Sauvage — Restaurant in Loches

(This place was previously called Volupia; plus ça change...)

This is a heavenly place, truly! As you arrive, it seems like an odd set-up: you park (it's a busy road) and enter a rather majestic cave (where they hoard all their goods; hello, amazing organic Vouvray wines [they have seriously good wines!], hello, wonderful Touraine food [do you even need to ask?]). You order there, in that cave, then you cross the (busy) road with your haul and you arrive on the shores of the majestic Loire. You have arrived: it is blissful beyond belief! (the photos are from various visits over the years)

The place, alas, is more than that. They are welcoming and open to everyone. It is a safe and welcoming place for, literally, everyone, in the nicest possible way.

We just love coming there for a quick apéro and just chill looking over that wonderful river, untouched by the modern world.

(One note of caution: this is a place that is only open during the warmer period of the year, so time your visit...

Great view, shame about the food and service.

Stopped for lunch, annoyingly the more interesting menu was very enticing but not available at midday - why display it then? They have adopted the unfriendly English system of queueing at the bar to place, and pay in advance, for your food order. Come on guys, professional table service is something France is rightly proud of.

When our food arrived we were surprised to have paid €32 for some slices of beef, a tin of sardines (literally a tin, all they had done was opened it), and a basket of bread. No sauces, no béarnaise, no garnish, no salad, no nothing, just slices of beef and slices of bread. We had to walk back across the road to ask for some butter to put on the dry...

Roadside bar set inside one of the many caves in the area. You can take your drinks and snacks to the picnic tables by the river or, after walking all day in the hot sun, visiting endless parade of museums and chateaus, sometimes a man just wants to get a cold beer and drink it in silence in a cave! One of the memories I will cherish for the rest of my life. They also have wine, some...