Beaufort en Vallée

By car, from Paris, Beaufort en Vallée can be reached within 3h via the A10 motorway (towards Orléans, Nantes), then A11 (towards Chartres, Le Mans) and A85 (towards Saumur, Tours). Exit 1 Beaufort en Vallée.
From Tours (1h from Beaufort), take the N152 road towards Tours, and then the A85 towards Tours. Exit 1 Beaufort en Vallée.
The closest airport is Tours-Val de Loire.
The closest train stations are La Menitré and St Mathurin sur Loire.

The very first signs of human activity is located in Saint Pierre du Lac place-name, a former lake-city where prehistoric tools were found and are now exhibited in the Joseph-Denais Museum. Humans then relocated on the nearby hill and the place became a Gallo Roman oppidum (fortified city). The strategic location of the place allowed the construction of a castle. “Bellum Forte” was created in the 11th century around a chapel right next to the castle. In 1347, Guillaume Roger became the first Beaufort Count and had the castle rebuilt. This project lasted 10 years. Before the Revolution, Beaufort is one of the wealthiest and most significant cities in Anjou.

 

A few monuments are worth seeing in Beaufort and its surroundings. For example, the Montgeoffroy Castle in Mazé, or the Saint Martin de Vertou church in Fontaine Guerin; this monument was built in the 11th century and is one of the five religious buildings with a twisted tower bell in the region. Eglise Notre Dame de Beaufort en Vallée was built in 1480 and replaced a 12th century church which itself replaced a wooden church (built around the year 1000).
Also, wash houses are other elements of the area’s heritage. They were built during the 19th century for hygiene purposes.  They are located in Fontaine Guerin, Fontaine Milon and Brion.
As for other activities, Beaufort en Vallée offers horse riding, tennis, cycle touring, fishing and hiking. “La Boule de fort” is a traditional bowl game from Anjou, and every two years, Beaufort organise the “Boulympiades”, a bowl competition.

 

Being in Anjou, Beaufort en Vallée’s gastronomy is strongly related to Angers’ (Angers is 30mn from Beaufort). In Angers area, people are used to say « que tout pousse sauf l’olivier. Et encore on n’a jamais essayé… » (« that everything grows except for olive trees. And that’s because we didn’t even try »). The region offers a wide range of products: fruits and vegetables, mushrooms, meat, fowl, wine, liqueurs…
Angers has a few specialities such as:
“Cul de Veau à l’Angevine” which is a meal with the upper part of a veal leg, onions, carrots, white and dry Anjou wine, eau de vie de pays, fresh cream, herbs…
Pike or Pike Perch with white butter is a local recipe as well.
“Crémet d’Anjou” is a light cream with fresh cream, egg-white, sugar and vanilla and is usually served with berries.
“Les Quernons d’Ardoise de La Petite Marquise” are local chocolate sweets with nougatine, almonds and hazelnuts. Their main distinctive characteristic is the blue chocolate wrapping the nougatine.
“Pâté aux prunes” is a kind of pie with greengage plums.
As for drinks, the famous Cointreau (orange extracts liqueur) is being distilled in Angers since 1849. “Soupe Angevine” is a cocktail with Cointreau, lemon juice, cane sugar and Crémant.
Angers is also the 1st producer of Appellation d’Origine Controlée white wines (Label that testifies to its origin and quality): Savennières, Anjou-Côteaux de la Loire, Quarts de Chaume, Côteaux du Layon, Côteaux de l’Aubance, Saumur are produced in this area.