Saumur 9/9

The view over St Laurant without the fog

Allan went for a run the next morning in fog, which took some time to lift. After breakfast we walked into town to buy credit for Allan's phone, but he didn't have the right paperwork, so understanding what was required was a problem even with Loius-Marie interpreting. We then went off to Saumur, which situated on a part of the Loire which flows along limestone cliffs. This white stone has been used for centuries as a building material, so the cliffs are honey-combed with man-made caves created when the stone was quarried. Also, because it is easily worked, over millennia small caves were dug to create housing for people unable to afford anything better. Louis-Marie and Danielle had booked a table at Les Caves de Marson, a troglodyte restaurant, situated in some of these caves originally used for housing. They had been part of an estate a lady bought in the 1930's. The restaurant actually had its origins in picnics held in the caves for family and friends which she then decided to turn into a business. She died in the 1980's, but the tradition has been maintained. The meal was a set menu, but delicious, particularly the freshly baked flat bread which was cooked in a wood-fired oven in the cave complex. Even though the day was very warm, there was a small gas fire alight behind our table to take the chill off the air.

The restaurant was in caves in the cliff

The normal temperature in the caves was felt at our next stop, at the former cellars of Ackerman Wines. This wine maker had set out to create his own wines in the 1820's. He had been a wine merchant, and decided that he would rather sell his own wines than deal in someone else's product. Within twenty years he had developed his own champagne style, one which was not only a good product, but one that was priced so that it was accessible to the masses. The family has continued in the tradition, but has now moved to a new manufacturing base, so the former site has been tuned into a museum. They actually have eleven kilometres of caves, but only a tiny part of this is open to the public. The first section tells the story of the making of champagne, and the remainder is an art space. It was interesting, but we didn't taste or buy any wine before leaving. Both Allan and I felt that we wouldn't do it justice.

Sculpture in a cave
directly from the limestone

After leaving the cellars we stopped at another small cave area which had been turned into a sculptural gallery. Two local sculptors got together and created sixteen accurately scaled-down sculptures of notable churches and cathedrals in the region. Some were free standing, others were sculpted in high relief. There were individual churches or entire city scenes created in situ. The detail was stunning, and they had made clever use of different veins of rock to accentuate rivers or other aspects of their creations. Well worth the time spent there.


It was time for drinks, so we found a small square shaded by plane trees, and it was beautiful in the warm late afternoon. There was an old medieval house and shop on one side of the square which still has its original carved figures on some of the timberwork. From here we drove to Montsoreau chateau and had a look at the village surrounding it, but it was too late to visit the chateau itself to do it justice. It was a reasonable distance to home, and although it was late by the time we arrived, Danielle still served dinner which was delicious as always.