Wine & War in the Loire

Day 1 -
Welcome to Angers 
 

Begin your journey in the medieval city of Angers, nestled in the heart of the Loire Valley. After check-in and a short walking tour, we’ll come together to meet fellow participants and set the stage for a week of themed exploration.

Activities:

• TGV arrivals throughout the day; staff greet participants at Angers Saint-Laud station.

• Check-in to hotel or apartments in central Angers.

• Evening: Welcome dinner & orientation.

• Evening Stroll Through Medieval Angers - an optional walking orientation to the central area of the city.

Day 2 - 
Angers: Occupation, Resistance, and Wine

Trace the layers of Angers’ wartime past—from medieval fortifications to Nazi checkpoints and Resistance safe houses. Today’s walking seminar introduces the social, political, and geographic dynamics of occupation in the Loire Valley.

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Today, we also introduce Operation Vintner: A narrative-based, optional experience that runs throughout the week. Participants may choose how deeply to engage—no espionage background required!

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Finally, we unveil The Vineyard Dispatch—our shared Padlet board. Throughout the week, travelers are invited to post captioned photos that capture moments of meaning or curiosity. Together, we’ll build a living digital archive of our journey—one image, one story at a time.

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In the early evening, we'll gather at the Maison des Vins d'Anjou in central Angers to enjoy an apéro dînatoire that will include a food and wine pairing that focuses on regional flavors and terroir. The tasting will also include a selection of non-alcoholic beverages for travelers who prefer not to drink.

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Activities:

• Morning seminar: France Under Occupation – A Broad View. From Cities to Vineyards, and the Choices of Ordinary People

• Guided tours of WWII- and Resistance-era sites in and around Angers

• Visit the Château d'Angers for discussion of Angers Resistance and a self-paced tour

• Apéro dînatoire at Maison des Vins d'Anjou (with non-alcoholic options available)

• Dinner on your own

Day 3 -Fontevraud & Saumur: Codes, Captivity, and Cellars

We begin the day at Fontevraud-l’Abbaye, a thousand-year-old monastic complex that became a WWII prison under Nazi occupation. This powerful site invites quiet reflection on the intersecting themes of captivity, resistance, and resilience. While on the grounds, participants will complete an Operation Vintner mission drawn from historical tactics used to conceal and pass coded messages. Afterward, we break for lunch in the nearby village before traveling to Saumur for a guided tour and tasting at one of the region’s most historical sparkling wine (i.e., Crémant) caves—ending the day where resistance and viticulture once shared the same tunnels.

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Activities:

• Morning visit to Fontevraud Abbey, including WWII-era history and guided exploration

• Operation Vintner mission on the abbey grounds, inspired by covert resistance practices

• Lunch in the village of Fontevraud-l’Abbaye (independent or in small groups)

• Afternoon guided tour and sparkling wine tasting at the Gratien & Meyer cellars in Saumur, with non-alcoholic sparkling options available

• Return to Angers by early evening

Day 4 -The Land Remembers: Terroir, Silence, and Small Acts

Today take a short drive into the Anjou countryside to explore how memory takes root in landscapes, vines, and local tradition. We’ll visit two highly regarded wineries, each offering a different lens on the connection between land, resistance, and identity during the Occupation.

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At one estate, we’ll enjoy a guided food-and-wine pairing experience that brings Anjou’s terroir to life through seasonal flavors and storytelling, with non-alcoholic pairings available for those who prefer them. At the other, we’ll take a vineyard walk followed by a tasting—and engage in an Operation Vintner mission inspired by the covert routes and coded messages used by wartime couriers moving between rural estates.

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Together, these visits offer a quiet yet powerful reminder: sometimes resistance begins with what we choose to preserve, to pass on, and to protect.

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To close the day, we’ll gather at Guinguette à Jojo, a beloved riverside hangout just outside Angers that captures the easygoing spirit of summertime in the Loire. Nestled beneath the trees along the riverbank, this open-air guinguette serves up rustic local fare, crisp wines and other beverages, and a rotating lineup of live music and dance—all just a short stroll from the water’s edge.

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Activities

• Guided food-and-wine pairing at Domaine Bois Mozé, showcasing Anjou’s seasonal cuisine and winemaking traditions (non-alcoholic options available)

• Vineyard walk and guided tasting at Domaine de Haute Perche

• Operation Vintner Mission: Decode a fictional—but fact-inspired—message hidden among vineyard markers and old estate stones

• Evening drinks and dinner at La Guinguette à Jojo

Day 5 -Transfer to Amboise: Demarcation Lines & Cellars of Memory

Today we relocate to Amboise (late morning coach/train, approx 1 hr 40 min travel time). Check‑in and settle. Afternoon Caves Ambacia — Odyssée Privée: a private, sommelier‑led experience, including sensory/aroma track, a look at the historic Vouvray collection (from 1874 to today), cellar aging methods, and a tasting class of ~8 wines with charcuterie & cheeses. Optional evening walk by the Loire; dinner in town.

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Activities:

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• Transport Angers → Amboise; hotel check‑in

• Caves Ambacia: Odyssée Privée (1h30 private tour & tasting with pairings)

• Evening free for independent exploration, optional self-guided walks, or quiet reflection along the Loire.

Day 6 – Amboise: “The Line Between” & Guinguette Evening

Perched above the Loire, Château d’Amboise offers sweeping views and a vantage point over centuries of French history. After a self-paced visit with wartime reflection prompts, we step into the winding lanes of Amboise for Operation Vintner: “The Line Between” — a light historical challenge tracing the routes, diversions, and coded movements used to ferry people and information across the demarcation line under occupation. As evening falls, we travel to The Guinguette de Rochecorbon, an open-air riverside retreat where rustic local fare, crisp Loire wines, and live music or themed soirées create an unforgettable summer night.

Activities:

• Château d’Amboise visit (self-paced)

• Guided walk of old-town lanes with OV mission: “The Line Between”

• Group dinner at The Guinguette de Rochecorbon (music, local specialties, Loire views)

• Return to Amboise in the evening

Day 7 -Blois & Chambord: Resistance, Art on the Move, and a Palace of Paradoxes

Our day begins in Blois, where cobbled lanes lead to the Château de Blois and, time permitting, the Centre de la Résistance, Déportation et Mémoire. After lunch, we continue to Château de Chambord for its new permanent exhibition Chambord 1939–1945. Discover how this Renaissance masterpiece became the largest wartime repository for evacuated French art treasures — including the Mona Lisa, Liberty Leading the People, and The Lady and the Unicorn — and the story of the convoys that safeguarded them. Returning to Amboise, we gather for a celebratory Farewell Dinner, raising a final glass to our week of discovery, missions, and shared table.

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Activities:​

• Morning in Blois (château + optional Resistance museum)

• Optional afternoon in Chambord with 1939–1945 exhibit

• Free time for personal exploration or rest before our farewell gathering

• Farewell Dinner in Amboise

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Day 8 -
Departure

• After breakfast, we check out and assist with transfers to Tours/St-Pierre-des-Corps for TGV service to Paris or CDG Airport. Staff remain available at the station for staggered departures.