Saumur > Poitiers

Pays de la Loire Region

Departments: Loire-Atlantique, Maine-et-Loire, Mayenne, Sarthe, Vendée.

Population: 3.88 million.

Prefecture: Nantes

Surface area: 32,082 km2

Specialities: biscuits (BN, Lefèvre-Utile). Nantais cake. Seafood. Muscadet, gros plant, fiefs vendéens (wines). Rillettes from Le Mans. Guérande salt. Brioches from Vendée. Curé nantais, fouace (cheese). Cul de veau à l'angevine, Roasted Pork with Le Mans appels, Veal’s liver à la baugeoise, Poularde à l'angevine, Pike in white butter, Salt-crusted sea bass from Guérande, Boiled eels. Bardatte. Chouée. Rillauds.

Major sports clubs: FC Nantes, Stade Lavallois, Le Mans FC (football). Le Mans Sarthe Basket. Automobile Club de l'Ouest.

Major competitions: Le Mans 24 Hours (motor-racing). French Motorcycle Grand Prix. Circuit de la Sarthe, Tour de Vendée, Trophée Madiot (cycling). La Baule International Showjumping. Vendée Globe.

Festivals: La Folle Journée (Nantes and region). International Flower Festival in Nantes. Hellfest in Clisson. Utopiales in Nantes. Laval Virtual. Europajazz Festival. Anjou Festival in Angers.  Carnival in Cholet. Poupet Festival.

Economy: the region's main strength is its food industry. This sector employed nearly 50,000 people (2nd region in France) and generated sales of €13 billion (3rd region in France). The region also ranks 3rd in meat production (51 pc), milk production (19 pc) and grain processing (20 pc), with 67 pc of its territory occupied by agriculture. Pays de la Loire is France's leading region for the production of beef, poultry (red label), rabbit and duck, and 2nd for milk, poultry (single), pork and potatoes. Horticulture.

Tourist attractions: The Loire Valley is a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Le Puy du Fou. dAnne de Bretagne castle in Nantes, Machines en l'île (Nantes). Castles of Angers, Terre-Neuve in Fontenay-le-Comte, Montsoreau, Saumur, Montreuil-Bellay, Plessis-Bourré. The towns of Nantes, Laval, Guérande and Saumur have been listed as towns of art and history. The villages of Montsoreau, Sainte-Suzanne and Vouvant. David d'Angers Museum in Angers, Science Museum in Laval, Jules Verne Museum in Nantes.

Websites and social networks: www.paysdelaloire.fr

Souzay-Champigny (Pop: 690)

The village of Champigny gave its name to the Saumur-Champigny appellation, a Loire wine much appreciated by wine-lovers. Its church, Saint-Maurice, has been a listed historic monument since 1949. Two other buildings, Château de la Bien-Boire - which, as its name suggests, is a famous wine-growing estate - and Manoir de La Vignolle, are also listed. Strolling through the village, you can admire a 12th-century troglodyte shopping street, which passes in front of the former semi-troglodyte castle, as well as some beautiful 16th-century houses. Now restored, the site is criss-crossed by the Loire Vélo cycle route and has a number of places for cyclists to relax.

Montsoreau (Pop: 420)

The charming village of Montsoreau and its splendid tufa chateau majestically overlook the Loire. A pioneer of the Renaissance in Touraine, the château, made famous by Alexandre Dumas' novel La Dame de Montsoreau, is home to a scenographic tour of the Loire called Imaginaires de Loire. Perfectly preserved, the village is located in the UNESCO World Heritage area, and is listed as one of the Most Beautiful Villages in France, a Small City with character and is at the heart of a nature park. As you wander through the flower-lined streets, you'll be surprised by the passing of a wooden Loire boat, a new viewpoint of the château or the vineyards that dominate the landscape. In summer, Montsoreau takes on a Riviera feel. Its terraced restaurants are a must for classic car enthusiasts, and its beaches on the Ile au Than are a must for holidaymakers. Every second Sunday of the month, the Montsoreau Flea Market attracts bargain hunters from all over the world, and contemporary art lovers gather at the Château de Montsoreau-Musée d'art contemporain to discover the exhibition of the moment.

Château de Montsoreau - Museum of Contemporary Art

Construction: 15th century.

Style: Renaissance.

History: the current château was built in the Renaissance style in 1443-1453 by Jean II de Chambes, one of the richest men in the kingdom and adviser and chamberlain to Charles VII and Louis XI. It was the first château in the Loire to be built.

Characteristics: the only Loire château to be built on the riverbed, it is a French Renaissance-style castle, a transitional stage between fortress and pleasure residence. It stands in a strategic location, immediately at the confluence of the Loire and Vienne rivers, at the crossroads of three regions - Anjou, Poitou and Touraine.

Trivia: Château de Montsoreau was immortalised by Alexandre Dumas in his novel La Dame de Monsoreau, written between 1845 and 1846, the second part of his Renaissance trilogy, between La Reine Margot and Les Quarante-Cinq.

Special feature: in April 2016, the château became a museum of contemporary art, under the name Château de Montsoreau-Musée d'art contemporain. The museum boasts the world's largest collection of works by the Art & Language movement, the originators of conceptual art.

Listed as: historic monument in 1862. Unesco World Heritage Site under the title of Châteaux de la Loire.

La Dame de Monsoreau

1578: Charles IX died, and his brother Henry III reigned over France. His kingdom was divided by the Wars of Religion, and his power was threatened by everyone, including his younger brother, the Duke of Anjou. When Bussy d'Amboise, the latter's valiant gentleman, is ambushed by the king's minions, he is miraculously saved and taken in by a beautiful stranger, with whom he falls in love. But Diane de Méridor is promised to the infamous Count of Monsoreau, the King's henchman... From the initial ambush, political and amorous intrigues intertwine. In this novel, the second part of his 'Renaissance' trilogy (with Queen Margot and The Fourty Five), Alexandre Dumas offers a gripping historical fresco, while reviving the spirit of Les Trois Mousquetaires: swords clash, love and rivalry unfold on the roads from Paris to Angers and Lyon...

INDRE-ET-LOIRE (37)

In the Centre-Val de Loire region

Population: 616,326, spread over 19 cantons and 272 communes.

Prefecture: Tours (139,000 inhabitants).

Sub-prefectures: Chinon, Loches.

Specialities: barley sugar from Tours, épine noire, strawberry liqueur, fouace de Touraine, quiche tourangelle, macaroon from Cormery, nougat from Tours. Loire wines (Vouvray etc...)

Festivals: Terres du son in Monts, les Années Joué in Joué-les-Tours, Les Journées du potager in Villandry, Vilitoire in Tours, Horizons Festival in Saint-Avertin, À Tours de Bulle, Rock in the House.

Tourist attractions: châteaux of Langeais, Loches, Gizeux, Montpoupon, Amboise (one of the most visited monuments in France), Chenonceau, Montrésor. Caves of Savonnières.

Economy: STMicroelectronics (semiconductor manufacturer), Tours Regional University Hospital, the region's leading employer with around 8,000 staff.

Sport: Tours FC (National 3), Touraine

Chinon (Pop: 8,000)

World-famous for its royal fortress and its wine, Chinon also has the privilege this year of seeing the men's Tour de France, which stopped here recently, and the women's Tour de France. The men's Tour had already visited several Loire châteaux - Chambord in 2005, Blois on four occasions, not forgetting its eight visits to Tours and 19 to Angers - but had never made a diversion via Chinon. Now he has, and as is often the case, the Tour de l'Avenir gave the Indre-et-Loire sub-prefecture a chance to test itself in 2023 with a stage from Nozay. Victory then went to Canadian Riley Pickrell, who began his professional career in 2024 with Israel-Premier Tech.

Royal fortress of Chinon

Construction: 10th to 12th centuries.

Style: medieval.

History: built on the site of an ancient castrum, the castle took shape between the 6th and 10th centuries. In the 10th century, the Counts of Anjou drove out the Counts of Blois: Foulques IV completed the walls. His grandson Geoffrey the Fair adopted the nickname Plantagenet. Henry II Plantagenet became heir to the crown of England in 1153. He made Chinon his continental capital and the castle took on its current dimensions. Henry II and Eleanor of Aquitaine married and had eight children. Two of them were to become kings: Richard the Lionheart and John Lackland. In 1173, Henry II had Eleanor locked up in Chinon before sending her to England under house arrest. Chinon would also be his final resting place: abandoned by his children, he died there on 6 July 1189. His greatest achievement in Chinon was the construction of Fort Saint-Georges and its palace. On 23 June 1205, Philippe Auguste's armies captured the town after a nine-month siege. The court of Charles VII moved there in 1427 and Joan of Arc joined him in 1429 to urge him to be crowned in Reims. The castle then took on its definitive configuration. After the Hundred Years' War, the fortress, unsuited to modern warfare, lost its importance and fell into ruin.

Characteristics: the royal fortress of Chinon is a group of three castles: Fort du Coudray, Château du Milieu and Fort Saint-Georges.

Current use: a vast restoration campaign began in 2003 to enhance this exceptional heritage and open it up to the public.

Listed as: Historic Monument in 1840 and 1926.

Fortified town

At the foot of the castle, the fortified town, the original core of Chinon and the best-preserved part of the town, has been surrounded by ramparts since at least the 14th century. It is crossed from east to west by a main thoroughfare, the rue Voltaire, which is extended by the rue Haute Saint-Maurice, with its succession of timber-framed houses (maison rouge, maison bleue) and ashlar houses (65, rue Voltaire), public buildings (Maison des États généraux, palais du Bailliage) and 15th, 16th (Maîtrise des Eaux et Forêts), 17th (Hôtel du gouverneur) and 18th century mansions (Hôtel Torterue de Langardière). The district is served by the church of Saint-Maurice.

The painted cellars

Located in the fortified town, the painted cellars are part of the vast network of galleries dug under the hillside to extract the tufa stone. Some sections have been reused as wine cellars. The huge vaults of the Caves Painctes, mentioned by Rabelais in his works, house the chapters of the Confrérie des Bons entonneurs rabelaisiens, founded in 1961: the chapter of Saint-Vincent (January), the chapter of the Fleur (June), the chapter of the Vendanges (September) and the chapter of Diane (December).

Carroi Museum

Construction: 14th to 16th centuries.

Style: Renaissance

Museum opening: 1973.

History: In the heart of the historic town, Maison des États-Généraux, dating from the 14th, 15th and 16th centuries, is one of the most representative buildings in Chinon's architecture. It was here that Charles VII convened the Estates-General in 1428, to convince them of the need to raise the money needed to fight the English and Burgundians. The building became an inn in the 17th century, then a bakery (from the end of the 19th century until 1968). Restored in the 1970s, it now houses Musée du Carroi, run by the Chinon Vienne et Loire Community of Municipalities. It offers visitors collections of works of art and objects illustrating local history.

Special feature: the Salle des États-Généraux features a portrait of François Rabelais painted by Eugène Delacroix for the town of Chinon in 1833.

Current purpose:  the building became an inn in the 17th century, then a bakery (from the end of the 19th century until 1968). It was restored in the 1970s and now houses the Musée du Carroi, run by the Chinon Vienne et Loire Community of Municipalities. It offers visitors collections of works of art and objects illustrating local history. The museum's centrepiece is the cope of Saint Mexme, brought back from the Second Crusade by Eleanor of Aquitaine.

Listed as: Historic Monument in 1926.

Church of Saint-Maurice in Chinon

Construction: 12th to 16th centuries.

Style: Western Gothic.

History: the church was built in the 12th century to replace a 10th-century building. From the end of the 12th century, it was extended by a choir and a chapel was added to the north. In the 15th century, the spire of the bell tower was built and a chapel was added to the south. Finally, a century later, a side aisle was added along the south side of the nave.

Characteristics: the nave, which retains some vestiges of the 10th-century church in its northern wall, consists of three equal bays on a square plan. Its architecture, with its very rounded vaults, is characteristic of the so-called Western Gothic style and contrasts with the more complex style of its southern aisle. The bell tower, to the north-east of the 12th-century nave, has powerful buttresses at its base. Each of its sides is lit by two storeys of geminated bays, except on the west side where they are walled in. The original stained-glass windows, destroyed by German bombing on 29 August 1944, have been replaced by modern windows designed by Théo Hanssen.

Special feature: the church houses a statue of Joan of Arc, designed by Jules Déchin in 1900, depicting a modest young woman, far removed from the images of the flamboyant warrior.

Current use: a major restoration campaign began in 2003 to enhance this exceptional heritage and open it to the public.

Listed as: Historic Monument in 1913.

TO DRINK:

Chinon wines Chinon is an appellation contrôlée wine produced around Chinon. It covers 2,300 hectares, with Cabernet Franc and Cabernet Sauvignon grapes used for red and rosé wines and Chenin for white wines. The vineyards cover both banks of the Vienne as far as the confluence with the Loire and extend over 26 communes in Indre-et-Loire. Most of the wine produced is red, with only 13 pc rosé and 2 pc white. Chinon red can be a wine for laying down; the greatest vintage, known as the "millennium vintage", was the 1989 harvest. The red wines go well with white and red meats, poultry, game and light cheeses.

L'Île-Bouchard (Pop: 1,590)

Situated on an island in the Vienne, on opposite banks of the river, l'Île-Bouchard was the site of a castrum ruled by the Bouchard family in the Middle Ages, before passing into the domain of Richelieu. It has been a place of Catholic pilgrimage since Marian apparitions in 1947 and an unexplained cure, while France was undergoing a violent social movement. In 2001, following an investigation, André Vingt-Trois, then Archbishop of Tours, authorised pilgrimages and public worship in the parish church of Saint-Gilles de L'Île-Bouchard. The locality boasts an interesting religious heritage, including one of the oldest Romanesque priories in France, a Cordeliers convent (listed building), the Romanesque church of Saint-Gilles (listed in 1908) and the Renaissance church of Saint-Maurice.

Saint-Léonard Priory

Construction: 12th and 13th centuries.

Style: Romanesque

History: preserved elements indicate that it dates from the first half of the 12th century. It was then a dependency of the Notre-Dame de Déols abbey before becoming a parish church at the end of the 12th century. Plundered on 2 April 1562, it was sold as national property in 1791. It was then used as a stone quarry and destroyed in the first third of the 19th century, leaving only the apse of the church standing in 1832. The remaining parts of the church were used as a barn until 1910, when it was bought by the State. It was listed as a historic monument in 1958, and its remains were fully restored in 1997.

Listed as: Historic Monument in 1997. 

Nouvelle-Aquitaine Region

Departments: Charente, Charente-Maritime, Corrèze, Creuse, Dordogne, Gironde, Landes, Lot-et-Garonne, Pyrénées-Atlantiques, Deux-Sèvres, Vienne, Haute-Vienne.

Population: 5.9 million

Prefecture: Bordeaux

Surface area: 2,011 km2

Specialities: Bordeaux wines, Cognac, Armagnac, Espelette chilli pepper, Périgord walnuts, Marmande tomatoes, oysters from the Arcachon basin, Salers meat, blond cow from Aquitaine, Bayonne ham, Pauillac lamb, Bordeaux canelés. Goose, duck, Sarlat potatoes, poulet in Basque sauce, garbure, lamprey. Black truffles.

Sports clubs: Girondins de Bordeaux (football), Stade montois, Union sportive dacquoise, Aviron bayonnais, Union Bordeaux Bègles Atlantique, Stade rochelais, CA Brive Corrèze Limousin, Section paloise, Biarritz olympique, SU Agen (rugby), Elan Béarnais Pau-Orthez, CSP Limoges (basketball). 

Competitions: Tour de France, surfing at Lacanau (Lacanau Pro) and Biarritz. Tour du Limousin.  

Festivals: Bayonne festival, Dax festival, Madeleine festival in Mont-de-Marsan, Francofolies festival in La Rochelle, Angoulême comic book festival, Brive book fair, Nuits de Nacre in Tulle, Grand Pavois in La Rochelle, Garorock in Marmande, Cognac crime film festival.

Economy: Bordeaux, Cognac and Armagnac wines, aerospace industry, biotechnologies, chemicals, scientific research. Image and digital industry. Food industry. Port of Bordeaux. Tourism. Universities.

Tourist attractions: Bordeaux, Saint-Émilion, La Rochelle, Biarritz, Bassin d'Arcachon, Dune du Pilat, Lascaux caves, Futuroscope Poitiers, Lacanau beaches, Biarritz, Biscarosse, Hourtin, Carcans, Soulac-sur-Mer, mouth of the Gironde, Bordeaux vineyards, Dordogne châteaux, Pau châteaux, Pyrenees, Ile d'Oléron, Ile de Ré.  

Websites and social networks: www.nouvelle-aquitaine.fr

Monts-sur-Guesnes (Pop: 920)

Castle of Monts-sur-Guesnes

Built in the 16th century.

Style: Gothic and Renaissance.

History: in 1480, Louis XI thanked the Brilhac family for their hospitality by granting them the title of castellany. Around 1500, the Brilhacs decided to modify the medieval building. The additions from this period fluctuated between Gothic and Renaissance styles. The château fell into disrepair in the 1970s. The commune moved the town hall there in the 1990s. In 2013, further restoration work began on the north and west wings and the machicolated tower, which were in turn purchased by the town council.

Characteristics: the building is made of white tufa stone. The Gothic style is represented by the richly decorated north facade and the staircase tower added around 1500. The spiral staircase can be accessed through a beautiful door opening onto the courtyard of the château. On the inside, each side of the door is adorned with a sculpted frieze featuring animals and grape leaves depicting a hunting scene. On one side, the frieze depicts a man and his dog, whose movements evoke the chase for game. There is also a fine watchtower and a well-crafted roof structure.

Current use: the castle is open to the public for an immersive digital tour of two wings of the castle and medieval games for children outside.

Listed as: Historic Monument in 1979.

Jaunay-Marigny (Pop: 950)

The result of the 2017 merger of the communes of Jaunay-Clan and Marigny-Brizay. The Château de Montfaucon, in Marigny, has been listed as a Historic Monument since 2001 for the underground passageway, the fortified house, the archaeological site, the turret, the tower, the latrines, the staircase, the outbuildings, the chimney and the enclosure. Château Couvert, built under Francis I by François Fume, mayor of Poitiers, has also been listed since 1990. The church of Saint-Denis in Jaunay-Clan has been listed since 1910.

Saint-Georges-lès-Baillargeaux (Pop: 4,350)

This is the birthplace of Michel Grain, winner of the Grand-Prix du Midi-Libre in 1967. Born in 1942, he took part in all three Grand Tours, including the Tour de France five times between 1965 and 1970. Located ten kilometres from Poitiers, on the edge of the Moulière forest, Saint-Georges-lès-Baillargeaux boasts an interesting medieval castle, Château de Vayres, which was listed as a Historic Monument in 1994.

Château de Vayres

Built: 14th century.

Style: medieval fortified castle.

History and characteristics: fortified castle in 1392 (the two towers framing the dwelling remain), rebuilt in the 16th century, restored and decorated in the 17th century. Dovecote dating from 1656. The estate is thought to have been built on the site of an ancient Gallo-Roman villa named after a certain Varius. The current manor house stands on the site of a Romanesque fortified castle. At the end of a driveway, the châtelet with its two round towers, rebuilt by the Lords of Gennes in the 17th century, retains the structure of the old fortress.

Special features: below, in the formal gardens, the dovecote (or fuie) is of imposing proportions. It houses 2,620 birds. It is thought to have been a gift from Queen Anne of Austria (1601-1666) in gratitude for the welcome she received at the château in 1656, in the company of Cardinal Mazarin (1602-1661) and her son Louis XIV (1638-1715).

Listed as: Historic Monument in 1959, listed as a Historic Monument in 1994 (dovecote).

Buxerolles (Pop: 10,250)

The cemetery in Buxerolles is the final resting place of Robert Buchet, alias "Bubu", a leading figure in motor sport in the 1960s. An accomplished rally driver, he competed six times in the 24 Hours of Le Mans, winning the GT category for cars under two litres with Guy Ligier in 1964. A Porsche dealer in Poitiers, he remained loyal to the German manufacturer throughout his career. He died in 1974 in a road accident.