Lassay-les-Châteaux

It was 40 degrees with a ray of sunshine that disappeared as we went north, then gray, more gray, and grayer still, mist, then showers.

It was late morning when we reached Lassay.

We parked at the center of the village, just opposite a shop where I thought I could find nice gifts.

I was right; I found two. We could see a couple of cafes, but they did not look promising, so we decided to stop at the tourist office for information on the village and a recommendation for a restaurant. The woman was very nice. I think she was glad to see us, since this was clearly neither the tourist season nor a great day for visiting Lassay. She told us that she had not had good reports about the places to eat in Lassay and advised us to try the restaurant de la Varenne at Ambières, a couple of miles away. She agreed that it was sad that there was no good restaurant in the village, but she said that she had discussed this with the mayor, but apparently it was hard to attract investment and a good chef.

Despite the light rain, we decided to visit the exterior of the chateau and the grounds which were lovely – romantic, I thought. The interior was closed for the season, to my dismay.

We walked back to the small streets off the square to look at the old houses before leaving for Ambières.

The restaurant was between the main road and the Varennes river with an enclosed terrace overlooking the river and a large dining room facing it and the town on the opposite side.

We ordered the prix fixe menu of a salad and pork stew with vegetables. Our lunch was delicious. For dessert we ordered the “café gourmand” which came with crème brûlée. We drank a red from the Loire valley – Saumur-Champigny. It was all YUM.

We learned that a young couple from Laval owned the restaurant and we told the hostess how we had learned about the restaurant. We told her we would go back o the tourist office in Lassay and tell the agent how much we enjoyed our lunch. At that point her husband handed us a stack of business cards that we promised to deliver.

We decided to have a closer look at Ambières. The waterfall was pretty and the house on the hill opposite attracted our attention. It turned out to be the Mayor’s residence. Its gardens overlooked the town and the river.

We returned to Lassay and took the restaurant cards to the tourist office agent. She was pleased to have them and happy that we had enjoyed such a good lunch. We walked to the lavoir, the rose garden,

and the medieval gardens.




We came to a salt storage depot, constructed when salt was taxed and used to preserve food. Nearby was the Conciergerie, built in the 14th c. and later used as a prison.

By that time, we had had a full day, but Eliane had one more surprise stop, she said, in the middle of nowhere.




We drove for a few minutes before she turned onto a little road in the middle of the village of Chantrigné. We parked and walked through a patch of trees and came upon a megalithic tomb, stones piled up in the shape of a burial shelter.

It was surprising, indeed. On the way back we collected some fallen apples, chestnuts, and hazelnuts.

I was dead tired. When we arrived home I tried to nap while Eliane went to a meeting, but I was overtired and cold. I heated some soup that Eliane had left for me, buttered a piece of bread, and had a bit of compote. Eliane returned and ate some of the nuts we had gathered yesterday – fresh walnuts. I tasted them, the first I had ever eaten and they were delicious. We were as tired as if we had worked in the fields all day. We went right to bed.