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 varietals and terroir

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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 

• 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 storied wine 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 wine tasting at Robert et Marcel wine caves in Saumur

• Return to Angers by early evening

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

Today we venture 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. 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 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

• 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 -Choose Your Own Adventure: Rails, Rivers, or Resistance

Take a break from the group to explore independently—whether by train or bike. Today’s tracks offer three unique ways to engage with the Loire’s layered history, from bustling cities to quiet trails. Optional Operation Vintner side missions will be available—lightweight, self-guided challenges that reveal hidden resistance stories embedded in urban and rural spaces.

To ensure support and continuity, Rob and Anne-Marie will separately accompany the two train-based groups, while a local guide will lead the Resistance-themed bike tour.

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Activities (choose one track):

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Tours Option:

• Morning train to Tours

• Explore Renaissance architecture and bustling squares

• Optional Operation Vintner micro-mission in the old quarter

• Return to Angers by evening

Nantes Option:

• Morning train to Nantes

• Visit to the Machines de l’île or Château des ducs

• Optional Operation Vintner challenge along the Loire riverfront

• Return to Angers by evening

Local Option – Resistance by Bike:

• Morning departure for a guided cycling loop through Angers and surrounding countryside, tracing paths once used by Resistance couriers

• Stops may include historical markers, river crossings, and discreet locations used for document drops and coded communications

• Optional Operation Vintner mission: decrypt a local map and locate a symbolic “drop site” along the route

• Midday riverside picnic or café lunch

• Return to Angers by late afternoon

• Note: The guided ride is moderate in pace and accessible for most fitness levels. Bikes and helmets provided.

Day 6 – Borders, Memory, and the Long Road to Celebration

Today’s journey takes us to the heart of the Loire Valley, where Amboise once sat directly on the demarcation line that divided Nazi-occupied France from the so-called Free Zone. As a result, this picturesque town became a vital node in Resistance operations—its backstreets, cellars, and hidden routes serving as quiet conduits of defiance.

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We’ll spend the day in Amboise, beginning with a guided visit to the Château d’Amboise, a royal fortress whose walls bore witness to occupation, escape, and acts of subversion. Afterward, participants will enjoy free time for lunch in the town’s historic center.

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In the afternoon, we’ll take a guided walk through the medieval streets where civilians once made impossible choices. Along the way, participants will engage in an Operation Vintner mission that retraces the hidden pathways used by Resistance couriers to smuggle information, people, and supplies across the boundary line—often beneath the noses of occupying forces.

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We conclude the day in Rochecorbon, just outside Tours, with an open-air apéro dînatoire at The Guinguette de Rochecorbon—a festive riverside retreat that invites joy, community, and local flavor to the end of our journey east.

Activities:

• Late-morning train to Amboise

• Visit Château d’Amboise, and take a self-paced tour with optional reflection on wartime presence

• Independent lunch in the town center

• Operation Vintner mission: “The Line Between” – a light historical challenge inspired by real crossings and coded movement under occupation

• Walking tour of Amboise’s medieval streets, focusing on hidden resistance routes and local stories

• Apéro dînatoire at The Guinguette de Rochecorbon, featuring music, food, and Loire River views

• Return to Angers by private coach

Day 7 -Reflection

As our seminar draws to a close, we pause to reflect on the themes that have shaped our journey: wine as culture, land as memory, and resistance as lived experience. The morning offers space to connect these threads through journaling and discussion—and to explore The Vineyard Dispatch, our shared Padlet board, where participants have been posting captioned images throughout the week. Together, we’ll look back through this living digital archive and revisit the moments, spaces, and surprises that defined our time together.

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Although the afternoon is unscheduled, free day doesn’t mean you’re on your own. Rob and Anne-Marie will be available to help plan optional independent excursions—from half-day walks within Angers to full-day train trips to nearby towns—and they’ll informally gather with anyone who wants to share a café table, conversation, or a last local adventure.

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We reunite in the evening for a celebratory farewell dinner at La Réserve, where rooftop views of the River Maine and Angers' iconic château set the stage for one final toast to the stories we've uncovered, the missions we've completed, and the friendships forged along the way.

Day 8 -
Departure

• Morning check-out and assistance with TGV departures.