Hello my loves,
I thought I should share with you my experience when I went to the Loire region in France. I was there only for a short time (3 days) and we had many things to do. Our horses were competing at the Saumur International Dressage Competition so in-between our competitions we went sightseeing.
Saumur is a beautiful medieval city that is located at the border of the Loire River. The “Château de Saumur” is located on the hill and reigning over the city. It is very beautiful to look at. The Castle has a moving story behind and has suffered a lot as time went by. Now, it belongs to the city and they restoring it to give its old glamour back.
The next estate we went to see was “Château d’Ussée“. This castle, believe it or not, has been the inspiration for the world famous “The Sleeping Beauty” story. The Castle was re-built on an old fort and finished in the 17th century, where the owners always had famous guests, including the writer, Charles Perrault. I couldn’t believe when I saw the castle from my own eyes. It felt like I was a little girl again. The location of the Castle is absolutely amazing, facing the Loire River and on top of a beautiful garden that was designed by the famous Le Notre! (He was responsible for the garden at Versailles). I really loved visiting the Château!
As a visitor there, you will be shown where some of the famous scenes were inspired from in the castle. Then you can also visit the apartments of the King (every castle had to have rooms ready, just in case the King stopped by), and the beautiful chapel. The castle is very vast and I honestly wish they gave more access to rooms. The areas that you can visit are very limited. But it was still worth it!
The third Castle I went to was called “Château de Brissac“. This palace has been in family hands since 1502 (that so rare), owned by the Duc de Brissac and is the tallest castle of France. As a part of the estate is a vineyard. My favorite wine from them is their “Rosé D’Anjou”. It is a light, sweet rosé wine that goes wonderful to Aperitifs, Cheese and Desserts.
I have to say, this castle was mind blowing! One can visit so many rooms and walk around in their very very very big park. The estate is very well maintained and the staff is very friendly. When you go and visit this wonderful place, you will truly dive back in time! In addition, the castle has a very intimate touch, everywhere you can find testimonies of time from the family. Family portraits, photos, messages are found all around the rooms you can access.
If you are interested in seeing the beautiful castles you can simply click on the names of the estates. A click and you will be redirected to find out more about each of them.
Lastly, I would like to mention that Saumur is located in a famous region for “cremant”. Cremant is a sort of sparkling wine, like Prosecco. There are many winemakers you can visit and have a wine tasting in their wine cellars etc. We went to “Bouvet Ladubay“and tried a couple of their sparkling wines. They even produce one wine with the world famous actor Gérard Depardieu! He has a wine estate close by and is friends with the owners. I found that very cool to be honest and obviously had to try and buy, their “Taille Princesse” Brut Rosé sparkling wine.
I hope you found this article interesting and inspiring and invite you to look at the pictures below.
Have a wonderful day loves!
Yours,
Isabelle
