Thursday 1st April

Once again, we had breakfast at the B and B at 8:30am. We asked our hosts for advice on what sites to see today and planned our day accordingly.

The first outing was to a distillery (Gambier) located only a two blocks away from our B and B in Saumur. They have a shopfront and a working distillery behind the shop. They had a tour starting at 10:30am to show how they make the liqueurs and we were the only people on the tour. Gambier have been in continuous operation since 1834.

Back at the B and B, we met another Australian couple who are staying there too. They were married recently and they are spending 3 months travelling through Europe before he starts a new job in Toronto working as a cardiologist.

We also met a photographer from Trip Advisor who is staying at the B and B. He was busy taking photos of the chateau for their web site. He asked us to pose for some photos with Yolaine on the front steps of the chateau.

Eventually we drove out of the B and B at about 12 noon. The first destination was a castle that our hosts had recommended - namely, Chateau de Breze. This turned out to be one of the highlights of our stay in the Loire valley because it is so different from the other castles. Although the castle is impressive, the most interesting part is an elaborate and extensive system of underground tunnels and living quarters.

The main tunnel leads down to the dry mote that surrounds the castle - about 18m below the ground level. Branching out from the mote, there are more tunnels, sleeping quarters, a bakery, kitchen, wine presses and cellars. Some of the tunnels and caverns are even big enough for horses and carts.

After looking through the underground area, we looked through the castle and then went to an adjacent building for wine tasting. However, a bus load of tourists had arrived before us and so it was too crowded to bother.

By this time, we were feeling hungry and so we drove into the centre of the village to find something to eat. There were only four small shops there - a bakery, a general store, a pharmacy and a hair dresser. We bought a baguette at the bakery and then some ham and tomato at the general store. Next we drove to a spot just out of town and stopped next to vineyard where we ate our picnic lunch.

Our hosts had suggested that we visit the Abbey at Fontevrade. We drove past it but decided not to stop. Instead we drove to a town called Candes-St Martin which is at the junction of the Loire River and the Vienne River. We stopped and looked inside the St Martins church which dates back more than 700 years. It is amazing how many villages have huge impressive churches with tall arched ceilings.

Outside the church, there was a sign pointing towards a panoramic view for pedestrians. It turned out to be a longer climb than we had expected but it was worth it because of the fabulous view. We looked over the town and the two rivers into the distance at green fields and the nuclear power plant. Despite the fact that we had climbed up and up the hill, we were still only just higher than the church's spire.

When we got down the hill again, we went down to the river bank where we saw several house boats.

Back in the car, we drove through the adjacent town of Montsoreau before stopping at Torquant. In this area, there are numerous dwellings that are built into the cliff-face. At a glance they look like normal houses until you realise that most of the dwelling is underground. They refer to the residents as troglodytes.

In Torquant we looked at several of the shops that are built into the cliff face. Some of the caves seem to be quite deep. Suzy had wanted to visit one that showed the ancient art of preserving sliced apple but unfortunately it wasn't open.

Next we went to the Gratien-Meyer distillery which is is built on the edge of the cliff and has a nice view of the Loire. As we were tasting wines, the couple we met at the B and B walked in. The four of us did the 5pm guided tour that showed us the traditional way of making sparkling wine. As for other nearby areas, the wine factory is built in caves in the cliff face. Here they maintain everything at a cool temperature and high humidity that is ideal for wine making.

The trip back to the B and B was less stressful than yesterday - perhaps because I'm getting used to the narrow streets and perhaps because we only struck heavy traffic in the section between the wine outlet and Saumur.

Our host recommended yet another excellent restaurant for dinner, L'Escargot. I'd been afraid that they would only serve snails but they had a delicious range of other alternatives. Saumur is certainly a good place to go for great restaurants.