Best things to do in Saumur

Colonel Michel Aubry spearheaded the creation of Musee des Blindes in 1977, with only a small collection of military tanks. Today, it’s a singular repository for multinational armored vehicles, including acquisitions from Iraq. Walk around the hundreds of armored fighting vehicles on display, which represent only a quarter of the museum’s holdings. In the curiosity room, see a lighter side of military motor vehicle history, such as a Vespa embellished with a rifle that doesn’t recoil and other odd bits left over from film sets. Unfortunately, abandoned experimental vehicles from French military research facilities are hidden away, but you can read up on them in the library.

Like most châteaux, the Chateau de Saumur has exchanged hands many times in its long life, but fortunately its last stop is a museum. This mammoth of an estate is exactly what your imagination would conjure in your dreams of chateaux: the triumphant spires slicing the sky like victorious swords, the white limestone (tuffeau) sitting one on top of the other, refusing to give way no matter how many hundreds of years pass.

Once you’re up the stairs and through the door of the chateau, you’ll gain access to three different museums: the Museum of Decorative Arts, the Museum of the Horse, and the Museum of Toy Figurines. These oddities are just icing on the cake, because the real pleasure is the stroll through royal grounds and the view of the château itself from a distance: it is a living fairytale.

A renowned equestrian display team, Le Cadre Noir began in 1828 as part of the French calvary division. The team evolved into a training school that carries on the traditions of the Cadre Noir. Although cavalry are now outdated in the military, the school today preserves the skills of these riders as examples of exemplary French horsemanship. At a demonstration, you’ll see the extraordinary builds of Arabian horses in formation, topped with their masters in formidable military uniforms.

Considered by many people to be the most beautiful gardens anywhere, Chateau de Villandry owner, Henri Carvallo, proudly and jovially keeps the property maintained in immaculate condition for your enjoyment. Its famous Renaissance gardens, include a water garden, ornamental flower gardens, and vegetable gardens. The garden layout includes formal patterns created with low box hedges. You can learn more about the gardens and castle with a guided tour available in English. Take your sweetheart on a carriage ride, and then play tennis on the real grass court complete with free rule sheets for the classic game.

If your idea of a great day with the family includes heart-pounding rides, jaw-dropping 3D flicks, and 4D effects that fly you over oceans and take you surfing on titanic waves, then Futuroscope is your perfect destination. Blast off into outer space or take flight with birds of the natural world and find out exactly why this theme park is the second most-visited attraction in France. Since the park updates its attractions every year, there's always something new to see and do. Your kids will love dancing with robots, pedaling a propeller-driven machine inspired by Leonardo da Vinci, and discovering the fascinating ecology of dinosaurs of the deep sea--projected on a 3,000 sq-m (9,700 sq-ft), hemispherical screen.

Out of the 55 species of animals at Bioparc - Zoo de Doue la Fontaine, more than 43 are listed as threatened species, with nine of those species considered to be critically endangered. Leap into Leopard Canyon for a look at rare leopards housed in an environment that largely mimics bamboo forests and snow of the Himalayas. Visit the only aviary in the world where Andean condors can fly, then visit the South American exhibit with spider monkeys, giant otters, spectacled bears, tamarins, and maned wolves. Head to the Asian continent to spot a Sumatran tiger and the white-handed gibbon primates. Your admission price helps ensure their long-term survival in captivity.

Set on an island in the middle of the Indre river, Chateau of Azay-le-Rideau is considered one of the foremost examples of early French Renaissance architecture. Built between 1518 and 1527, this picturesque château maintains the fashionable Italian renaissance style in its long proportions and ornate sculptural decorations.

Venture into the interior to view a significant collection of artwork, including "Dame au Bain" (possibly depicting Diane de Poitiers) by François Clouet and several portraits of French monarchs, including Francis I, Henry III, and Catherine de Médici. A climb into the attic provides an insight into the charpente, the handcrafted wooden frame supporting the roof, which was recently restored and available for your view.

Founded in 1101, Fontevraud L'Abbaye Royale remains the largest surviving monastic complex from the Middle Ages. The reclining effigies of Eleanor of Aquitaine, Henry II, and Richard the Lionheart offer a reminder of its close links with the Plantagenet kings. Converted into a prison between 1804 an 1963, it was then designated a UNESCO World Heritage Site along with the Loire Valley. Please see http://www.fontevraud.fr/ for more information.

Sip and smile at Langlois-Chateau where sparkling wines are a specialty. The chateau was procured--and opened as a winery-- in 1912 by Edouard Langlois and his wife Jeanne Chateau. The couple enjoyed quick success with their sparkling wine, but production was interrupted by WWI and the death of Langlois. However, it wasn’t long before the bubbles were popping again at the chateau. Financial success allowed the property to begin an expansion that didn't end until 2009.

You’ll begin your tour at the School of Wine where you’ll learn about the wine-making processl. Then you’ll make a 300 m (984 ft) journey underground to the cellars to learn more about Langlois methods, and taste their famed Crémant de Loire. Walk around the exterior of the chateau to get a view of the vines in those abundant, sloping Loire Valley hills that draw visitors from all over the globe in pursuit of the perfect sparkling beverage.

The stunning, white miniatures of the Loire’s most remarkable châteaux at Pierre et Lumiere are the product of a collaboration between Yann Bouchard and Phillipe Cormand. Bouchard felt such affection for the buildings of the Loire that he asked Cormand to render them on a smaller scale from the same type of stone used to build the originals, tuffeau limestone. You’ll see the sculptures displayed in muted lighting that accentuates the delicate craftsmanship of the artists.