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, 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.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.

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.
Back to Tours at the end of the afternoon.

8:00 pm
Dinner in a city centre restaurant of Tours. Accommodation at your 2, 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. 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.

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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