Last day in the Loire valley :-(
Today we went west and south of the river and found a more pleasant rolling countryside with pleasant villages, generally looking more prosperous. Many of the villages we've been through until now have looked dirty and a bit down-at-heal.
First stop was Gennes after passing the town of Saumur and a quick look at the chateau from the road. The chateaux is definitely in the fairy tale style.
Roofs of the Chateau at Saumur
Outside Gennes we walked around the remains of a Gallo-Roman amphitheatre that was said to be capable of seating 5000 - the largest in western France. Little remains of the structures, but the site has been cleared and is impressive.
The Roman amphitheatre at Gennes
Just down the road was a prehistoric dolman. Apparently this was used until fairly recently by the local farm as an implement shed and also contains the remains of a large bakers oven.
Dolman at Gennes
The rest of the day was spent at Brissac. Dropped into a cafe for a great ommelette and then had a guided tour around the chateau. This has been owned by the same family since 1598 and contains much of the original furniture. The family still live there, but many of the main rooms are open for viewing. The scale of the rooms is amazing and our group of around 25 seemed small. It includes a theatre built around 1898 capable of seating over 150 with a height of around 10m and a reception hall nearly 40m in length. The whole castle seemed very orginal and in excellent condition.
Chateau Brissac
The Lounge at Brissac
Tonight is our last night and we are again eating with our hosts. The accommodation has been superb and it has been helpful to have English speaking hosts. I would thoroughly recommend Les Peupliers to anyone wanting to stay near Saumur.
Tomorrow we will spend most of the day on the road heading for the Dordogne.
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