Chinon: All in One Day

Begin your morning at the Royal Fortress of Chinon, where Joan of Arc recognised the disguised Dauphin in 1429 and where the Plantagenet dynasty once ruled from its clifftop ramparts. A free HistoPad tablet brings each medieval room back to life as you explore. Descend into the tuffeau limestone beneath the fortress to visit Les Caves Painctes, the underground cellars that inspired Rabelais' Temple of the Divine Bottle, where a guided tour ends with a tasting of local Chinon wines. Continue along the riverbank to Cave Monplaisir, a vast former quarry lined with over 700 oak barrels, offering a self-guided walk through aging galleries and complimentary tastings of red, rose, white, and sparkling Chinon AOC wines. The afternoon takes you to two remarkable medieval monuments: the partially ruined Collegiate Church of Saint-Mexme, one of Chinon's oldest buildings with abstract stained glass by painter Olivier Debre, and the troglodyte Chapel of Saint Radegund, carved into the cliff face and home to a rare 12th-century Royal Hunt fresco possibly depicting Eleanor of Aquitaine. Les Caves Painctes offers individual tours only in July and August, so plan this itinerary for summer; the fortress is closed on 1 January and 25 December.