48 hours in Rabelais country

Centre-Val de Loire - Pays de la Loire/2023

Chinon, Bourgueil, Saumur... The mere mention of these three names sounds like a corkscrew. One imagines Jean Carmet in his cellar, opening a Saint-Nicolas, pronouncing in his inimitable phrasing the famous sentence: "It's not what you drink that's important, it's who you drink it with".

Before a glass of chenin, or cabernet-franc, we bow our heads and inhale the fruit, but also this magnificent terroir, where the Vienne meets the Loire, in the land of the "dive bouteille". It was Panurge who first wrote about it in François Rabelais' Fifth Book, in the form of a prayer and a poem, an ode to the "divine liqueur". Rabelais was born near Chinon, at the manor house of La Devinière, in the commune of Seuilly, en-Touraine. Today, the house is a museum dedicated to the father of Gargantua, who made abundant use of the landscapes of his childhood and youth in his works. The Thélème Abbey, whose libertarian motto is "Fay ce que voudras" (Do what you will), was inspired in part by the Fontevraud Abbey, just a few kilometers away, which offers a walk imbued with serenity and meditation. This small wine-growing region lies on the borders of three historic regions - Touraine, Poitou and Anjou - and three modern-day départements - Indre-et-Loire, Vienne and Maine-et-Loire. A considerable historical and architectural heritage frames the stroll along the Loire. Straddle the river from Chinon, once a Plantagenet fortress before being conquered by Philippe Auguste, where Rabelaisian evocations abound, to Bourgueil and Saint-Nicolas and the finest Cabernet Franc terroirs. Keeping with the theme, we visit the Cave de la Dive Bouteille in Bourgueil, a wine museum set in the remarkable site of troglodytic caves dug into the local rock, tufeau, the basis of many nearby châteaux. Joining the confluence with the Vienne, we continue along the river through Candes-Saint-Martin, then to the foot of the elegant Château de Montsoreau, two villages with many beautiful tufeau houses on the river's edge. Rabelais is still here! After the terrible war, the château was given to Ithybole, one of Picrochole's victors and Gargantua's faithful servant, long before Alexandre Dumas made him the subject of his "Dame de Monsoreau". At the end of this riverside road is Saumur, the capital of horses and fine wine, famous for its Cadre Noir, the cavalry officers' school that has now become the École Nationale d'Équitation. The beautiful château overlooking the Loire and the town houses a museum and remarkable tapestries. King René d'Anjou nicknamed it the Château d'Amour. A stroll through the town, between the tufa stone and timber-framed houses, offers a charming architectural tour. The troglodytic caves are also ideal for mushroom growing, of which there are many in the region. A Mushroom Museum is located on Route de Gennes, with Europe's largest collection and the production of some ten tons of button, oyster and shiitake mushrooms. Gabrielle Chanel, known as Coco, was born in Saumur, as were Yves Robert and Fanny Ardant. Finally, every year (late January, early February), Saumur hosts the world's largest "salon des vins nature", bringing together all the new-generation winemakers from all over France in a gathering as fraternal and friendly as it is boozy. The name of this unique festival? La Dive Bouteille, of course, which regulars reduce to "la Dive".