“ Saumur is well situated on the left bank of the Loire, which here receives the Thouet, and on an island in the river. A large metal bridge connects the Tours-Angers railway with that of Montreuil-Bellay, by which Saumur communicates with Poitiers and Niort. Two stone bridges (764 and 905 ft. long) unite the town on the island with the two banks of the river. Several of the Saumur churches are interesting. St Pierre, of the 12th century, has a 17th-century façade and a Renaissance nave ”

“ The castle, built between the 11th century and the 13th, and remodelled in the 16th, is used as an arsenal and powder magazine. There is also an interesting almshouse, with its chambers in part dug out in the rock. ”