Delightful Loire Valley and Burgundy

Upon arrival to the train station, meet your driver and transfer to the hotel. The remainder of the day is at your leisure.

Today, consider taking a trip in charming Loire Valley and start your day touring the château de Chenonceau. The “Chateau des Dames”, bridge built across the Cher, is famous for the great feminine figures who lived in it (Diane de Poitiers, Catherine de Medici, among others) and for the beauty of its Renaissance gardens. Enjoy a tour and wine tasting lunch with a wine specialist’s matured Loire Valley vintages. Daniel, oenologist, welcomes you to his cave, a former tuff stone quarry, for a tour followed by a wine tasting of Vouvray, Montlouis, Chinon, Bourgueil and Saint Nicolas de Bourgueil wines. In order to transcend your tasting, you will pair your wines with a selection of cheeses. After lunch, you will tour the Royal Castle of Amboise, residence of Charles VIII and young François d’Angoulème, future Francois I. You will discover in this wonderful castle a perfect example of transition from Gothic to Renaissance, the Saint Hubert Chapel which shelters today the grave of Leonardo da Vinci. In order to make your tour thorough,you will meet the Genius in his Manor du Clos Lucé, a few yards away from the Royal Castle. Leonardo da Vinci spent there the last three years of his life where he died in 1519. After you tour his bedroom, office, reception room and kitchen, you will be in awe in front of the invention room, displaying models of the most spectacular machines Leonardo invented.

Enjoy your morning leisurely and discover Loire Valley at your pace.

TGV Train from Loire to Burgundy via Nevers . Upon arrival to the Beaune train station, meet your driver and transfer to your hotel. The remainder of the day is at your leisure.

Today, consider discovering Burgundy and visit the Hospices of Beaune, tour and wine tasting at a local domain in Meursault and Beaune. At the end of the day, if time remains, you will have a guided tour of either Beaune or Dijon.

In the morning, private transfer to the Beaune train station to continue on your next destination.