Hiking tour – Rabelais country

Day 1 – Arrival in CHINON

Visit of the old city dominated by the medieval castle whose some parts dated back to the 17th C. The future king Charles VII has sought refuge in this town in 1418 during the Hundred Years and Joan of Arc came here to acknowledge him as leader. Take time to discover these narrow and twisty lanes, these old houses and the churches – Lodging and breakfast in a 3-star hotel

Day 2 – L’ILE BOUCHARD – CHINON (21 km)

Transfer by taxi from Chinon to l’Ile Bouchard located on the banks of the Vienne river. This ancient harbour held a priory of which only a few remains are still standing on the first hillsides.. Don’t leave the city without visiting the St Maurice and St Gilles churches. You’ll walk along the Vienne river before walking through the vineyards up to the first slopes. Then you’ll disappear into the forest before reaching the old little village of Cravant and its old church of which nave was built during the 12th century. You’ll continue your journey and will walk through the Chinon forest until you reach Malvaut and then, Chinon, seeing Ste Radegonde chapel on the way. Hollowed in the rock, it holds a Romanesque frontage. This path, fringed with troglodytic houses offers very nice views of the Vienne valley and Chinon. You’ll get into the city by Ste Maxime church and its imposing towers. Lodging and breakfast in the same hotel

Day 3 – LA ROCHE CLERMAULT – FONTEVRAUD (16 km)

taxi transfer to the Deviniere (house where Rabelais was born. He spent its childhood in Chinon). After the visit of this small farm and the adjacent museum, you’ll follow in Gargantua’s footsteps. Along the way, you’ll admire Le Coudray-Montpensier castle before joining Seuilly where was located the abbey in which Rabelais grew up and where one of his heros, Frère Jean des Entonneurs, lived. You’ll cross the village of which main street is fringed of many troglodytic habitations before joining Lerné, a pleasant village with blond tufa houses. Sordid quarrels between the inhabitants of Seuilly and Lerné started these burlesque “pichropolines” wars. You’ll walk up to the Chavigny castle and will cross Fontevraud forest by the small village of Crouziers until you reach the famous Fontevraud abbey, that you’ll visit at the end of the afternoon. It was founded at the very beginning of the 12th century and held different masculine and feminine religious communities which lead self-governing lives under an abbess leadership. Dinner, Lodging and breakfast in a 4-star hotel

Day 4 – FONTEVRAUD – MONTSOREAU (14 km)

You will spend the morning visiting the Fontevraud Abbey, one of the largest abbeys in France. Built at the beginning of the 12th century, the abbey has housed a number of religious communities, both masculine and feminine, who led autonomous lives under the direction of an abbess. The religious life of the abbey came to an end during the Revolution with the sacking of many of the buildings by Napoleon I, who then transformed them into prisons in 1804. The abbey was deconsecrated in 1963. You will leave the village and head through the vineyards for the banks of the Loire. The path crosses in front of the old windmill of La Herpiniere and descends towards the troglodytic village of Turquant. You will move on to Montsoreau and the chateau which now houses a museum dedicated to the colonial history of France –Lodging and breakfast in the same 4-star-hotel

Day 5 – FONTEVRAUD – CHINON (19 km)

You will walk along the river to reach Candes-St-Martin, a charming village located at the confluence of the Loire and Vienne rivers. The 12th century church was built on the very spot where Saint Martin died . You’ll walk up to the top of the hillside to discover a gorgeous beauty spot and a nice view of the junction of the Loire and the Vienne. You’ll then move down and walk through fields and across smalll hamlets to reach the banks of the Vienne river that you will follow to Chinon. Lodging and breakfast in a 3-star-hotel

Day 6 – CHINON

End of the tour after breakfast