Save the best for last. That’s what I can say about our stay in Angers. Angers Convention Bureau hand-picked all the treasure venues in the area and surprised us big time on our final night.

As presented in my previous articles, on the weekend we discovered the region and on Monday we were ready to attend the two day Events Innovation exhibition at the Angers Congress Centre (30^th June – 1^st July). Most of the venues we visited on the weekend also presented at the exhibition and that was the opportunity for us to talk to each venue and address individual questions.

For me that was the first time I attended an exhibition in France and it was an experience I want definitely to repeat (*hint hint*- food).

Prior to arriving I was asked to provide my dress size. That was needed for the final event activity which the organisers tried (!) to keep secret. Even though we figured it out – that was a party in a castle, the surprise element stayed because we didn’t know what type of costume everyone will get.

Very curious and slightly exhausted after the day of the exhibition I rushed to my hotel to discover the dress in my room:

Coming down to the reception everyone had their costume on and we headed to Château de la Perrière for dinner and after-party. Initially that wasn’t clear if it will be a seated dinner, but luckily it wasn’t as I’m sure I wouldn’t feel comfortable seating too long in my fancy dress. When we arrived we gathered to make a group picture, which was taken by a drone to capture the castle in the background and then we were welcomed at the Château (sounds much better than a castle!) for an aperitif and a venue tour.

The Château is situated in Avrillé, a city nearby Angers and dates back to the 17th century. In 1983 it became classified as an historic monument and in 1988 inaugurated an 18h golf course on its ground. Being classified as an historic monument, the restoration took 26 years, from 1982 until 2008 to maintain its heritage and authenticity. From 2008 the venue is open to host events and has an on-site restaurant for the public.

The dinner was a rich buffet of cold and worm appetizers and desserts, sushi station and open bar. Shortly after everyone arrived the DJ opened the dance floor and we just enjoyed ourselves. That was also when I decided to take a break and leave my camera and phone for a while. I gathered photos from all different sources and I hope you’ll enjoy it as much as I did!

I’ve been to many unique venues but was never impressed as much as from L’Abbaye de Fontevraud what used to be a cloister and now was transferred to be a destination, Cité Idéale (ideal city).  The cloister went through different cycles – it was an abbey, a prison, a hospital, and now it’s a destination with a hotel, restaurant and event facilities, which is also a UNESCO classified historic monument. The whole renovation amounts to €16 m. That’s the venue we visited on our second night during our Angers Loire Valley trip.

At first, when we have been told that it used to be a monastery, my first thought was that it’s the “retreat” type of venue. But that was the complete opposite. It’s a destination up to the highest standard you can imagine. It’s where you find heritage and technology, modern and ancient, past and future, tradition and innovation, simplicity and luxury. The venue promotes environmental and sustainable practices and meets the highest European standard, the RSE-ISO 26000, which was achieved in May, just before the inauguration of the hotel.  That includes energy plant comprising a wood-chip fired boiler which removes the reliance on fossil fuels, insulation (reduction of heat loss or heat gain), no mechanical air conditioning, reduced food packaging for breakfast to avoid unnecessary waste, composting organic waste and lastly favouring local businesses and products to use in the hotel (For example, soap, honey, wine). The hotel has 54 rooms and is classified as a 4*. We saw one of the rooms, it has a very warm design, very minimalistic and discreet.

Very interesting thing I found was the iBar, designed by Jouin-Manku, the same architect who designed the Mandarin Oriental in Paris (Which I visited last year) and the Le Jules Verne restaurant on the Eiffel Tower. There you find touch screen table tops and tablets, telescopic lamps and diffused delicate lighting. The bar is located in what used to be the chapel and the ceiling is very high. I was completely fascinated by the design of this place. So much history and tradition and at the same time advanced technology and architecture.

Bar and event and conference facilities 

The refectory, where we had our group dinner, is the banqueting hall of the venue. The design of the room gives a gentle reminder of the monastic atmosphere of the past.

The head chef is Thibaut Ruggeri, the winner of Bocuse d’Or 2013 competition, the most prestigious gastronomic competition in the world. And yes, that was an experience! Thibaut Ruggeri uses locally sourced ingredients and we had a splendid fine dining experience, both in terms of the excellent food and the attentive service.

I would definitely love to come back and next time stay longer.

Photos by: Irina Trofimovskaya

As you might saw already on my Facebook and Instagram, during our trip to Angers we had such lavish dinners, Angers Convention Bureau decided to spoil us big time. And it just got better and better every night! On our first night we had dinner at the newly opened Loire & Sens four star hotel resort with 47 bedrooms and suits, only about 15 minutes’ drive from Angers TGV station and next to Angers Golf (18 holes).

When we entered the hotel it still had a smell of new and I liked the warm design, dominated by wood, slate and schist rocks. What particularly caught my attention was the garden which was in its full blossom and I though how nice it would be to bring a group here for a weekend or so, be it for a board meeting with incentive programme or for a wedding. I also noticed that in the outside garden they grow their own herbs. The hotel just opened one month ago and not complete yet. When the hotel resort will be complete, it is to become a destination, with modern accommodation, sports, catering, spa and events facilities.

We concluded the hotel tour with a small aperitif before heading to the restaurant where a table was set for us. Our menu was:

Salad barigoule d’Artichauts Poivrade, Jeunes Pousses en Mesclun

Sandre de nos rivière, Risotto moelleux à la Crème d’Ail, Bouquet de verdure

Crémet d’Anjou aux Fruits de Saison, Coulis de Fruits rouges

Exhausted (the London group had to wake up around 4am) but very happy we made our way back to the hotel.

Stay tuned for more venues and activities from the second day!

Photos:  © The MICE Blog