Saumur in the Pays de la Loire region

Thursday, 21 September 2023 - 11:00 am (CET/MEZ) Berlin | Author/Destination:
Category/Kategorie: General
Reading Time:  3 minutes

© Martin Falbisoner/cc-by-sa-3.0

© Martin Falbisoner/cc-by-sa-3.0

Saumur is a commune in the Maine-et-Loire department in western France. The town is located between the Loire and Thouet rivers, and is surrounded by the vineyards of Saumur itself, Chinon, Bourgueil, Coteaux du Layon, etc.. Saumur station has rail connections to Tours, Angers, La Roche-sur-Yon and Nantes.

Saumur is home to the Cadre Noir, the École Nationale d’Équitation (National School of Horsemanship), known for its annual horse shows, as well as the Armoured Branch and Cavalry Training School, the officer school for armored forces (tanks).

There is the national tank museum, the Musée des Blindés, with more than 850 armored vehicles, wheeled or tracked. Most of them are from France, though some come from other countries such as Brazil, Germany, and the Soviet Union, as well as axis and allied vehicles of World War Two.

The annual military Carrousel takes place in July each year, as it has done for over 160 years, with displays of horse cavalry skills, historic and modern military vehicles.

Château de Saumur © W. Bulach/cc-by-sa-4.0 © Manfred Heyde/cc-by-sa-3.0 © Martin Falbisoner/cc-by-sa-3.0 © Rémih/cc-by-sa-4.0 Cadre noir © Alain Laurioux/cc-by-sa-3.0 Cadre noir © Alain Laurioux/cc-by-sa-3.0
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Château de Saumur © W. Bulach/cc-by-sa-4.0
Amongst the most important monuments of Saumur are the great Château de Saumur itself which stands high above the town, and the nearby Château de Beaulieu which stands just 200 metres from the south bank of the Loire River and which was designed by the architect Jean Drapeau. A giant sequoia tree (which is protected) stands in the grounds of Château de Beaulieu. The Dolmen de Bagneux is on the old road going south.

The architectural character of the town owes much to the fact that it is constructed almost exclusively of Tuffeau stone.

The wine industry surrounds Saumur, many utilising the tunnels as cellars with the hundreds of domaines producing white, red, rosé and sparkling wines. Visits to producers and the annual Grandes Tablées du Saumur-Champigny is an annual event held in early August with over 1 km of tables set up in Saumur so people can sample the local foods and wine.

Saumur has a weekly market every Saturday morning with hundreds of stalls open for business in the streets and squares of the old town, from before 8am.

Read more on Saumur, Wikivoyage Saumur and Wikipedia Saumur (Smart Traveler App by U.S. Department of State - Weather report by weather.com - Global Passport Power Rank - Travel Risk Map - Democracy Index - GDP according to IMF, UN, and World Bank - Global Competitiveness Report - Corruption Perceptions Index - Press Freedom Index - World Justice Project - Rule of Law Index - UN Human Development Index - Global Peace Index - Travel & Tourism Competitiveness Index). Photos by Wikimedia Commons. If you have a suggestion, critique, review or comment to this blog entry, we are looking forward to receive your e-mail at comment@wingsch.net. Please name the headline of the blog post to which your e-mail refers to in the subject line.




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