Steam Train Rides in the Sarthe (Pays de la Loire)

Steam Train Rides in the Upper Sarthe

(Pays de la Loire)

For steam train enthusiasts, or those simply looking for something a little out of the ordinary to do, the Sarthe Steam Railway (run by Transvap, a group of amateurs who care for and restore the locomotives) is open for Sunday trips from this weekend and is just half an hour from us.

Corpet-Louvet 030T – “La Chéronne”

“La Ligne des Ducs” – the Line of the Dukes

The steam train “La Cheronne” dating from 1923 travels the length of the Jousse valley on part of the old railway line from Mamers  to Saint-Calais. It was originally funded by the lords of the region from which it gets the name “the Line of the Dukes.”  It is a nostalgic journey of 17km through the Perche countryside, the route from Connerré to Bonnétable passing through Beillé, Tuffé and Prévelles.

The Transvap group also has a collection of other steam trains undergoing restoration, historic electric railcars, pre-war buses adapted for rail use in the 1930′s, railway wagons and coaches.

As well as the steam train, post-war “Billard” and “Picasso” motorised railcars (“autorails) also run the route on Sundays.

The trains run every Sunday in July and August to a regular timetable and one ticket is valid for the whole day, which means you can hop on and off different trains at the station halts.  They also run on 14th July and 15th August (the summer national holidays).

Reservations not required: tickets are 11€ for adults, 9€ for children (2012).

Billard railcars

At Tuffé you can also visit the Tuffé Priory; the priory house, cloisters (hosting a pottery workshop), the pigeon house, the barn and gardens are free for self-guided visits (2€ guided visits).   Open Fridays, Saturdays, Sundays and public holidays from 2:00 p.m. to 7:00 p.m in July and August.

Train Timetable

1st Train : AUTORAIL

	Station	Arrive	Depart
OUT	Connerré Beillé – Transvap		10h30
	Tuffé town	10h44	10h45
	Tuffé lake	10h48	10h50
	Prévelles	11h00	11h01
	Bonnétable	11h21
9 minute halt
BACK	Bonnétable		11h30
	Prévelles	11h50	11h51
	Tuffé lake	12h01 2 hour lunch	14h00
	Tuffé town	14h03	14h04
	Connerré Beillé – Transvap	14h18

2nd Train : AUTORAIL

	Gare	Arrive	Depart
OUT	Connerré Beillé – Transvap		11h45
	Tuffé town	11h59	12h00
	Tuffé lake	12h03
5 minute halt
BACK	Tuffé lake		12h08
	Tuffé town	12h11	12h12
	Connerré Beillé – Transvap	12h26

3rd Train : STEAM

	Gare	Arrive	Depart
OUT	Connerré Beillé – Transvap		15h00
	Tuffé town	15h24	15h25
	Tuffé lake	15h29	15h35
	Prévelles	15h52	15h54
	Bonnétable	16h15
30 minute halt
BACK	Bonnétable		16h45
	Prévelles	17h09	17h15
	Tuffé lake	17h27	18h00
	Tuffé town	18h04	18h05
	Connerré Beillé – Transvap	18h25

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Petit Bordeaux Gardens, near Le Mans

Les Jardins du Petit-Bordeaux

Gardens of Petit-Bordeaux Spring 2012

Although it doesn’t officially open until tomorrow (April 1st) owners and gardeners Michel and Sylvie let us have a sneak preview of their garden near St Biez-en-Bélin yesterday – it’s always a treat at any time, but doubly so when you have the place to yourselves!

Winter Alterations

We found that there have been changes – as every year – over the winter.  Some borders have been entirely dug up, resculpted and replanted, hedges chopped and altered to give new views, and more hard paving added here and there.

Two gorgeous camellias imported from Japan and sculpted into “cloud” forms have been planted either side of one of the paths, but Michel fears they may not survive as they went in just before the record cold spell of February.  We have fingers crossed that they’ll pull through.

The new ticket office/reception area that Michel had hoped to get permission for and build over the winter has not come to fruition – a victim of planning red tape.  He hopes it’ll get through at the fourth attempt!

Michel is a passionate gardener and he has a small nursery sales area with many of the plants you find in the Petit Bordeaux garden – as usual we came home with a load of new plants and (yet another!) bird sculpture for our garden at La Basse Cour.

Picnic near the Gardens

After our visit we went to our usual spot for a picnic, down by the stream at the old lavoir of St-Biez-en-Bélin – take the little road opposite the bar in the village centre, signposted “aire de repos”. It’s about a kilometre down the road.

The Petit Bordeaux garden is open 1 April to 15 November, every day except Tuesday, 10.00h to 12.30h and 14.00h to 19.00h.

Jardin Petit-Bordeaux website: www.jardindupetitbordeaux.fr

If you like gardens, check out the other gardens near us on our website Gardens of Lower Normandy and Upper Pays de la Loire.

Access to Petit Bordeaux garden

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Manoir de Couesme, “Desseins de Femmes” Ceramic Art

Desseins de Femmes

Ceramic art exhibition at the Manoir de Couesme

A few days ago we visited the Manoir de Couesme in Ancinnes to see the outdoor exhibition of sculptures, paintings and ceramics on display in the grounds of the manor house.

The Manoir de Couesme, in the commune of Ancinnes on the border of Normandy and Pays de la Loire,  dates from the 15th century and has been beautifully restored by the current owners.  They hold regular art exhibitions there each September under the patronage of Jean-Pierre Coffe.

The manor house exhibits for 2010 are the creations of Céline LAURENT DESSOR, who studied Fine Arts in Tarbes then ceramics at Mulhouse, but was especially influenced by learning native pottery in a Nigerian village. For the last ten years she has run the AL TERRE NATIVE centre at Nancy, where she runs vocational courses in the ceramic arts.

The grounds are brought to life by her sculptures , murals and dishes decorated with images of women.  Her work speaks of the virtual and literal enslavement of women in certain societies and contrasts this with the freedom they enjoy in others.

The exhibition runs until the end of September 2010 – if you are in the north Sarthe, make a detour and enjoy the exhibition – truly inspiring.

Manoir de Couesme “Desseins de Femmes” Exhibition

Practical Information

Opening hours

Every day from 4th to 30th September 2010

Hours 10h00 to 18h00

Facilities

Bar on site

Parking on site free

Souvenir and gift stall run by the “Amis du Manoir de Couesme”

Artwork for sale

Directions

The Manoir de Couesme is situated between Ancinnes and Bourg-le Roi in the Sarthe department, Pays de la Loire, France.

The Manoir de Couesme is 2 minutes (2km) from our B&B in Lower Normandy by car, or 20 minutes on foot.

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Château de Villaines – and an amazing vegetable garden!

Chateâu de Villaines B&B

A delightful 17th century château – but the big attraction is the vegetable garden!

Château de Villaines Bed & Breakfast

We found out about Château de Villaines and its garden when visiting another in the same area called the Manoir de Massonnière – they are only about 16km (10 miles) apart and 65km away from our home near Alençon, so it makes sense to visit both if you are visiting one.

Before visiting Château de Villaines we tried looking for this château and garden on the Internet – unfortunately I could find out nothing about it before we took a chance on visiting it a couple of weeks ago, in mid-July.  Thankfully, it was worth taking the chance!  By strange coincidence, the website for the château has also appeared in Google results in the past week (further details below).

© Chateau de Villaines

Château de Villaines is located between Louplande and Chemiré-le-Gaudin, 15km from Le Mans in the Sarthe department of the Pays de la Loire, France.

The château is built on the foundations of a much older medieval château-fort, of which all that remains is part of the defensive moat on the southern side.  The present buildings date from the early 17th century and the Château de VIllaines is typical of châteaux from that period, oriented with the main facades facing precisely north and south, and being long and slim to allow light to penetrate from windows on both sides, making it very light and airy.

The main buildings comprise the Château itself, the orangery in the north west corner of the garden, and a large pigeonnière to the south-west side where pigeons would once have been kept for eating.

The ground floor is partly open to visitors.  The beautiful wrought iron hall staircase is listed and is part of the original building, as is the dining room panelling.  The panelling in the drawing room was replaced after a fire at the beginning of the 19^th century.

© Chateau de Villaines

Marc and Marie-José Forissier have been the owners since 1997 and are responsible for developing the garden as it appears today.  Before they began work  there was an English landscape garden in front of the house; this has been replaced by a formal French garden with clipped box topiary and lawns.  To the right of the house is a recently planted orchard, to the south the remains a large moat and many newly planted trees.

However, its main feature is an extraordinary “potager en carrés“, a highly formalised and decorative fruit and vegetable garden divided into dozens – if not hundreds – of raised square beds and surrounded by a high wall.  This garden covering 2.5 acres was restored by the present owners and recently featured in Le Figaro magazine and in a new book on this distinctive type of garden.

© Chateau de Villaines

It includes a fine array of peonies, espaliered pear trees and apple trees trained in cordons.  An attractive collection of Old Climbing Roses trail across arches giving the garden height. In 2005 it was awarded the prize for best potager garden in France by the French Horticultural Society (Société Nationale d’Horticulture de France).

The garden is classed as a national “Jardin Remarquable” -  a title it well deserves.

Practical Information

Open all of June, July and September every day from 10h to 12h and 14h to 18h (NB closed in August)

2010 entry fee: 4€

Website: www.chateaudevillaines.fr

Access (route shown is from our B&B on the border of Normandy and Pays de la Loire).

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The Vineyards of the Coteaux du Loir and Jasnières

Domaine de Bellivière - terroir des Renaudes

Loir Valley Wine Route

Whilst there is a small wine-producing domaine just north of Alençon, the nearest major AOC region is to the south of Le Mans in the Loir (without an “e”) valley.  We passed a pleasant afternoon driving the Loir Valley Wine Route in late autumn; this was quite by accident after cutting short a planned visit to the town of Château-du-Loir (there’s not much there – not recommended!) following a late-season trip to the “Jardin d’Atmosphère” at St Biez-en-Belin.

Loir Valley Wine Route

I’m not a wine buff – this is purely a guide to help anyone wishing to visit some vineyards in the region and perhaps buy direct from the producer.

The Googlemap below shows the wine producers we found and where the main vineyards are located, with those possessing a decent website represented by a bunch of purple grapes and the others by green grapes. Several sell wine directly to the public, giving you a chance to taste before buying. Otherwise you can buy many of the same wines online or in wine merchants/cavistes in the towns around the region.

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There is a “route des vignes” clearly signposted along the Loir valley, which is how we found several of these vineyards.

The Vineyards of the Coteaux du Loir and Jasnières

The Coteaux du Loir AOC stretches across 16 communes in the Sarthe and 6 in d’Indre-et-Loire department, producing red, white and rosé wines.  However, only half of the communes that are entitled to produce AOC Coteaux du Loir actually make any wine, and the greatest concentration of vineyards is around the communes of Ruillé-sur-Loir, Poncé-sur-Loir, Lhomme, Chahaignes and Marçon.

Domaine les Maisons Rouges - Chenin Grapes with "noble rot" 2009

The Jasnières AOC is a sub-section of Coteaux du Loir; it is a dry white wine produced exclusively in the communes of Lhomme and Ruillé-sur-Loir.

All of the vineyards are located on the south-facing slopes, the banks and larger tributaries of the river Loir.

Coteaux du Loir

The Coteaux du Loir whites are similar to Jasnières:  same chenin blanc (also known as Pineau de la Loire) grape variety, same type of terrain and climate.  The best are indistinguishable to plebs like me from the better known (and more expensive) Jasnières.

The red wines from Coteaux du Loir use juice mainly from the Pineau d’Aunis, a local grape variety.  They are fairly pale red, smooth, fresh and raspberry-ish.

Rosés from Coteaux du Loir are predominantly from Pineau d’Aunis, light and fresh – pretty much like Rosé d’Anjou.

Domaine les Maisons Rouge, 5 Octobre 2009 : first day of picking

Jasnières

Jasnières is a dry white wine, yellowish in colour, flowery and fruity to smell, often with a mineral, flinty taste.  In the best vintage years, sweet wines are also produced in this area.

I’m told these wines age well – that they can take 10 to 15 years to reach their best and still remain fresh after 20 years.

Several Jasnières wines are labelled after their terroir (the parcel of land which produces the grape) : such as le Clos des Jasnières, le Clos des Molières, la Gidonière, le Clos Saint-Jacques, etc.

The Jasnières vineyards run in a line about 200 m wide for a distance of 5km on the south facing slopes of the Loir, through the communes of Lhomme and Ruillé-sur-Loir. This means that the vines enjoy the best sunshine and are protected from the north winds by the hills and the forest of Bercé.

Jasnières hillside (from http://www.jasnieres.fr)

To visit nearby

Special thanks to Elisabeth and Benoît Jardin of Domaine les Maisons Rouges, Eric et Christine Nicolas of Domaine de Bellivière and Paul Sindell of www.jasnieres.fr for the use of photos.

Château de Bénehard at Chahaignes – you can visit the grounds of this château, no charge, from July to September.  In the grounds is a 15th century wine press.

Musée de la Vigne, Lhomme – the museum has been recently renovated and reorganized and is situated in the centre of Lhomme.  It displays the tools used by local wine-growers for working their vines and making wine and has a video showing the work of the last local barrel-maker. Open July to mid-September, Saturday and Sunday afternoons from 3pm to 6pm.

Gardens of the Château de Grand-Lucé – 17 acres of classic French gardens open April to September Sundays 10am – 6pm

Useful links:

www.maisonsrouges.com – wine producer
http://www.belliviere.com – wine producer (images © Studio Amarante)
www.coteauxduloir.fr – website of Coteaux du Loir producers
www.jasnieres.fr – website of Jasnières producers

You will find links to other vineyards by clicking on the Googlemap at the top of the article.

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