Champagne, Chateaux, Caves & Gardens

In the 19th Century the small village of Turquant became the world’s biggest “pommes tapées” (beaten apples) producer, providing an alternative livelihood for the vineyards devastated by the phylloxera disease. The process involved drying the fruit in a tuffeau stone oven then flattening it with a mallet. It could then be stored for months, to be rehydrated as required, in wine or syrup. As the vineyards recovered, the practice died out until the recipe was rediscovered in the 1980s by the creators of this museum.
On a self-guided tour, you can learn more about the production methods and traditional recipes, as well as the life of the people who produced the fruit and the instruments that they used. Like the mushroom farm, the caves in this area were used as a ‘factory’ to produce the dried fruit and there are interactive displays in the caves that bring everything to life. At the end of the tour, there’s a free tasting.
The museum is open daily from June to November (10am-6pm) and is closed on Monday and Tuesday during the winter months. Tickets can be purchased at the entrance.

Château de l’Aulée and its cellars was constructed in 1856 by the Cordier wine-merchant family. It was purchased by the current owners in 2004 with the specific aim of producing sparkling wines. Marielle, an oenologist from Champagne who has worked with some of the biggest houses including Bollinger and Pommery, together with her husband, are now producing 230,000 bottles of wine annually, 80% of which are sparkling, and many are award-winning.
At the château, you can pick up an audio guide, and enjoy a narrated walk around the vineyard where you will learn about the origins of the appellation and domaine as well as the vineyard’s good agricultural practices. At the end, there is – of course – a chance to sample some of their award-winning wines, as well as buy some from their cellar. The winery is open daily from 10-6pm and audio guides can be purchased at the entrance.

Owned by the Chateau, La Doulce Terrasse Restaurant has a delicious selection of terrines, savoury tarts, quiches, and salads on offer, as well a more substantial and good value ‘plats du jour’.

Although this is one of the great Loire Valley Castles, Villandry is better known for its stunning gardens. The Renaissance castle was built in 1536 by the then Minister of Finance, who demolished a 12th Century fortress to build something more in keeping with his vision of a castle. Although the main gardens were created at the same time, what you will see today is mostly the work of Joachim Carvallo, who purchased the property in the 1900s.
The gardens span 9 hectares and are divided across 3 levels: you can visit the Garden of the Sun, the Garden of Water, with its intricate pattern of ponds and fountains bordered by lime trees, and the Ornamental Garden, which is divided into 2 sections. In the first section, you can admire the Garden of Love, the Garden of Music and the Modest Garden - full of aromatic plants. The second section comprises the kitchen garden, which supplies the restaurant, and the Floral Labyrinth.
The gardens are open daily and tickets can be purchased at the entrance.

This network of underground passages was discovered in 1962 by a young boy whose father had purchased the farmland. Jump forward 20 years to when Louis-Marie inherited the land and began exploring and uncovering all 53 of the caverns, until it was ready to open to the public in 2000. Like the other underground caverns that you saw this morning, Goupillieres Troglodyte Valley was constructed by peasant miners in the Middle Ages who quarried the tuffeau slopes for stone to build the valleys’ chateaux and, at the same time, created a network of dwellings for their families and farm animals.
This attraction tells the story of these miners and their families – the people behind the grand chateaux! A self-guided tour will lead you around 3 farms dug into the stone, where you can see the wells, bakers’ ovens, cattle sheds and grain silos. You will also see the ingenious tunnel system that they used when they need to take refuge and also an old wine lodge (built much later in the 19th Century).
The attraction is open daily until 5:30pm in the Winter and 7pm in the Summer. Tickets can be purchased at the entrance.

Girardot Distillery was established at the end of the 19th Century, initially producing a strawberry liqueur and gradually expanding to the 20 fruit liqueurs that are produced today. These include: strawberry, raspberry, cherry, blackcurrant, blackberry, and peach. The fruits are supplied by local farmers and are macerated in alcohol before distillation, after which the liquor is decanted into oak barrels which are then stored in tuffeau cellars for up to 8 months. This juice forms the base for the liqueur to which sugar syrup is then added, to enhance the flavour.
The guided tour will take you around the cellars to show you how the liqueurs are made, and at the end, you will be able to taste some, as well as purchase your favourite from the shop.
Note the distillery is open daily from Easter until the end of October with guided tours from 6pm. The tour must be booked in advance. Book online.

Park along the water front.

‘Le Fab’ is a great place for supper. The vibe is casual dining but the small plates are inventive and tasty, as much of it comes from their own deli. There’s a good selection of craft beers and regional wines too.

This is a traditional 16th Century auberge, in a fabulous location on the riverbank.