The great chateaux of the Loire Valley are the prestigious relics of a monarchy that ruled France in the middle ages from Tours and other strongholds along the great river. Today, many of them are associated with the highly distinctive wines of the region whilst others have become museums or stately homes. One of them, Domaine de Beauvois, has turned its ancestral heritage into an hotel where present pleasures and pastimes dwell in past glories. The best of both worlds without a doubt. Standing in 350 acres of seclusion, the domaine has evolved to provide the finest facilities for your pleasure: a gastronomic dinner on the terrace in summer, a delicious buffet by the pool or a wine tasting (the cellar, hewn out of the living rock, has over 10,000 bottles with some vintages over 100 years old). Or, for another angle on the estate, take to a hot air balloon. This place is for romantics.