Photo : GO69 / Wikimedia Commons (CC BY 4.0)
Chinon
Chinon stretches along the Vienne, in Indre-et-Loire, 47 kilometres south-west of Tours. The royal fortress dominates the town from a strategic site, at the junction of Anjou, Poitou and Touraine. Henry II Plantagenet made it a favoured residence, and Philip Augustus took it in 1205 after a long siege.
In late February or early March 1429, Joan of Arc met Charles VII there and convinced him to entrust her with an army to relieve Orléans during the Hundred Years' War. The old town preserves medieval and Renaissance half-timbered houses, which you explore on foot. Chinon is linked to Rabelais, whose family had local ties. Its vineyard, which gives notably Cabernet Franc reds, is part of the town's identity; the town has about 8,100 inhabitants and belongs to the UNESCO Loire Valley site.
