This stage follows the confluence of the Vienne and the Loire near Montsoreau, a village listed among the “most beautiful villages of France” and made famous by Alexandre Dumas’s novel. A detour of a few kilometres leads to the royal abbey of Fontevraud, the largest surviving monastic city of medieval Europe, resting place of several Plantagenet monarchs.
The path then continues along the Loire through a vineyard landscape characteristic of Anjou, dotted with troglodyte villages carved into tuffeau, the local white limestone.
Arriving in Angers, the former capital of Anjou overlooked by its imposing fortress with seventeen towers, closes out this stage rich in medieval heritage.
Indicative distance for this stretch.