3^rd European Gathering — 2010

 

Thursday Sept 16th — Sunday Sept 19th 2010

Fifteen Carthagos Gathered in Montsoreau on La Loire in France and yet again we had beautiful weather for the weekend.

 

Thanks to Eddie and Sue Prince who organised the event and to Clément and Sylvia of L’Isle Verte campsite everything ran to plan and everyone said what a wonderful Gathering it had been and how much they had enjoyed it.

It all started off with welcome drinks (samples of the local wines) and a cold meats buffet on Thursday evening, where everybody got to know each other.

 

Then on Friday morning our coach took us to the west of Saumur for a visit to the Ackerman caves where we were given a guided tour of some of the oldest wine caves in the area. Apparently, the tunnels run for 3km through the chalk cliffs. They no longer function as a production area as everything here used to be done by hand. A modern factory is now used where bottles can be turned 500 at a time rather than one at a time. However, our guide told us that a good worker used to be able turn 30,000 bottles by hand in a day!

 

Inside the Ackerman caves was a rather unusual art gallery which was a lunar theme.

 

The tour was followed by some tasting of the range of Ackerman wines and the coach was filled with boxes of wine. Most Carthagos were going to be heavier leaving Montsoreau than when they arrived!

Arrival at Ackerman

Guided Tour through the old caves

It was quite dark so apologies for the photo quality

The Art Gallery.

Note the bottles in racks that were used in production.

Ackerman  - Wine Tasting Shop

 

Not a Carthago Owner in sight! I wonder where they can be?

If you could see through the doorway …….…..

After the Ackerman visit we were driven a short distance along the riverside to a lovely picnic site where Clément and Sylvia had prepared a wonderful lunch for us beside the river.

The picnic ground.  A concrete table tennis table had been commandeered and the spread of cold food and desserts was excellent.

We were alongside a back water of La Loire where there were a variety of houseboats and punts

After the very pleasant lunch we were on our way to Chateau Brézé.   This is a very unusual chateau as much of the chateau is underground.  It is surrounded by a very deep moat which was never filled with water (a) because it is on the top of a hill and (b) the water would have simply soaked into the soft limestone.

Here again we were treated to a very comprehensive, guided tour. Unfortunately, no photography was permitted inside the chateau.

Chateau Brézé

The deep, dry moat from above↑

and from below ↓

The underground kitchens

After the chateau tour a quick pose for a group photograph

We returned to the campsite for a quick snooze and a cuppa before the evening entertainment which was dinner in a troglodyte cave at La Grande Vignolle.   This was a very special experience with an amazing atmosphere.  Again the food was outstanding; a sumptuous 5 course dinner.  We were entertained by a local duet who helped to make a very enjoyable evening.

The troglodyte dining room

The Entertainers

Chateau Montsoreau