Fontevraud Abbey

Unless someone comes along who has done this exact day trip, this is going to take a lot of research. Having been to both, I remembered them being in very different parts of the Loire. IMO this is best done as an overnight trip. If you take the train to Tours to pick up a car, it is an hour drive to the Abbbaye de Fontevraud. Driving time between Fontevraud and Amboise is an hour also. I got this information from the Fontevraud website and the viamichelin website. You can get information about picking up cars in Saumur and other places from autoeurope.com. Attention because many smaller towns have less ion, close at lunchtime, and may not have an automatic if you need one. Finally, train times to and from the Loire towns can be found at sncf. Again, IMHO this is best done as an overnight trip.

Since I am 62, please don't think I'm patronizing a group of 65+ ladies. Even I, who have taken two-hour each way train trips for a day, think this is a very long daytrip. Although Fontevraud is a large, meaty, and attractive destination, it is so far from Paris that I question the wisdom of your plan. Even if you keep your rooms in Paris, you should see some more of the Loire. I'm not saying the driving is hard; It isn't. But you'll be passing by one superb attraction after another. And you'll be rushing through lunch. (We did have trouble ing a modest restaurant near the Abbey. There are four or five within walking distance, but it's hard to decide - research in advance is called for. I don't know Clos-Luce. But you have two stops on far, opposite sides of Tours. You need to understand that, just like at home, your GPS and Google Maps make no allowance for traffic, toll lines, or traffic lights. The two locations are not really just an hour apart. When we spent two weeks down that way, we took the TGV from CDG Airport and rented a car in Tours. (Agencies closed for lunch!) We returned the car in peripheral Paris, but that doesn't apply to your trip. Note that the TGV station in not precisely in Tours, but that's irrelevant to your car rental needs.

We visited both (on two consecutive days) when we visited the Loire.....I would suggest you try to talk the Plantaganet fan out of Fontevraud. It is a long way from Paris and is very grey and austere. (I have posted the relevant section from my trip diary below.) Clos- Luce, however, was very interesting - you could easily combine a visit there with nearby Chenonceau. If you decide on an overnight, there are several good inns in Chenonceaux - you can walk to the chateau, then maybe also visit nearby Loches.....I strongly recommend reading Ina Caro's book, The Road from the Past, for background on any of the Loire Valley sites.... We rented our car at Orly. Tours might also be an option, especially if you want to visit Fontrevaud. "We then left Chenonceaux, heading for Chinon, another medieval walled city with ruined castle. ...Then, we departed for Fontrevaud Abbey, the final resting place of Eleanor of Aquitaine, King Henry, Richard the Lion-Hearted, and John's queen Isabelle. The abbey is extensively rebuilt , but very pale and austere. Until recently, it was used as a prison. The effigies were interesting (no bones, however, since those were tossed in the river by the revolutionaries). The abbey also has a medieval kitchen, similar to the one at Glastonbury but much larger and taller and with twelve fireplaces." If you go to Fontrevaud, watch your timing or you may find all of the lunch places have closed for the afternoon!

Not to overstate my case, note that Chateau Chinon (an evocative, ruined hilltop castle in a town with dozens of swell, modest restaurants) is also connected with the Plantagenets, like Henry II, Count of Anjou. This area is just loaded with beautiful, historic places - even if there is a big nuclear plant in Chinon too! On a day trip, you will miss more than you will visit. I remembered that the Fontevraud parking is through a stone archway, so I recommend a less-than full-size car. There was massive on-site construction at the Abbey in July, 2012, but it didn't hide too much from our visit. Have you considered Chateau Chantilly as a near-Paris compromise, combined with a viewing of the movies Vatel and A View to a Kill? Really important art collection there, too.