The lovely limestone of the Loire valley, called tuffeau, has been quarried since the Middle Ages to build
the houses, walls, castles and fortifications of the region.
Its production left behind thousands of kilometres of
quarries and caves, which, over the centuries have been reused and adapted to
hold everything from entire villages to mushroom production to upscale housing.
If you’re in the region and between chateau visits, you can
stop for a meal at one of my favorites,
La Cave aux Moines, whose
restaurant, les Pieds Bleus (the Blue Feet!) serves a wonderful meal of
rillettes, various kinds of mushrooms grown in the caves, and fouées, a flat bread baked in the wood-fired oven in the
restaurant, all presented by candlelight and firelight, deep inside the
troglodyte cave. La Cave aux
Moines is located on the main road between Tours and Saumur. Here’s the website.
http://www.cave-aux-moines.comwww.cave-aux-moines.com
Another troglodyte restaurant in Montlouis (a great place to
taste Loire valley wines), Restaurant La Cave, serves a more elegant (and
expensive) menu. The owners
are also winemakers for 5 generations, and you can tour and taste the wines as
well.
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