Château du Plessis

Tour Guide

Ballan-Miré, Savonnières, Villandry

Town Information
http://www.mairie-ballan-mire.fr/francais/accueil.htm
http://www.tourisme-en-confluence.com/anglais/accueil.php

The town of Ballan-Miré is about fifteen kilometers North of Le Plessis.  It is a well to do residential suburb of Tours.  The village center is small and quaint and contains some of the best specialty shops in the area.  Just outside of the town center is one of the best supermarket in the area.  The weekly market is small but is quite adequate with fresh vegetable stands, butchers, fish, and flower stands.  There is a pretty good restaurant focusing on seafood, and the flower shop is our favorites, arranging spectacular bouquets at reasonable prices.  Parking in the center of Ballan-Miré can be a challenge, particularly on market days.  However, there is a large parking lot, somewhat hidden behind the Market Square.
A little beyond Ballan-Miré is Joué-les-Tours where you can find an excellent wine shop just at the town’s entrance. 
About 5KM to the West, along the D7 on the way to Villandry, is the charming village of Savonnières on the bank of the Cher River.  It is well worth the visit.  At lunch time, a very nice country Inn provides a welcome break.
Drive another 2KM along the D7 and you will arrive in Villandry where you can visit the Château, and more importantly the gardens which rates way up high with the Bouchard Gardens in Victoria as one of the most fascinating gardens in the world.

Sightseeing:

The Church Saint Venant in Ballan-Miré is worth a look. The original church was was built in 480. It underwent modifications in XIIth , XIIIth and XVth centuries. The splendid central stained glass window dates back to 1516. The choir shelters three bells date from 1647, 1872 and 1881.
The only other significant sight in Ballan-Miré is water mill was built on the Cher in 1513. The Large Mill has remained intact for four centuries.

The village of Savonnières, snuck between the limestone hills and the River Cher is fun to meander around. It also is the home of the famous Caves of Savonnières. This old tuffeau (soft Touraine stone) quarries transformed within many centuries and present today to the visitors, a world of shadow and light, water and rock. You will discover underground landscapes with glittering concretions, petrified waterfalls, stalactites, draperies, a subterranean lake, Gallo-roman cemetery and ruins and an original representation of prehistoric life.

Just another 2Km to the West, the Gardens and the Château of Villandry- http://www.chateauvillandry.com - deservedly attracts visitors from all over the world. Completed toward 1536. it was the last of the large châteaux built on the banks of the Loire during the Renaissance. Villandry was built by Jean Le Breton, one of François I Finance Ministers, whose coat of arms can be seen on the gable of the left-hand dormer window. In 1906 the château was bought by Dr. Joachim Carvallo, who was born in Spain in 1869, and who is the great-grandfather of the present owners. He gave up a brilliant scientific career to devote himself entirely to Villandry. He thus saved the château which was just about to be demolished and created the present day gardens which are in complete harmony with the Renaissance architecture of the château. He was a pioneer in the opening of this kind of historic buildings to the public. The gardens are divided in three different levels. The water garden : On the upper level, within a huge cloister of lime trees, a mirror like lake collects the water required to irrigate the gardens and feed the fountains. The second level called the ornamental garden is composed of three sections on the same level as the château: "the garden of Love", "the garden of music", and "the herb garden" with aromatic plants and herbs for cooking and medicinal purposes. The splendid ornamental kitchen garden which is divided into decorative squares extends over an area of more than 12500 m2. This garden is completely replanted twice a year, during spring and summer times.

Restaurants:
«Le Calypso» - 8 Place de l’Église. Le Calypso is primary a seafood restaurant.  The dining room is comfortable while unpretentious.  The menu is classic and well prepared.  As usual in the area, the good value is the daily luncheon menu (weekdays only).  This is a restaurant that is not worth a trip, but is quite pleasant if in the area. 
«Le Saponaire» - 2 Rue principale – In Savonnière. Just as you enter Savonnières coming from Balkan you will run into Le Saponaire, an traditional and reasonable country Inn.  In summer time the Terrace overlooking the River Cher makes it a particularly pleasant stop.  The husband and wife team opened the Saponaire in early 2004 after purchasing the rundown “Faisant” better avoided.  They transformed it in a charming Inn.
“La Maison Tourangelle” - 9, route des Grottes Pétrifiantes  – (02 47 50 30 050 - In Savonnière. Located in a converted hotel overlooking the river, the dining room has been entirely redone in a minimalist modern style.  It is clean and attractive if not particularly in our decorating style.  The food was just as good as advertised and the service was friendly, professional and effective.  We like to drive through Savonnières and will certainly go back to La Maison Tourangelle.
 “Le Domaine de la Giraudière”. Just outside of Villandry, less than ten kilometers from Thilouze, “Le Domaine de la Giraudière” is a must stop.  Located in a working farm, specializing in goat cheeses, the four dining rooms and the large terrace seem to be completely packed with locals every Sunday.  The hearty country fare is generous, the menu is somewhat limited.  However, the ingredients are impeccably fresh, the service family style.  The prices are most reasonable and the owner is absolutely charming.  Walking around the farm after lunch and watching the animals is fun if hazardous.  On one visit, we discovered a goat who had managed to entangle her horns in the fence protecting a tree.  We called the owner who in turn enrolled my help.  I had to grab the two horns and bend them close together to pull the poor goat out of the fence.  She thanked me immediately by watering my shoes.  The hazards of country life!

Shopping:
Boulangerie (Bakery) – «Didier Pain» - 14 Place de l’Église & boulevard Jean-Jaurès (near ATAC). There are two bakeries in Ballan.  Our favorite is “Didier Pain” (a predestined name) located on the church’s square and since 2007 on the main street near the Supermarket ATAC.  It makes excellent baguettes, superb chocolates and chocolate pastries, and it also serves a variety of baked hors d’oeuvres such as individual little quiches and pastry appetizers. 
Boucherie-Charcuterie-Traiteur: (Butcher/Delicatessen) -"Delaunois" - 6 Place de l’Église. This is a real find for those who like good food and do not care to cook too much.  The meat is excellent, but the assortments of prepared food in the two large delicatessen counters are simply irresistible.  We go with the intent of getting a poached fish with sauce and come back with 2 or 3 appetizers, a fish terrine or two, a couple of prepared salads, and a pate or two.  This place is addictive and the service by the twin brothers Olivier and Laurent is both friendly and super efficient.  The place is well known by the locals and you might find a bit of a queue at lunch hour.
Fleuriste (Flower Shop) – Xavier Flor – boulevard Jean-Jaurès (near ATAC). If you like flower arrangements, Xavier and his staff will spoil you for life.  The attractive shop which doubles as a small gift shop, offers a dazzling array of fresh cut flowers and seasonal plants.  Just ask them to make a flower arrangement and after a brief wait, you will be treated to an incredible artistic bouquet of flowers which will brighten the house during your entire stay.  The big surprise at the end is the reasonable prices (by US standards and in €uros, in $ nothing is reasonable).

Marché (Farmer’s Market):  Just up the street from the Place de l’Église in Ballan-Miré, the Market Square is a convenient parking area six days a week, but becomes quite crowded Friday mornings when the weekly market stakes its grounds.  A small market, it displays fresh fruits and vegetables, meats, and fish, flowers and shoes.  Strangely enough, we haven’t seen a cheese stand in the market, a grave omission by our standards.
Presse (Newsstand)-Ballan Presse - Place du Marché. Just as in Azay-le-Rideau, Ballan Presse sells the Herald Tribune.  It is also a pretty good bookstore with large magazine racks, postcards, guide books and a good selection of local books on the Loire Valley and the Chateaux of the Loire (mostly in French though, with a limited selection in English).
Supermarché (Supermarket) - ATAC (two blocks east of the Market Square).  In our opinion this is one of the best supermarket in the area, although the one in Artannes is a little bit closer, and the one in Joué-les-Tours a little bit larger.  This is medium sized supermarket with an amazingly complete selection of fresh food, frozen food (including excellent prepared dishes such as frozen tartes, stuffed crèpes, etc. the brand to get is “Marie”).  The cheese and cold cuts selections are better than adequate.  The dry goods aisles provide everything you might need and the selection of local wine is adequate.  This is also a good place to get gas (or diesel) as prices are a few cents less than in main filling stations.
Golf: "Château de la Touche" - 02.47.53.20.28. The 18 holes Golf de Touraine is located in Ballan-Miré on the road to Savonnières. 
Cave à Vin (Wine Shop)- «Les Belles Caves» (Patrick Bertrand) - 165 boulevard Jean-Jaurès – Joué-les-Tours. From Ballan-Miré, the main road continues to Tours through the industrial suburb of Joué-les-Tours. Approximately 5 km past Ballan-Miré, (about 2 km beyond the Supermarket Super U, which is larger than ATAC but not as good in our opinion) you will find on your left the excellent wine merchant “les Belles Caves” (the left turn right in front of McDonald’s hamburger, is a little tricky and you will need to make another immediate left into the parking lot of the Speedo tire shop).  The wine selection is superb, the prices are reasonable (in €uros of course).  Patrick is extremely knowledgeable and helpful (but does not speak English!).  (Note: Patrick is retiring in September 2007). There is an excellent selection of medium priced Loire Valley wines, including the famous Vouvray and Montlouis (Chenin Blanc), Sancerre and Menetou-Salon (Sauvignon Blanc and Pinot Noir) and the very good Chinon and Bourgeuil (Cabernet Franc).  Of course the best way to buy local wines is to visit the various wineries, particularly since many if not most growers sell directly to the public and not through retailers.  However, Les Belles Caves provides an efficient alternative and the selection is excellent.

PS. “Vie de France” is a very amusing book, somewhat naïve, written by James Heller the chef-owner of a famous restaurant in New Hampshire.  James and 8 or 9 friends rented a house in Savonnières for a month at the end of the 1990s.  In addition to talking about many of the local shops and eating establishments, Heller sparkles the book with recipes of astonishing meals he prepares seemingly of nothing more that what is available on his pantry shelves.  There is a copy of the book on the bookshelf of the “Balzac” (rose) room.

Please send us your own comments and experiences by Email to gdekerchove@leplessisthilouze.com. We will endeavor to include them in updated versions of these guides should you allow us to do so.