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Royal
chateaux, Renaissance style gardens
3 DAYS / 2 NIGHTS |
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PROGRAMME
DAY 1
Arrival in Tours in the morning. Setting up at your 2 or 3 or 4 star hotel or bed and
breakfast in the city centre of Tours. |
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During the morning
Visit of the "MUSEE DU COMPAGNONNAGE". Unique in the world.
Located inside the reception room (XIth c.) and monks' dormitory (XVth c.) of the former
Saint Julien abbey.
This museum tells the history, customs, and techniques of these training associations
which also defended the workers rights. You will discover a great variety of crafts still
existing or having disappeared, (locksmiths, confectioners, carpenters, roofers, etc.),
tools, all sorts of masterworks the "Compagnons" had to create to deserve their
title and honour "the fine work".
Lunch on your own.
Then, departure to Vouvray with your car, small
village built at the foot of the cliff where cave dwellings are dug in the rock. Ii is
also the Vouvray wine area, famous for its white wine from the IV th century, during which
Saint Martin introduced the vineyards. Guided tour of the "Cave des producteurs de
Vouvray" and tasting. Located in the heart of the Vouvray vineyards, this wine cellar
groups together 50 wine producers attached to their land, traditions and quality. The
wines are strictly selected and bottled, are aging inside the cellars, galleries dug into
the rock which are more than 2 kilometres long. Deep inside those cellars, you will be
told the secrets of the making of the sparkling and still wines.
Back to Tours at the end of the afternoon.
8:00 pm
Dinner in a city centre restaurant of Tours. Accommodation at your 2 or 3 or 4 star hotel
or bed and breakfast in the city centre of Tours. |
DAY 2
Breakfast
Departure towards Chenonceau with your car.
Sightseeing of the chateau of Chenonceau. Built in the XVIth c., it is
one of the purest Early French Renaissance style works. The square dwellings, built in the
riverbed itself on the piles of a fortified mill, the square building is the original
chateau. |
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On the bridge built by Diane, rises The two-level gallery
completed by Catherine de Medicis. . You will discover the guardroom, the chapel, a superb
60 metres long gallery above the Cher river, Diane de Poitier and François 1st rooms. In
the upper levels, you will admire the bedrooms of Gabrielle d'Estrees, Catherine de
Medicis and Louise of Lorraine… Settled inside the two piles of the former mill
anchored in the Cher river bed, the kitchens will reveal the art and ingenuity of the
Renaissance builders. Not far from the gardens of Diane de Poitiers and Catherine de
Medicis, stands "La Galerie des Dames de Chenonceau" settled in the former Royal
stables. Here are told the dreams, ambitions, the great projects and the destinies of
those women who made the history of the place. A walk in the French style gardens will
provide a pleasant end to your tour |
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Visit of the chateau of Amboise. Built during the
XVth and XVIth centuries by Kings Charles VIIIth, Louis XIIth and François 1st,
Amboise was really the first royal residence. You will discover its French Gothic and
Renaissance architectural styles. Today, the chateau still owns an exceptional collection
of furniture, beautifully preserved. Leonardo da Vinci is buried inside the St Hubert
chapel, built during the XVth century in the Flamboyant Gothic style. From the gardens,
overlooking, the town of Amboise, you will discover one of the most beautiful panoramas of
the Loire valley. |
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Back
to Tours at the end of the afternoon.
8:00 pm
Dinner in a city centre restaurant of Tours. Accommodation at your 2 or 3 or 4 star hotel
or bed and breakfast in the city centre of Tours. |
DAY 3
Breakfast
Departure towards Azay-le-Rideau. Visit the CHATEAU OF AZAY-LE-RIDEAU. The chateau
was built on an island in the middle of the Indre river and surrounded by greenery . It is
a perfect example of the Early French Renaissance architecture. |
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Punctuated by towers and turrets, The two right angle wings
show the perfect combination between traditional elements and others influenced by the
Italian art. The furnished rooms are decorated with a lovely collection of XVIth and
XVIIth c. Flemish and French tapestries. |
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Visit the GARDENS OF VILLANDRY
They surround like, a jewellery box, the last great Early French Renaissance château
built on the banks of the Cher river (1536). You will walk through one of the most
beautiful gardens in France distributed on three levels : the water garden, surrounded by
a cloister made of linden trees , the ornamental garden, displaying its "love",
"music" and herb gardens, the kitchen garden, over 12,500 m2, which reproduces
the shape of an authentic multicoloured checkerboard divided in nine squares where
vegetables and fruit trees are symmetrically planted. |
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| End of our
services |
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| Price per person
in a double room : |
| 2
star hotel |
175,00
Eur |
| 3
star hotel |
235,00
Eur |
| 4
star hotel |
315,00
Eur |
| Guest
Room |
175,00
Eur |
| Extra charge for
single room : |
| 2
star hotel |
60,00
Eur |
| 3
star hotel |
100,00
Eur |
| 4
star hotel |
138,00
Eur |
| Guest
Room |
60,00
Eur |
| Price per
person for extra night with half board : |
| 2
star hotel |
67,00
Eur |
| 3
star hotel |
97,00
Eur |
| 4
star hotel |
137,00
Eur |
| Guest
Room |
65,00
Eur |
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The price includes : |
It does not include : |
Dinners ( drinks not included) in a city centre restaurant of Tours, days 1 &
2
Accommodation (depending on your choice) in
Tours on the basis of one room for 2 people days 1 & 2.
Breakfasts, days 2 & 3
The sightseeing of the wine cellar of
Vouvray and wine tasting, day 1
Entrances to the Compagnonnage museum, day
1
Entrances to the chateaux of Chenonceau,
Amboise day 2
Entrances to the chateaux of Chambord and
Cheverny day 2
Entrances to the château of Azay-le-Rideau
and the gardens of Villandry, day 3
Booking charges |
Lunches, days 1 and 2
Guided tour of Tours. Extra charge 5.50
Euros (schedule available at the tourist office).
The pass to be able to visit the different
museums of Tours ( extra charge : 7 € ) |
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