Argenton Chateau Retreat Location & Travel Details
The Spring Yoga & Mediation Retreat will be held in Les Sylvain, a 19th Century manor house, in the town of Argenton-Chateau. A medieval town north of Bordeaux, south of the Loire Valley, in the Poitou-Charentes region of southwest France.
Argenton-Chateau is situated 2.5 hours from Paris-Montparnasse (total travel time: TGV train + station pick up (available on request).
Public Transport
TRAINS
Between ANGERS and NANTES, CHOLET, THOUARS, SAUMUR or TOURS
PUBLIC BUS SERVICE – ANJOU (MAINE et LOIRE)
ANJOUBUS
the ANJOUBUS network center is the Angers/St Laud train station: http://goo.gl/maps/IK2ip
Monday-Saturday ONLY — there is no ANJOUBUS service at all on Sundays
ALWAYS check for the most current bus and train schedules online here:
http://www.anjoubus.fr/lignes-regulieres/plan-et-horaires/
For bus service between ANGERS and VIHIERS, Ligne 18 is the bus to use.
But you must book a private taxi between Argenton-Chateau and Vihiers.
PUBLIC BUS SERVICE – DEUX-SEVRES
RDS = RESEAU de DEUX-SEVRES
The RDS bus stop is on the traffic circle
4 Place de Aout, Argenton-Chateau
79150 Argenton-les-Vallees
Monday-Friday ONLY — there is no RDS bus service at all on Saturday or Sunday!
All local RDS buses cost 1.50 euros one-way (e.g., a daytrip to Bressuire is 3 euros round-trip;
connecting in Bressuire for Mauleon, Maulevrier or Cholet is 6 euros round-trip.)
ALWAYS check for the most current bus and train schedules online, or at the bus stop/train station.
For Thouars, Bressuire, Mauleon, Maulevrier, and Cholet, refer to current RDS bus schedules online.
East to THOUARS on Ligne 30, connecting north by bus (or train) to SAUMUR, ST PIERRE des CORPS, PARIS
South to BRESSUIRE on Ligne 43 connecting to Ligne 14 north to MAULEON, MAULEVRIER, CHOLET, ANGERS
RIDE-SHARE POITOU-CHARENTES
There is a carpool/ ride-share program (blablacar) that is searchable online, by date and destination. You can propose yourself as either a driver or a passenger ( site in French only).
Click BLABLACAR to find or propose a ride-share from Argenton-Château –> Angers, or any other city.
CAR REPAIR
BONNET PEUGEOT – sales and repair only, no rentals
25, avenue General de Gaulle
79150 Argenton-les-Vallees
tel: 05 49 65 71 92
MON- FRIDAY 9:00 AM – NOON, 2:00 – 7:00 PM
(CLOSED SATURDAY and SUNDAY)
TAXI RESERVATION
ALLO ANJOU TAXI
5, rue Saint-Martin
49100 Angers, France
Tel: 02 41 87 65 00
www.alloanjoutaxi.com
Reserve a taxi online, 7 days a week, with 24 hrs notice.
TAXIS REUNIS du CHATEAU
6, route de Bressuire
Argenton-Chateau
79150 Argenton-les-Vallees
Tel: 05 49 65 71 90
MONDAY – FRIDAY
Local taxis are not on-call 24 hrs/day, and need to be booked in advance.
Please write down your name, your own street address for pick-up, and your itinerary on a piece of paper, and walk it over to their office. (Note: use 24 hr time, i.e. 13h00, 19h45, etc.)
The dispatcher can closely estimate how much it will cost, if you ask. (“J’aimerais un devi, SVP”)
Important: Taxi reservations must be made in person Monday to Friday only, and preferably at least 3 days in advance. You can reserve a taxi to pick you up on any day you wish, but there is no local dispatcher present on the weekends. The weekend dispatcher is in Bressuire.
Cancellations or changes must be made at least 24 hrs in advance. You may be billed for missed connections.
Taxi rates can be considerably higher before 7AM, after 7PM, and on Saturdays, Sundays or holidays.
It is smart to share the cost of the taxi ride, and guests should expect to organise themselves and their trips with one another.
Advice on TAXI Reservations for Day-Trips
Day-trips 1) and 2) below will require no advance taxi reservations. All day trips or getaways — leaving Thursday evening, or early Friday morning, with a Saturday evening return– always require the guest to hire a private taxi to connect them to a nearby bus or train station.
DAY-TRIP TRANSPORT ITINERARIES: Easiest Day-trips and Getaways
Our suggested day-trips and “studio weekend” trips out of Argenton-Chateau are as follows:
1) For a Friday farmer’s market trip to Thouars: with 8 people, a private group shuttle can be arranged for guests. The cost is 10 euros per person.
2) For a longer day trip Angers, Saumur, Tours, Nantes, Paris: Guests can hire a taxi from Argenton-Chateau to Vihiers bus station (20 minutes north). The outgoing Ligne 18 bus service leaving Vihiers arrives one hour later at Angers- Gare SNCF.
The last Friday return bus on Ligne 18 leaves Angers at 5:30 PM, the last Saturday return leaves at 6:30 PM. ** You must reserve an evening taxi in advance to pick you up from Vihiers. **
3) For train tickets to Saumur, Tours, Nantes, Paris and elsewhere, check:
TGV tickets ALWAYS require advance reservations. TGV ticket prices are highly variable. In order to get the lowest fare, reserve online as far in advance as possible.
TGV reservations can be made online, or made in person at the SNCF train stations in Thouars or Bressuire.