Descartes in the Loire Valley

Descartes,15 minutes from Barrou is also set on the river Creuse, the town was home to the famous philosopher René Descartes and there is museum dedicated to him in the house where he lived.

Many of our guests visit the busy Sunday morning market, where you can buy fresh vegetables and the famous goats cheese, Sainte Maure de Touraine as well as others.

There are a couple of well-stocked supermarkets on the edge of town that make an ideal stop-off, if travelling down from Tours, to pick up some shopping to get your holiday off to a start.

Descartes offers a heated outdoor swimming pool complex with slides (open July and August, no outdoor shorts allowed); baby pool, 25 metre pool and large sunbathing area, cafeteria, children's play park, crazy golf, fishing, tennis, canoeing on the river Creuse. You can hire canoes which can be taken up-river to Barrou to allow you to return downstream at your leisure.

There is a lovely walk through the riverside gardens which also has a small animal park. If you go to the market you should make a point of visiting them.

The town has a link with the World War II in that the river Creuse was the line separating occupied and free France and its bridge was destroyed during the conflict.

You can also explore the troglodyte dwellings at nearby St Rémy-sur-Creuse. Ethni'Cité, as it is referred to gives you a glimpse - just a glimpse - of what cave living and working was like. The exhibits are presented in this unique setting carved into the rock-face.In the Middle Ages these caves were the refuge of lepers. Weavers later used the caves as workshops, benefiting from the presence of underground streams. There was also, allegedly, a fortress on the top of the outcrop built by Richard the Lionheart. A small tower buried under heavy vegetation is all that now remains.

Official website of the village: https://www.ville-descartes.fr/

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