Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
Turn left down
Rue Voltaire.
If the old wall still stood, you'd be entering town
throughtheeastgate.(Notetheblackinfopostshereandscatteredthroughouttown.)Walk
along a fine strip of 16th-, 17th-, and 18th-century houses to find a trio of fun wine-tasting
possibilities. A half-block to the right is the charming little
Musée Animé du Vin;
at the
next corner is the laid-back
Cave Voltaire wine shop,
and a right turn on the next small
lane leads to
Caves Painctes
and the quarry where the stone for the castle originated (all
covered later, under “Sights in Chinon.”)
• Continue walking a few blocks farther into the historic city center.
Old Town:
In the immediate post-WWII years, there was little money or energy to
care for beautiful old towns. But in the 1960s, new laws and sensitivities kicked in, and
old quarters like this were fixed up and preserved. Study the vernacular architecture.
La
Maison Rouge
(at38-42RueVoltaire)isafineexampleofthetown'smedievalstructures:
a stone foundation and timber frame, filled in with whatever was handy. With dense pop-
ulations crowding within the protective town walls, buildings swelled wider at the top to
avoid blocking congested streets.
Pop into the ancient
bookshop
on the corner. I asked the owner where he got his old
prints. He responded, “Did you ever enjoy a friend's mushrooms and ask him where he
found them? Did he tell you?”
The
town museum
is across the street. Its plaque recalls that this building housed an
Estates-General meeting, convened by Charles VII, in 1428. Just around the corner, find a
good tower view (and a public WC).
• From here the street changes names to Rue Haute St. Maurice. You can continue in the
same direction and find the Caves Plouzeau wine cellars at #94 (described later). If you'd
rather visit the castle, turn around, walk back and climb up Rue Jean d'Arc (look for the
plaque that tells us that Joan of Arc dismounted her horse at this spot in 1429)—or take
the elevator near the TI—to the fortress.
