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La Teillais

The B&B provides an excellent base for touring the Loire Valley, with its magnificent chateaux and famous vineyards. Local wines, well worth trying, include Muscadet sur lie, Anjou, Chillon, and Samur Champigny.

Locally you can sample the vast selection of cheese, crepes, galettes, cider and wines and of course the famous Chateaubriant steak...

In the region there are nearby forests and lakes with safe man-made beaches, providing swimming, watersports, cycling and walking trails. For the serious sportsperson there is a good selection of golf courses, fishing lakes and horseriding stables, as well as Ten Pin Bowling and Go Karting. For the less serious, there are a number of open air swimming pools, the hilarious swin golf and a crazy golf at Chateaubriant. There are also a number of horse racing tracks locally, offering a wide range of race meetings throughout the summer season and the famous Foire de Bere (country show) held annually in September at Chateaubriant since 1050.

The nearest bakers is in Juigne les Moutiers, 2kms from the B&B, the nearest town is Pouance (10kms) and Chateaubriant, with plenty of shops including 3 hypermarkets and several good restaurants is less than 15 minutes by car.

There are, of course, local weekly markets:
Tuesday: La Guerche de Bretagne
Wednesday: Chateaubriant
Thursday: Pouance, Ancenis and Chateau Gontier
Friday: Renaze
Saturday: Angers and Rennes
Plus many vide greniers (car boot sales) and fetes, most weekends, during the summer.

The larger towns of Angers, Nantes and Rennes are all approximately an hour’s drive.

Angers has lovely old buildings; the old town has cobbled streets with a pedestrian area. The huge medieval castle, with its impressive and unusual towers, houses the Apocalypse Tapestry - the largest mediaeval tapestry in the world (4.5m high and 107m long). There is also the Cointreau factory to visit, with tours given in different languages.

Rennes is the capital of Brittany and can also lay claim to be Brittany’s most important cultural centre, where Breton is still taught at the 2 universities. Its fine architecture includes some 17th century houses with distinctive chevron-patterned timber in the old town . It has a magnificent Saturday market and good selection of shops and museums and is an impressive place to visit.

The ancient port of Nantes, was the capital of Brittany for 600 years, but is now part of the Pays de la Loire. In the centre of the town is the impressive chateau of the Ducs de Bretagne which dates back to the 15th century. Nantes is also the birth place of Jules Verne, who lived there for 20 years. There is a museum dedicated to him which offers a “journey to the centre of Verne’s work”.

The coastal resort of La Baule, on the Atlantic coast with its 5km long sandy beach, known as the 'St Tropez' of the North is just over an hours drive. Just a little further along the coast are the salt marshes of Guerande, which produces a crystallised salt called “fleur de sel”.

The quaint pretty villages of La Gacilly and Rochfort sur Terre although a little more than an hour away are worth a visit to view the local artisans producing various crafts which include pottery, candles and woodturners. It’s also possible to hire out a pleasure boat to cruise along the River and take in the beauty of the water ways and banks. Also in La Gacilly is the Yves Rocher perfume factory.

In fact, there is so much for you to see and do, you’ll want to return again and again.