale de Fontevraud
- Fontevraud L'Abbaye
- Château de Chinon
- Château de Langeais
- Château de l'Islette
- Château d'Ussé
- Château de Brissac
- Château de Serrant
- Angers
- Turquant
- Montsoreau
- Le Thouet River
- Loire River
- Vienne River
- Le Pot de Lapin (Saumur)
- A Charbon (Chinon)
I was traveling with my husband, Florian. I am 43 and Florian is 40. Florian is originally French, but obtained American citizenship 6 years ago. I am originally American, but obtained French citizen in 2021. We have been living for the past 6 years in Chantilly, France, north of Paris in the Oise department
in the Hauts de France Region.
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We were on our trip from May 4 through May 10, 2024. May is a very special month in France as there multiple bank holidays so we have lots of days off. During this week we had 2 bank holidays: May 8 (Victory in Europe) and May 9 (Ascension Day). In addition, our employers gave us “le pont” of Friday,
May 10 off so for our one week vacation, we only had to take off 2 days of work.
Focusing on the Western part of the Loire Valley
Our trip focused in the western part of the Loire Valley. During this trip, we visited 2 different departments in 2 different regions of France. We spent 4 days in between Saumur and Chinon and 2 days around Angers. Between these locations we were back and forth in the Indre-et-Loire departement
in the Centre-Val de Loire region and in the Maine-et-Loire departement in the Pays de la Loire region.
We named the trip, The ‘”other” chateaux of the Loire Valley. We named it that because we had done a trip the Loire Valley in August 2020 where we visited the more well-known sites like Chambord, Chenonceu, Cheverny etc. This time, we went more to the west and visited some of the lesser-known,
but equally beautiful and perhaps more unique, chateaux in the Indre-et-Loire and the Maine-et-Loire departments.
In a few words, we could summarize our trip as: 2 Loire departments, 13 chateaux, the cities of Angers, Saumur et Chinon, a troglodyte village, 2 wine tastings, some amazing restaurants, bike rides through the Loire vineyards, a flood and picnics in the countryside!
Hotels to consider in this area
Chateau de Brissac: This one was our favorite chateau we visited on the trip. It is located about 20 minutes outside of Angers. It was huge with 6-7 floors. On one of the top floors, they had build a fully function theater with seats for about 50 people. In the basement, a wine tasting area where we were able to taste 3 different types of rosé wine produced on site. The grounds were huge: there was a mini underground river, a mausoleum and stables to visit.
A bike ride we took on our 2nd day. Our first stop was the town of Turquant, which is a troglydyte village; a village where many of the homes and businesses are built directly into caves. Here there were several
art galleries in the caves and we visited the Domaine des Amandiers winery, which had its production site in one of the caves. We tried a great crémant rosé, which was much sweeter than a normal crémant; we bought a bottle for 8.70€.
Next stop on the bike trip, the town of Montsoreau, one of the “plus beau village de France”. We saw signs saying that the Olympic torch would pass through this town before the July Olympics. Here we visited the Chateau de
Montsoreau. Inside it was turned into a modern art gallery, but the best part was the views from the roof which we could access of the Loire River just below.
Last stop on the bike ride was the L’Abbaye Royale Fontevraud, a beautiful site of many buildings with various art exhibitions. It went from being a Royal Abbey which houses the tombs of Eleanor of Aquitaine and Richard the Lionhearted to a prison to now a museum.
Royal Fortress of Chinon: Perched on a hill above the Vienne River, the
views from the fortress were the best of the trip. It was really cool to see all the slate roofs of the village below. Many ruins and buildings to explore in this fortress complex. Walking Tour of Angers. We picked up a brochure from the tourist office with a great walking tour of the city. The route was indicated
by a painted blue line on the sidewalk so very easy to follow. On the tour, we hit all the main sites, including the Chateau d’Angers with its huge tower ramparts and the amazing Apocalypse Tapestry (one of the largest medieval tapestries still in existence), the Cathedrale Maurice, Le musée des beaux-arts,
and La galerie David d’Angers, an amazing find of statues and casts housed in a renovated church with a glass ceiling.
Chateau du Rivau: one of the most unique and beautiful gardens
we have seen. Many different areas to explore with a maze, bee hives, truffle trees, and different types of birds (phoenix, peacocks). Inside was a nice mix of historic pieces, hunting trophies and modern art.
Chateau Langeais: Situated in a super cute, medieval town. We
discovered lots of history in the interior as in this castle there was a secret wedding between Anne de Bretagne and Charles VIII, King of France in the 1400s. They had a multi-media exhibition about this event. In the garden, we found this massive 3 story treehouse which gave us some great pictures.
Chateau d’Usse: Immense property with its own mini cathedral, but the
interesting piece about this one was that the chateau was the inspiration for the story of Sleeping Beauty by Charles Perraud. In the top floors, they had a whole exhibition telling the famous story with different scenes displayed with mannequins.
Wine Tasting in Angers at La Maison des Vins. As part of the Angers City Pass, we received a free wine tasting. The server took a great time to explain all the various wines of the region and we were able to try all the local varieties: a crémant, 2 rosés, 1 white, 1 red and 1 moelleux (very sweet wine).
Château de Brézé with its « un château sous un château », massive
network of underground tunnels and rooms carved out through the years as an underground fortress.
Chateau de Montreuil-Bellay smaller château, but great views of
the Le Thouet river. We had a memorable experience here as when we were touring the gardens, a bird pooped on Florian’s coat. As we heard this is good luck, we went and bought a lottery ticket right away across the street, but unfortunately, we didn’t win.
Chateau de Serrant: Located about 20 minutes outside of Angers.
While this château wasn’t the most beautiful one we visited, it provided a unique view of the servant areas in the basement of the chateau. We were able to see the giant kitchens, the office of the butler, where the servants ate and the laundry area.
How did you get around?
We drove with our car from our home in Chantilly (which is about 45 minutes north of Paris) to our first stop in Saumur. It was about a 4 hour drive for us, probably like 3.5 hour drive from Paris. We left pretty early at 6am (to maximize the day) on a Saturday so not much traffic at all.
The highway system in France is extremely well maintained, by private companies actually, but this means there are many tolls. It was about 35€ in tolls each way for the trip. Also, in France, there are automatic sensors to check for speeding. If “flashed” by one of these sensors, you will receive a ticket fine later on. In particular, watch out on the speed limit when it is raining as it goes from normal 130kph to 110kph. On the way there, it was raining on and off and we think we were flashed above going 110kph even though it wasn’t raining anymore. We are waiting to see if we get a ticket or not; fingers crossed!
We brought our bikes with us and did a few bike rides from the various sights. It is relatively flat in the Loire Valley with many bike paths so the region is made for biking. However, it wasn’t the best weather when we were there so we had to cancel one of bike rides and cut one short as it started to downpour.
Also, the season had been incredibely wet and many of the rivers in the area had flooded quite badly so we had to reroute ourselves in a few of our bike ride as the paths next to the rivers were flooded in several areas.
For our bike rides, I had build the itineraires using google maps. 9 out of 10 times, it creates great routes, but a few times we got caught with google maps taking us through paths in the middle of food crops where it became difficult to ride or down overgrown paths that lead no where. So it is good to
triple check the routes before heading out, especially if it is raining!
Did you make any mistakes on this trip?
Double check opening times and if there certain days sites and/or restaurants are not open. One of the cultural sites we wanted to visit in Angers (Le musée Pincé) were not opened when we arrived as they had some very specific opening hours: either only on weekends or during the school holidays. Also, as
we weren’t visiting big cities, we strugged a bit to find a restaurant open on Monday night for dinner as many places are closed on Mondays.
Also, check in advance if some sites require a reservation. We had hoped to to a tour visit to the Cointreau factory (orange liquor) in Angers, but when I checked the website the day before, all the tours required a reservation and were already sold out. C’est la vie!
Anything you didn’t like on this trip?
There was one chateau that we visited that was a bit weird in the fact that a family still lives there and the tour included the modern parts of the chateau
they lived in. It was kind of interesting to see a modern kitchen in a medieval caste, but I could have gone without seeing their bathroom and their actual bedroom.
Tips to share with other visitors
Pretty much every town in France has a tourist office. Make sure to check out these offices either via their websites or in person. Here you can find a lot of great advice and save a lot of money. For example, on the tourist website for Angers, I had discovered they offered this Angers City Pass, which for
one price grants you access to around 25 sites in and around Angers. It also includes a trip on the tourist train that runs around the city, 2 hours of free parking, discounts on the public transportation and bike rental and a free wine tasting at the Maison des Vins. You can buy a 24, 48 or 72 hour version. We
bought the 48h version for 28€. This turned into a great value as all the sites we used the Pass for would have cost over 50€.
Also, another travel tip. When you visit a cultural site, ask them if they are in partnership with other local sites as sometimes when you buy entrance at one, you can get a discount ticket at the other ones. We discovered this at several of the chateaux we visited (Chateau de Brézé and Chateau de Montreuil-Belly
for example).
Was this trip restful or stressful?
When we travel, we like to see as much as possible so we have a full iteninary, but we structure our day so there is a good balance. In the morning, we would plan all our cultural visits and bike rides. We would be back at our hotel / apartment no later than 3PM which gave us plenty of down time in the afternoon to relax by reading, watching TV or hanging out by the pool (in our first hotel). Also, when we are on vacation, we make sure to have a few days at home at the end before going back to work. This time, we were back home on a Friday afternoon so it still gave us a full weekend. This way we weren’t traveling back on a Sunday with work the next day. So for us it was just right.
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Episode Page TranscriptCategories: Loire Valley, Off the Beaten Track in France