DAY
(6)
Friday
The Chateau of Usse is our first stop.
This "family house" was always, and still is, occupied by the owner's since the XV century when it was built. Its exceptional and imposing presence inspired Perrault for his "Sleeping Beauty" novel.
Even early April, the gardens of the Chateau of Villandry are stunning. The medieval design was recreated in the 19th century: all vegetables and flowers, (to the exception of the rose bushes) are replanted twice a year, spring and fall.
These vegetable and lettuces will be in your plates for lunch. The small restaurant kitchen, outside the castle, is using the produce from next door, literally.
Back to Saumur, we will visit the "Mushrooms Museum". Yes, it exists...! and it is also an actual mushroom growing business. This region, perforated by many caves dug to extract the famous lime white stones called "tuffeau", used to build castles and noble houses of the region, was an opportunity for the mushroom agricultural industry. Saumur and its area produces now 2/3 of the edible French fungi.
Next stop: others caves but used for a different purpose. Bouvet-Ladubay makes bubbly of remarkable quality as well as many different Saumur white wines. An active theatre is among the surprises we will discover deep in the stone before a sampling of their production.
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Finally, we will stop by the castle we saw towering above this old city, everyday time we passed in this area. Saumur was build in the 14th century for the Duke of Anjou, it was successively used as city governor's residence, prison and arsenal.
Back to our hotel before dinner in Chinon.
B - L - D
Villandry. (above)
