You may think we’re biased and you’d be right, we are. Mel and Hywel who run this lovely bed and breakfast are friends of ours. But we met through the business and are just sad that we’re not close enough to put out guests up at their lovely manoir when spending a day with us.
We were introduced to Mel and Hywel by mutual friends just before we moved from Anjou to Touraine and they had just bought the lovely manoir. A year or so later and after much hard graft on their part, they’ve created a really top quality bed and breakfast with wonderful bedrooms and amazing en-suite bathrooms.
If you are planning to spend a bit of time in the Loire valley I can highly recommend spending a few nights in Anjou before moving further east to hit the chateaux. Anjou is calmer than Touraine. There’s less traffic and fewer people speak English. The countryside is beautiful and the wine plentiful. The Manoir de Jouralem is right next door to top quality Anjou producer Chateau de Bois Brinçon, just 10 minutes from the beautiful market town of Brissac and only half an hour from the rolling hills of the Layon valley, bursting with delicious Chenin Blanc wines both sweet and dry.
Don’t forget to spend a day in Angers. Angers is a lovely small city, easy to navigate on foot and has loads of small high quality restaurants and shops.
When you’ve had a relaxing few days then head over here to Touraine where we’ll be happy to see you for a day of Loire Wine Discovery. Here you’ll find tourism is more developed and there are more people. Accommodation gets booked up months in advance and the chateaux are bustling with people from all over the world. Cameras clicking and selfie sticks, menus translated into English and more chance of a taxi.
Two opposites, one more calm, one more busy. One more adapted to tourism but the other perhaps more authentically French. You don’t need to choose one over the other. They are both equally fascinating and beautiful.
Do them both! Oh and I forgot to mention that Hywel is a seriously good cook and Mel rustles up a divine dessert. You can opt to have dinner at the Manoir with a selection of local wines. No worry about driving out to local restaurants just sit back, relax, enjoy the pool in the garden or fire in the grate and breathe.
1 rue de Jouralem
Blaison-St Sulpice
