of the

Explore
The enchanting
town of Saumur
in the Loire Valley
Valley
kings
of the
Barnaby Eales takes a tour of the
Loire Valley, savouring the wines,
waters, historic towns and chateaux
of the region that was once home to
the French Royal Court
24 | VOYAGE | Summer 2016
Explore
Stay in the luxurious
Château de Chissay
ALAMY
Wallowing in the huge, round bath in my
room, enjoying the serenity of the Château
Picture caption
de Chissay with a glass of Triple Zero, a top
local sparkling wine, I reflected on the
delightful boat trip along the Loire at
Montsoreau I had taken earlier that day.
Denis Retiveau, navigator and winemaker,
takes tourists on these special wine-tasting
excursions (loire-vins-aventure.fr) to enjoy
views of the villages of Candes-Saint-Martin
and Montsoreau, where the Loire meets the
Vienne River, while sampling his own wines
and local delicacies from nearby restaurant
Diane de Méridor – a name that may be
familiar to those who have read the Alexandre
Dumas novel La Dame de Monsoreau.
Diane de Méridor was the wife of the Count
of Montsoreau, and her love affair with Louis
de Clermont, Seigneur de Bussy D’Amboise,
was recounted in the novel.
There could not have been a better setting
for my first journey to the centre of the Loire
– here I was spending a night in a chateau
rather than merely visiting one.
Prior to the Renaissance period, before
becoming pleasure palaces and havens for
the love affairs of the Royal Court, many
of the chateaux of the Loire had first been
military fortresses. During the hundred
years’ war, the French Royal Court lost
control of Paris; Charles VII, King of France,
was born in the city, but he had been forced
to flee when the Burgundians seized power.
Chinon, the hometown of writer and
physician François Rabelais, was where
Charles VII chose to hold court and spend time
with his mistress, Agnès Sorel. Known as the
Dame de Beauté, Sorel provoked a scandal by
regularly attending court leaving one of her
breasts uncovered, pioneering the wearing
of low-cut dresses. Her fate was to die of
mercury poisoning, allegedly orchestrated
by the King’s son, the Dauphin.
I awoke the next morning in the Château
de Chissay, after my longest sleep in years;
The best of the Loire chateaux
Blois: en.chateaudeblois.fr
Chenonceau: chenonceau.com
BARNABY EALES
Cheverny: chateau-cheverny.fr
This beautiful courtyard sits at the
heart of the Château de Chissay
Chambord: chambord.org
Du Riveau: chateaudurivau.com
Summer 2016 | VOYAGE | 25
Explore
Many tourists enjoy cycling
through the fields of vines both
along the Loire and above it
Loire in a bottle
If you’re a wine connoisseur, try visiting Domaine
Jacky Blot (jackyblot.fr) and Domaine Chidaine
(francois-chidaine.com) in Montlouis-sur-Loire;
Cave des Producteurs de Vouvray
(cavedevouvray.com) and Domaine Sylvain
Gaudron (vouvray-gaudron.com) in Vouvray;
or Domaine Grosbois (domainegrosbois.fr)
and Domaine de Noiré (domainedenoire.com)
in Chinon for vineyard tours and wine tasting.
26 | VOYAGE | Summer 2016
On a hot day, cool yourself down with a visit to the
Troglodyte Caves; originally the source of tuffeau
limestone used to build the chateaux of the Loire,
and now used to store wine and grow mushrooms
that are exported worldwide, including to
Covent Garden. Visit le-champignon.com and
troglo-sautauxloups.com to find out more.
Meanwhile, in the Caves Monmousseau, you’ll
find vast cellars that feature contemporary art
installations. Visit monmousseau.com
through the fields of vines both along the
Loire and above it. It is especially beautiful
between Tours and Saumur and through
the Chinon appellation. (cycling-loire.com;
elobiketours.com)
Driving through the countryside, I called
in on Domaine de Rocheville in the village
of Parnay. As well as some fantastic awardwinning wines to taste, Philippe Porché’s
winery has a superb new reception hall
for visitors, along with an adjoining terrace,
where I enjoyed the spectacular view of
the valley below. (domainederocheville.fr)
Coincidentally, the cyclists, like me, had
started their Loire voyage in Blois, a town
described by the French writer Victor
Hugo as being laid out in the shape of
an amphitheatre, overlooking the river.
I got an idea of the town’s shape from
the top of the Tour de Foire at the Château
de Blois, where on a clear day you can see
the towers of the vast Château de Chambord.
Down below is the Jacques-Gabriel Bridge.
Locals swear to the value of crossing the
bridge in the pre-dawn blue light, when
often a mist rolls across the river, rippling
the water: a site worthy of the best of
French paintings.
With its four wings exhibiting four different
historical styles of architecture, from Gothic
and Renaissance to Classicism, Blois is, in this
sense, one of the most remarkable of the
chateaux. This is where the Duke of Guise
was assassinated in 1588, during the barbaric
French Wars of Religion.
In the 16th century, the French Royal Court
was still based in the Loire. The chateau
became home to the Duchess of Brittany,
Anne de Bretagne, who, through her marriage
to King Louis XII, had become Queen of
France for the second time. Their union,
and that of their two countries, is illustrated
in the chateau’s stained glass by the emblem
of Brittany – the ermine, the stoat whose
coat turned white in winter, retaining
a black-tipped tail – and that of France
(at the time), the porcupine.
Legend has it that use of the ermine, the
tail of which is part of the Breton flag, was
inspired by the story of a stoat, which when
chased by the hunting dogs of the Duke of
Brittany, stopped and stood tall to face the
impending menace. It was allegedly symbolic
of Brittany’s people, who were willing to
defend themselves rather than surrender.
Meanwhile, the porcupine has sharp spines
PHOTOS: ALAMY
after all, the restfulness and quietude
of unwinding alongside the Loire, France’s
longest river, is a key reason why visitors
come here. This factor had certainly
attracted – for the second time – two
cyclists whom I met on a cloudy day,
tasting fizz in the vast cellars at Bouvet
Ladubay, the sparkling wine producer in
Saumur. (bouvet-ladubay.fr)
The cyclists were a Cornish couple who
had sailed with Brittany Ferries to France,
and driven down with their bikes to the
centre of the Loire.
There are railway stations throughout the
Loire for those looking to do the ‘cycle and
train’ trip, and many tourists enjoy riding
Going underground
The statue of King Louis XII at the Château de Blois
Explore
Fun for all
the family
The beautiful Loire Valley is a UNESCO world heritage site
ALAMY
There are pre-booka
ble organised
walks through the
Loire Valley’s
woodland that allo
w you and your
little ones to enjoy
the company
of friendly donkey
s!
Visit les-anes-debalaam.fr
for details.
like arrows; it represented a warning not
to stay too close to power.
A surprise came when six dragons emerged
through the windows of Maison de la Magie,
the Magic House for children, a building
adjacent to the Château de Blois that daily
puts on Hallucinoscope, an interactive magic
show. It also houses five floors of magic,
including an exhibition on the life and work
of Jean-Eugène Robert-Houdin, whose name
was used by the magician Harry Houdini.
Wandering through Blois, it becomes
apparent that the medieval parts of the town
have changed little since the 16th century.
Les 400 Coups, a new bar on Rue Saint-Lubin,
is a fine place to reflect upon this. In this
convivial establishment, you can try a broad
range of natural vins de soif, those light
and fruity and extremely quaffable, thirstquenching wines of Cheverny, an appellation
and the name of one of the top local chateaux.
I stopped at the bar before returning to
the Château de Blois in the evening to see
its history brought to life with a light and
sound show. A total of 662 lights are used
and the event features fantastic orchestral
music played by 180 musicians and scored by
French film and TV composer Éric Demarsan
specifically for the spectacle.
28 | VOYAGE | Summer 2016
The following day, my journey to the centre
of the Loire ended in the bright town of Saumur,
which has an open, almost oceanic feel in
comparison with the medieval towns of Blois
and Chinon which, beautiful as they are, feel
more like interior towns.
Susi, my tour guide, told me that Saumur’s
cream-coloured tuffeau limestone, the same
stone used to build the chateaux of the Loire,
is of higher quality compared with other
towns of the Loire.
Theobald the Trickster, the Count of
Blois, built up Saumur in the 10th century,
but the town prospered with the arrival
of Protestants, who revitalised the town
in the 16th and 17th centuries during a time
of religious tolerance. The region had
otherwise previously been known for
religious extremism, exemplified by the
killing of 160 Jews in Chinon in the 14th
century by order of the King.
Saumur is a bourgeois town, but it has
some beautiful squares including the Place
Saint-Pierre, which is home to several
restaurants and a cathedral. It is worth
meandering around the back streets, which
house some of the historic relics of the former
walled town. There is also the stunning Maison
des Compagnons, where stonemasons train.
I also unexpectedly managed to get
beyond the town centre to see the outer
wall of the Cadre Noire, one of the top
equestrian schools of France – I say
unexpectedly, as it was due to my rental
car having been towed away and impounded
close to the riding school. The evening
before, I had left my car parked in a public
parking space on a square which, little did
I know, is occupied on Saturday mornings
by a market.
Having finally recovered my car (and
paid a hefty sum) it was time to return
homeward. But not before a few final
moments spent enjoying the splendour
of the panoramic view of the city and
the river up the hill, next to the Château
de Saumur.
Further information
Loire tourism: holidays-loire-valley.com
Blois Tourist Office: bloischambord.co.uk
Chinon Tourist Office: chinon-loirevalley.com
Saumur Tourist Office: ot-saumur.fr
For a range of accommodation and ferry-inclusive
holidays visit holidayfrancedirect.co.uk and
brittanyferries.com/holidays