La Loire at Saumur ... I’m picking up fromwhere I left you in Amboise on my last blog post. Read on…

Leaving Amboise, westick with the north bank of the river and the D952.  This route once passed through the heart of the city of Tours – a place I have visited many times, and if you want to catch up with those visits, you can read them  Here  and  Here .  Today, there is a ring road that takes you on a circuitous route around the north of the city.  But the old road is still there, and if you follow the signs for the Abbaye de laLanterne Marmoutier, you can thread your way along the road that runs besidethe river.  The old abbey is also worth avisit.From Tours, the D952 continues its route along the riverbank through to Saumur – there’s a fascinating Tank Museum here that will take a whole day out of your trip, but it’s worth it.  From Saumur, the same road followsthe river all the way to the southern side of the vast city of Angers.  From Pont de Dumnacus you see the full scapeof La Loire.  It’s wide, with long, sloping silt shelves on either side and long, low bridges crossing it.  Not exactly noteworthy photo shots.  Just to the west of Angers, the Loire subsumes the river Maine, and the faster-flowing water makes its way to the old town of Ancenis.With a population ofunder 10,000, this small town has some interesting historical connections, and it will be our last stop on our journey along La Loire.  As with many ancient towns, there is a château here, but perhaps the term‘castle’ is a more fitting description.Built in the late tenth century by Aremburga, the widow of Guerech, Duke of Brittany, the original motte-and-bailey castle had simple defences: a moat, a palisade, and an enclosed interior to protect the inhabitants.  Because of its location by the river, it became a strategic point forobserving the river, the traffic and an opportunity to make money from tolls!  Records exist from the early fourteenhundreds decreeing that the then owners of the castle must desist chargingriver traffic for transportation of cargo.From the 12thto the 16th century, the fortress was attacked many times, not onlyby French Kings and Dukes but also by our own Henry 2 and King John.  From the 17th century, the military significance of the castle diminished, and in 1626, Cardinal Richelieu ordered that the castle be dismantled.  What wesee today are the remains of the original building in a new setting, as the moatwas filled and new wharves created.  Inthe mid-nineteenth century, with the establishment of an Ursuline boardingschool, the site was further damaged and adapted for the needs of the nuns andthe children they educated.Now, the château sits a short walk away from theriver it once overlooked.  But Quai de laMarine runs behind the castle grounds and along the bank of La Loire.  It’s only when you stand on the esplanade andlook the length of the river that you see the vastness.  It’s hard to believe that this great riverstarted life as a ‘particularly disappointing pool of brownishwater’.From herein Ancenis the river flows westward towards the city of Nantes, the naval portof St.Nazaire and the Atlantic Ocean where the waters of La Loire are finallydispersed.
This isthe final post for my journey along La Loire. If you would like to read the earlier posts, just click the links below:   Rivers of France  La Loire  Digoin  Nevers  Orleans  Blois and  Amboise