Clisson is a town surrounded by vineyards just 30 minutes south-east of Nantes, at the conflux of two rivers: the Sèvre Nantaise and the Maine. It’s a touch of Tuscany in Pays de la Loire, shaped by three great French artists who helped reconstruct the town on their return from Italy after the Vendéen war. The Cacault brothers, Pierre and François, and François-Frédéric Lemot introduced Italian-style architecture into the valley – and the villas and gardens, churches, temples and ancient statues are reminiscent of Tuscan and Roman landscapes.