Day 1

We depart by Eurostar train from London St Pancras to Lille, where we change trains and continue by TGV high-speed train direct to Angers (first-class upgrades, regional connections and overnight accommodation before or after the tour available on request). On arrival we transfer on foot to our hotel, the 3-star Hotel de France, conveniently situated directly opposite the railway station in the centre of Angers, close to the medieval château. Dinner will be available in the hotel’s own excellent restaurant, Les Plantagenêts, or in one of the many restaurants in the town, specializing in the cuisine of the region.

Day 2

After breakfast we will visit the garden of Petit-Bordeaux at Saint-Biez-en-Belin. In this garden of great intimacy some 3000 species and varieties create a multitude of different spaces where the visitor can pause and take in the subtle scents and colours. Lovers of rare essences and refined gardens will take delight in this place.

In the afternoon we return to Angers, where we visit the Château d’Angers, the enormous 13th century castle which rears up in the centre of the city on the banks of the River Maine. In the main courtyard, whose massive walls are garlanded with climbing plants, a monumental parterre is fashioned from squares of turf edged with deep box hedges and crowned with clipped yew. Hidden away in the rampart walks, beautifully designed ornamental planting contrasts delightfully with the stern walls of the castle, with flower-filled parterres and tree-lined gravel paths. The Château is notable also for its Tapestry Museum which houses some extremely ancient examples of the art, including the priceless series known as ‘The Apocalypse’.

Following our visit here the remainder of the afternoon and evening is at leisure.

Day 3

After breakfast we travel south-west of Angers today, our destination the Oriental Park at Maulévrier, the largest Japanese garden in Europe. The stretch of river, around which the garden is formed, and its different features, such as crane islands, Khmer temple and Buddha, symbolise the course of human life from birth to death. Over 300 different species of plants adorn the park, inviting the visitor to pause and meditate awhile.

Following our visit we head back towards the Loire to the pleasant riverside town of Saumur, our venue for lunch (not included). In the afternoon we travel a short way along the southern bank of the Loire to visit the Abbaye Royale de Fontevraud. The legendary Abbey dates from the 11th century and is built from cream-coloured tuffeau, the easy-to-carve rock used to build so many of the notable buildings in this area. There is a magnificent Romanesque abbey church, containing tombs of the early Plantagenets; a peaceful cloister and an impressive 12th century circular kitchen, with its attendant hortulus, or kitchen garden. During the French Revolution the abbey was closed and became a prison, which it remained until the 1960s. Since then it has been beautifully restored and today offers a wonderfully tranquil setting in which to wander about.

We return to Angers where we have the evening at leisure.

Day 4

We follow the Loire upstream today, as we visit the International Garden Festival at Chaumont, set in an idyllic location in the grounds of the chateau, overlooking the Loire. The festival has established itself as the launching pad for young landscape architects, who are given the challenge of creating innovative and imaginative gardens in 30 plots of 240 sq metres. The Festival is closely associated with the International Conservatory of Parks, Gardens and Landscaping, which provides a range of experimental and permanent gardens as part of the Festival and offers advice on new techniques.

In the afternoon we continue to the spectacular garden at the Château de Villandry, one of the handful of French gardens which is known, at least by name, to every gardener in France. These magnificent gardens are a reconstruction of the formal gardens of the 16th century and, as such, are unique in France.  Today the garden, like an immense patchwork quilt, lies on three levels to the south and west of the moated renaissance house. Here you will see a vast array of fruit and vegetables in the ornamental kitchen garden framed by annual flowers.  You can also amble through the Garden of Music where clipped box hedges surround massed plantings of herbaceous perennials and shrubs and the Garden of Love where different forms of love are skilfully illustrated using varying colours and plants.

We return to Angers where once again the evening is at leisure.

Day 5

Sadly it is time to check out of our hotel and cross to the station where we board the TGV high speed train to Lille, continuing on the Eurostar service back to St Pancras.