Saumur is a small village that is located in the Central Western part of France along the Loire River. It's about a two hour drive from Paris and sits just on the outskirts of the Loire Valley between Tours and Angers. It has many of the same features as the other destinations of that famous part of the country, such as a being situated along the banks of the river within wine country and of course having its own castle in the heart of the city.
It certainly has the same sort of general feel as other parts of the Loire Valley region as well.
If you cross the old stone bridge called Cessart Bridge you can get a pretty good view of the city in its entirely along with the castle overlooking the sleepy little town.
You might remember a similar photo from a previous post on simple photo editing techniques.
Saumur's castle sits on a hilltop and dominates the small town below. Not surprising, it is a major draw for tourists visiting the area. It was what drew us to the village.
The castle was originally built in the 10th century in order to protect against a Normon invasion. It was besieged though and destroyed soon after.
It was rebuilt in the 12th century by King Henry II of England.
The architect who was commissioned for the project apparently used an old painting that was found to recreate the same look of the old castle that predated it.
One interesting fact is that caves were dug in and around the surrounding area to mine the limestone bricks that were used for the castles construction. Today, vineyards still use those caves as cellars to store their wines.
Apparently you can still go into those caves at some wineries in the area by going on a tour of their facility's.
During King Louis XIV's reign the castle was used as a prison and then as a military barracks. It's a common fate for many castles in the country of France.
You don't have to go inside to enjoy the castle.
You are free to walk the grounds, which are quite modest, as well as the entire perimeter.
The castle is up on a hill and there are a few spots with some decent views of the city.
I really liked this spot for photographs. It's on a platform next to the wall seen above.
I took a few photos of my wife in this location under the tree that was just starting to blossom with flowers. A beautiful woman, under a beautiful tree, who doesn't love that?
I read online that the interior of the château is pretty sparsely decorated, so I don't know if it's worth the price of admission to go inside or not. That's a decision that you will have to make on your own.
I can show you more of the exterior though and tell you a little bit more about about the town itself.
The weekly market is held on Saturday mornings, which was when we were there. There were a surprising amount of stalls throughout the old town and new, all of which were quite bustling.
Saumur is also an important equestrian town with horse related events happening year round. There is a large military tank museum in town as well, with a large free parking lot. It's a good place to park if you happen to drive there as it's only about a 10 minute walk from the castle.
The entire area around the town is wine country and vineyards so you might want to sample the local wines during your visit.
During the age of enlightenment in the mid 17th century, much of France as well as Saumur, under went many severe changes in its appearance. The old medeival buildings came to be seen as small and clustered, as well as dark, damp and unsanitary. Much of the old buildings and tight alleyways were demolished and replaced with wider streets and squares along with much larger homes and structures. All of these changes were made using clean looking white stones called Tuffeau.
Tuffeau is a type of white limestone that is characterized by its fine grain and chalky texture. You can see the whiteness of the buildings today throughout Saumur. It is actually a very common look to many towns within the Loire Valley and surrounding area.
There is a small but lovely park just outside the castle gate that you can walk through to get back into town.
It was still February when we went so the trees didn't have their leaves yet. But still, it made for a nice walk to finish our time in the city.