An enchanting weekend in the Loire Valley: from Saumur to Fontevraud

Morning: Saumur awakens in the shadow of its castle

The castle still keeps watch over the sleeping town, while the market stalls slowly take shape. It's Saturday, and Saumur awakens to a ballet of colors and scents. Beneath the white tufa facades and half-timbered houses, producers and craftsmen display their treasures.

The cobbled streets then invite you to climb towards the Château de Saumur: here a wrought-iron balcony, there a finely sculpted dormer window, further on a watchtower that seems to be watching you. Then suddenly, majestically, the château emerges, its towers and turrets soaring skyward. This "Château d'Amour", as René I d'Anjou called it, opens its doors to you for a journey through the centuries, from medieval enamels to collections of refined decorative arts. The panorama from the top of this rocky outcrop is breathtaking. The Loire stretches out lazily, the slate roofs form a bluish mosaic and, in the distance, the wine-growing hillsides.

Afternoon: diving into the world of bubbles and aromas

As you make your way back down the ramparts, another story awaits you. Push open the door to the Combier distillery. In the stills room designed by Eiffel engineers, brass and piping form a fascinating industrial sculpture. The scents envelop you: bitter orange for the famous Triple Sec, wild plants for the absinthes, ripe fruit for the liqueurs... The master distiller shares his secrets like a family story.

Later, enter the bowels of the earth at Maison Ackerman. These subterranean cathedrals, imposing troglodytic cellars dug into the tuffeau rock, are home to the history of fine Loire bubbles. As you explore the galleries, you'll discover how Jean-Baptiste Ackerman introduced the traditional method to the region in 1811. The tour is transformed into a dreamlike journey when contemporary works of art appear at the turn of a cellar, an unexpected dialogue between heritage and contemporary creation.

Evening: golden lights on the Loire

When evening comes, the Loire is decked out in gold. It's the perfect time to embark on a toue sablière or a barge, the traditional boats of the bargemen. Your captain knows every whisper of the river, every story of the inland waterways. The riverbanks gently roll by, the château silhouetted against the blazing sky, a heron fishing in the last light. Time stretches out, as precious as these suspended moments on the water.

For dinner, the tables of Saumur await you... perhaps you'll choose one of the troglodyte addresses to discover local specialties, such as the freshly baked fouées, small loaves of bread topped with rillettes or mushrooms.

Morning: Montsoreau, where the Loire kisses the stone

This morning, another jewel awaits you. Montsoreau, Maine-et-Loire's only "Most Beautiful Village in France", is revealed in the gentle morning light. Its château, the only one in the region to be built in the very bed of the Loire, seems to emerge from the waves. On the second Sunday of each month, the Puces de Montsoreau (Montsoreau flea market ) livens up the quays, where second-hand and antique dealers unpack their treasures.

Stroll through the narrow streets that climb from the river to the hillside. The tufa stone houses with their colorful shutters tell the story of the bargemen of yesteryear. From the Quai Alexandre Dumas, you'll have a breathtaking view of the confluence of the Loire and Vienne rivers, where the two merge.

The Château de Montsoreau will surprise you. Behind its medieval walls lies a surprising museum of contemporary art, with the world's largest collection of works by the Art & Language movement, which influenced conceptual art.

Just a stone's throw away, the troglodyte caves of Saut aux Loups invite you into another world. In these underground galleries, strange white caps grow in the darkness: these are the famous button mushrooms, which, contrary to their name, find their preferred terroir in these Loire Valley cellars. Here, we reveal all the secrets of this singular crop, before letting you taste the "galipettes", the large stuffed mushrooms that are the pride of local tables.

Afternoon: Fontevraud, where history meets eternity

The afternoon takes you to the majestic Abbaye de Fontevraud. As soon as you enter, silence envelops you. The monastic city's 13 hectares of white stone and gardens are an invitation to serenity.

The abbey church embraces you in its monumental simplicity. Further on, the Romanesque kitchens surprise with their "fish scale" roofs and conical chimneys.

But Fontevraud is not just a testimony to the past. The Musée d'Art Moderne housed in the abbey creates a striking dialogue between these thousand-year-old stones and works by Germaine Richier or Degas.

For a truly unique experience, you could choose to spend the night at Fontevraud L'Ermitage, the hotel nestled in the heart of the abbey. A rare privilege: once visitors have left, the abbey becomes your private domain.

Angevine flavors and sweetness

For your last evening, succumb to the pleasures of the table. Whether in the abbey's Michelin-starred gourmet restaurant, where chef Thibaut Ruggeri uses local produce creatively, or in an authentic local restaurant, the flavors of Anjou will be on your plate.

Perhaps you'll try poires tapées, a local specialty born of the return of the Crusades? These dried, flattened pears are an ancestral delicacy that almost disappeared before enthusiasts revived the tradition.

Want to extend your trip to the Loire Valley?

• For horse lovers: witness the magic of the human-horse relationship at the Cadre Noir de Saumur, the epitome of traditional French equitation.
• For history buffs: discover the unique collections of the Musée des blindés and the Musée de la cavalerie in Saumur.
• For those interested in traditional crafts: visit the stores and craft workshops in Turquant, a remarkably restored troglodyte village.
• For wine-lovers: explore the Saumur wine route and meet the winemakers who perpetuate a centuries-old savoir-faire.