Wet weather and a poor forecast meant that day 4 we stayed put in Saumur. But this was no hardship as it’s a town full of interest.

We began the day with a bit of research which revealed that the local equivalent of Harvest Festival was taking place in the chateau.

A brisk walk into town took us to this striking building, where a crowd had gathered to see the official ceremony of the wine “brotherhoods” who welcome the harvest of the year’s grape crop and induct new members.

Against the backdrop of the fairytale chateau, there were demonstrations of wine pressing plus a collection of stalls selling local produce.

A short and rather jolly ceremony officially opened proceedings with lots of traditional dress, speeches and the occasional trumpet fanfare keeping things moving along.

We thoroughly enjoyed the spectacle and free entry to the chateau that is available on these special occasions.

Whilst the contents of the chateau were not especially engaging, the setting, architecture and views were more in line with its World Heritage status.

Fast food from the many stalls on site for the festivities kept us going, before we dropped down into the town for an ice cream and a coffee.

As you can see, the promised heavy rain hadn’t materialised and we realised we could have cycled. However, we were all a little tired and the day suited us well.

In the afternoon we visited one of the area’s famous troglodyte caves, which housed a museum of fungi alongside a commercial mushroom business.

Troglodyte caves have bern used for many purposes in the area and take advantage of the soft “tufa” limestone, which is both easily extracted for building and tunnelled into to create living spaces, wine storage and, now, mushroom production.

The mushroom museum was faintly bizarre, with big displays of fungi sealed in glass, plus mushroom-related gifts from around the world.

More interest lay in the commercial growing sections which extended deep underground in cool, damp, man-made caverns.

It’s one of the more unusual attractions you’ll come across and perhaps not one I’d especially recommend. But it did at least give us the chance to explore a genuine troglodyte setting, for which the area is famed.

A wet evening gave us the chance to pop back into Saumur for an excellent evening meal.

Tomorrow we’re back on the bikes and with good weather forecast for the rest of the week, we’re hoping to make steady progress along the Velo Francette route.

Grilled chicken cooked in pesto

Julie adds. Fantastic food tonight in a low key but delightful restaurant. We drank a local bottle of red wine and enjoyed the ambience before a walk back to our accommodation.