Enjoy a Guided Loire Valley Experience

Sparking Welcome - After a 300 km/h train journey on the TGV, you will be picked up at the Saumur train station and taken to your private self-contained cottage in Saint Macaire du Bois, your French village for the week. A glass of bubbles awaits, along with a briefing on the week ahead. This evening we will dine in the formal manoir dining room with the family porcelain and fine crystal glasses. You will help your host prepare a five-course gourmet meal in the classical French Bourgeois style, and enjoy fabulous local wines

Loire Valley Wine Tour - Continental breakfast in your cottage then we meet in the wine room with your host for a primer on the wines of the Loire Valley, how to taste wine and unravel the mystique of food pairings. You have privileged access for a behind the scenes tour of several local vineyards and a chance to taste a variety of 15+ wines using your new-found skills. Lunch is provided at a local restaurant with wine of course! Back to the manor house in the late afternoon for a relaxed BBQ in the garden.

Local Castle Visit - After our big day yesterday, we will take a moment to slow down. You are welcome to take a bike ride to the boulangerie with your host to get the breakfast pastries for an extravagant brunch on the manor terrace. In the afternoon we head off to visit a local castle, we may even sneak in a wine tasting on the way. We will return to your accomodation, leaving you plenty of time for a swim and to get ready for dinner out at a casual French restaurant

Grand Castle Visit - A breakfast basket will be delivered to your cottage so you can get ready for a big day at one of the premier Loire Valley castles. We will leave early so we can explore the castle before the hoards arrive on their day trips from Paris! We will take a picnic basket with us and find a nice spot on the lawn to enjoy an alfresco lunch with a glass of wine. After our big day out, you will enjoy a private 4 course dinner with wine in your cottage so you can relax with a quiet evening in.

Free Day - A breakfast basket and picnic lunch will be delivered to your cottage in the morning so that you can spend your day as you please. You can relax by the pool, grab one of our cruiser bikes and tootle along our quiet country lanes, or head further afield and maybe take a balloon ride or a boat cruise on the Loire. Let us know what you would like to do, we are happy to help you with reservations and transport. This evening it is time to dress up and head out to an iconic French restaurant for dinner.

Troglodyte Experience - A breakfast basket will be delivered for you to enjoy at your leisure in your cottage.
Mid-morning we will meet at the manor house. Bring a light jacket and good shoes because today will be spent exploring underground! The area around your accomodation is famous for its limestone caves, created when the blocks were quarried to build the beautiful white castles and houses in the Loire Valley. These caves are now being used for all manner of interesting activities. After a visit to a magnificent art installation, we will enjoy a traditional cave lunch of stuffed mushrooms and fouets cooked in a wood fired oven. The afternoon will be spent exploring an underground habitation, and then it is on to a prestigious wine house where you will descend into the caves where grapes undergo the metamorphosis into the magical Crement de Loire sparkling wine, which you will get to sample of course! This evening we will enjoy an alfresco dinner together.

Explore Saumur - After breakfast in your cottage we will head into Saumur. This is also your time to explore Saumur, the castle, the sparkling wine caves, take a boat trip, or visit the Combier distillery, a local distillery producing incredible spirits and liqueurs on equipment designed by Gustaf Eiffel. Yes, THAT Eiffel. This producer only sells locally and to high end bars and gourmet stores abroad. Enjoy a restaurant lunch in Saumur. We will return to your accomodation for a quiet afternoon, then it’s into our fancy clothes for our final evening meal together at a magical restaurant nestled under a castle next to a river. If the group prefers we can go all-out and dine at an exquisite chateau (supplement applies).

Champagne Farewell - A champagne breakfast will be served in the dining room to give us a chance to reminisce about our week together experiencing this unique part of France. You will be dropped back to Saumur to pick up the TGV to take you to your next adventure. We won’t say “goodbye” but “au-revoir”, until we meet again.