The pace is snail-slow, the antithesis to the frenetic excitement of the high-octane motorsports synonymous with the city of Le Mans. Exploring the timeless, historic and gastronomic charm of Le Mans and its less-travelled Sarthe landscape, scattered with villages of infinite charms, offers a very different kind of thrill of discovery. Previously, I hadn’t even heard of the lesser-known Loir wine region with its own increasingly sought-after Jasnières appellations, which too many visitors race through en route to the Loire Valley, long famed for its vineyards and châteaux. Here in the Loir, rather than simply admiring the grandeur from the outside, I experienced a taste of actual château living, staying at the luxuriously grand yet quirky Hotel Château du Grand-Lucé.
Climbing the wide stone stairs into Le Mans’ medieval Old Town, past its magnificent Saint-Julien Cathedral – rivalling Notre Dame in stature, with towering spires and wildly flying buttresses – feels like entering a historical film set. The cathedral is actually set into the best-preserved Gallo-Roman walls in the world, dating back to the third century, with over 500 metres still standing today, featuring geometric decorations constructed with ochre sandstone and pink mortar. Extraordinarily, the cathedral has the world’s oldest stained glass window still in place. What’s more, there are vivid frescos of musicians playing curious, long-obsolete instruments, who silently accompany the concerts regularly staged today. The extent of the Old Town – 20 hectares of cobbled streets and half-timbered buildings, sagging with the centuries, yet still functioning as shops and homes – is astonishing. If it all seems somewhat familiar, it’s because Cyrano de Bergerac and Leonardo DiCaprio’s The Man in the Iron Mask were filmed here.
The Old Town, perfect for contented ambling, remains largely lived-in, with cheese, wine, clothing and quite a number of musical instrument shops (Le Mans is home to the National Conservatoire). Miraculously, it hasn’t been spoiled by tacky tourism. I revel in the town’s smaller details, such as the stone obelisks on street corners that once protected the timber buildings from carriage wheels. Even more modern shops like Jovoy, which specialises in rare, vintage perfumes, hark back to the past. Each year, residents open up their tiny bloom-filled gardens and courtyards for the Entre Cours et Jardins festival.
In the evening, wandering the alleys with the moonlight dancing on the cobbles is even more atmospheric. It feels like a step back into less complicated times. Fortunately, the menu at farm-to-table L’Epi’Curieux is bang-up-to-date and makes inventive use of Sarthe’s abundant produce. There’s veal tartare with capers and horseradish cream, and locally produced chicken in a delectable sauce flavoured with local cow’s milk cheese, called ‘Refrain’. Le Grenier à Sel, located in a former salt warehouse, also has a modernist sensibility. I revelled in snails en croute in a sublime creamy sauce; venison served with chestnuts and pears cooked in red wine; a proper cheese chariot and sublime pistachio soufflé with dark chocolate sauce poured in for extra drama.
Le Mans is known as the ‘Plantagenet City’ as the English were coming here long before the world’s greatest endurance motor race. The town hall was once the palace of Matilda, granddaughter of William the Conqueror. She and her husband, Geoffrey, ‘the Handsome of Anjou’, were the parents of Henry II, who inherited much of Western France and the throne of England.
Heading out of the city, it would be rude not to pay homage to the rally at the dedicated Musée des 24 Heures (due to be drastically expanded later this year). I love the model versions of every vehicle that has participated in the race almost as much as the Chitty Bang Bang classic car and all the cars with futuristic defying sleekly toned, aerodynamic lines. I’m fascinated to learn that local firm Bollée, the builders of the first car to win the race, initially had a bell foundry.
True calm and birdsong are to be found at Abbaye Royale de l’Epau, founded by Berengaria of Navarre, the enigmatic wife of Richard the Lionheart, who was later estranged from the British Royals, hence her own space. It has extensive gardens, including an impressive, good-sized potager. Family estrangement is certainly not a modern phenomenon. More surprisingly, it has an excellent café with a prix fixe menu, produce from the garden and beers from the local microbrewery.
A short drive southwest is the pretty town of Malicorne-sur-Sarthe, the heartland of French faience earthenware since 1747. Handmade and hand-painted, delicate, pierced designs are characteristic of the pottery. At Bourg-Joly Faiencerie Malicorne, I’m particularly taken with the vegetables, from artichokes to tomatoes, even more so when I learn potter Jean-Pierre Fouquet has made similar table decorations for chef Alain Passard. I have to purchase some for my own dining table.
Meander past wheat fields and white oak forests towards La Chartre-sur-le-Loir, in the pastoral Vallée du Loir. Stop for lunch and nostalgia at Hôtel de France, a place of homage for many classic car enthusiasts. The ivy-covered inn served as Aston Martin’s Le Mans headquarters during the 1950s and 1960s. It was where Stirling Moss brought his team of drivers and engineers before driving cross country to the racecourse and winning the competition. In the bistro, the wallpaper is a collage of motoring heroes, and there are perfect steak frites on the prix fixe.
In this not-quite Sancerre region, sampling the local Jasnières white wine is de rigueur. The Chenin Blanc wines date back to the Middle Ages when they were made by Cistercian monks. Family-run Domaine Lelais, with its extraordinary labyrinth of low tunnels made into cellars, is very welcoming.
There’s more time-travelling chez La Maison Courtine, which advertises itself as specialising in brushes for every conceivable use and beyond. Gregarious owner, Grégoire Courtine, who sports an impressive brush moustache, insists I visit his museum of curiosities downstairs too (open to the public for 10 euros). Hidden deep beyond the vintage hat and painters shop he bought lock stock and barrel, Grégoire makes his big reveal: his father’s collection of every Aston Martin ever produced in model proportions. Astounding.
Yet, there’s a grander entrance still at Hotel Château du Grand-Lucé, unusually situated in the genteel town of Grand-Lucé itself. The gates swing open, it is ravishing, and any resemblance to Versailles is entirely intended. It was built by Enlightenment thinker and close confidant of King Louis XV, Baron Jacques Pineau de Viennay. The classical statues dotted around the formal gardens were housewarming gifts from the king. What’s clever is that the château-hotel is now a mix of reverently restored antiques, sophisticated contemporary furniture (I truly covet the chartreuse velvet sofa in my room), and hand-painted wallpaper by de Gourney and Pierre Frey, yet somehow invites you to kick your heels off and treat it like home – well, home with the highly talented two-Michelin-star chef, Maxime Thomas whose cooking is rooted in the seasons and the produce from the 80-acre estate where there’s an orangery, a lake with rowing boat, a swimming pool and, most importantly, memorably solicitous staff.
