Saumur and the Loire Valley
We are delighted to feature, for the third year, a two-centre tour
of the wonderful Loire Valley, its great towns and
stupendous châteaux. The tour will be based in two truly lovely
places from where our excursions will take us into the landscapes, palaces
and villages of this noble region. The itinerary is necessarily highly
selective. There are over 50 major châteaux (mostly dating from
the late Renaissance) and the region boasts scores of unmissable historic
towns and villages, abbeys and churches; it is wine country of great
importance: not to visit a winery would be unpardonable. We have endeavoured
to combine the familiar with the lesser-known and to vary the cultural
and architectural diet (there is a limit, after all, to the number of
late 15th-century dining rooms one can appreciate, however magnificent).
One or two well-known names are therefore missing but represent plenty
of material, perhaps, for ‘The Loire Valley Revisited’ The
group will be travelling by train to Tours (and back). Clients who wish
to avail themselves of the Ryanair flights to Tours or Nantes are very
welcome to do so but will have to make their own way from the airport
to and from the hotels.
DAY 1: We travel from central London to Tours on the Eurostar and TGV.
The total journey time is less than 6 hours. Our home for the first
three nights is the Mercure Bord de Loire a comfortable modern hotel
perfectly located overlooking the river.
DAYS 2 & 3. Saumur is a lovely town lining the banks of the Loire.
Its majestic castle dominates the city centre whilst the atmosphere
of its streets and squares is elegant and welcoming.
On Day 3 we travel to Angers. The great city has much to see: a number
of interesting churches including a fine 14thcentury cathedral, several
fascinating museums and above all, a magnificent 13th-century castle
built by St Louis which contains the 14th-century Tapestry of the Apocalypse,
one of the masterpieces of Western Art.
DAY 4: Leaving Saumur, we journey along the Loire pausing in three outstanding
places: the splendid château of Azay- Le-Rideau, the riverside
town of Chinon with its crumbling castle and picturesque medieval centre
and the gardens of Villandry. Our destination is the Relais des Landes,
a truly wonderful hotel, the very embodiment of perfect French hospitality:
a 16thcentury family country home with – needless to say –
excellent cuisine. It is ideally located at Ouchamps in an idyllic rural
situation some 18 kilometres from Blois.
DAYS 5, 6 & 7: Our first day out takes us to Blois and Fougères-sur-Bièvre.
In addition to its unspoilt old centre, Blois boasts the Loire Château
par excellence, an Italianate royal residence of unsurpassed elegance
whilst Fougères is a real medieval castle and an unmissable example
of the lesser-known châteaux. We are now in the very heart of
this marvellous region where the privileged classes of the 15th and
16th centuries created a wonderland of architectural beauty.
On Day 6 we travel to Amboise and the incomparable house and gardens
(a deluxe picnic site if ever there was one) of Clos-Lucé where
Leonardo Da Vinci spent his last years. On our last full day we visit
the greatest of all châteaux, Chenonceaux. Wonderfully located
and impeccably decorated, this is with reason the best-loved of all
the castles of the Loire. En route, we pause in the charming town and
château of Montrichard.
DAY 8: We return to Tours to take our return journey to London.
THIS TOUR WILL DEPART: 17th June 2010
OUR HOTELS: The Relais des Landes
and the Mercure Bord de Loire.
NUMBER IN PARTY: 12-16
THE PRICE OF THIS TOUR IS: £1460
(single supplement £140)