Loire Valley Invites Visitors to The Renaissance

Culture, nature and tourism will meet in 2019 as the Loire Valley celebrates 500 years of Renaissance in France; marking the 500th anniversary of the death of Leonardo da Vinci at Amboise, the start of the construction of the Chateau of Chambord and the birth of Catherine de’ Medici in Florence.

The news was unveiled by Tourisme Centre-Val de Loire at the Rendez-vous tourism conference in Paris Wednesday morning with an opening welcome by Christian Mantel, Atout France General Manager.

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“We want to visitors to have a very interesting holiday that celebrates the idea of the Renaissance and creation,” said Francois Bonneau, Centre Val-de-Loire region President. “We aim to be the centre of tourism in 2019, with our many highlights such as the Loire River, which is a major element for designers and painters and our unique bicycle experiences, which offer very interesting aspects this year that we believe are very striking in France.”

Bonneu led a panel presentation by Marc Metay, Director, Chateau Royal d’Ambroise, Cecillie de Saint Venant, Director of Communications and Marketing, Domaine National de Chambord, Catherine Simon-Marion, International Relations, Chateau du Clos Luce and Benoit Pierre, Renaissance Director at the Centre for Superior Studies.

Visitors will experience a variety of special events throughout the year, including a large digital show mixing contemporary artistic and musical creation, an international architecture competition for schools, guided tours around the many sites and gardens, concerts in castles and many exhibitions, such as one dedicated to da Vinci. There’s also a top secret, “major surprise” happening inside and out at Chambord.

Details for all events will be sent to tour operators and agents as they're finalized.

“2019 is a very special year for us as we celebrate the Renaissance period,” said Marc Metay, Director, Chateau Royal d’Ambroise, in an interview with TravelPulse Canada. “It’s interesting especially for Canadian families, to discover the heritage and history because of our connection to Jacques Cartier.”

More than one million Canadians visit France each year, staying for an average of 10 nights, a strong number for a long-haul market. Canadians have the time to visit and the flexibility to visit more than one region, which Atout France’s Canadian Director Melanie Paul-Hus says is a target of the program.

“When we can combine our many tourist offerings and work together in one theme, it’s always better as it provides a real itinerary for people to imagine and it helps to create the desire to visit France. We want to shine the light on our beautiful sights, many of which are UNESCO designated, and make sure people get to learn a little bit more about France's global history and heritage.”