The cave homes and Saumur, France 2014

In both Spain and France the number of people who reside permanently in caves is in the hundreds of thousands.  On the way to Saumur, I saw miles of cave homes in the sandstone cliffs that once were the banks of the Loire.

The one behind the gates in the top photo is a four star hotel. The manager at the gates has just shown newly arrived guests their room.  None of these caves are occupied by unfortunate cave men and women who cannot find other houses.  They are all quite expensive and well kept places (for people crazy enough to want to live in caves).

The chateau de Saumur has one of the most imposing locations of all.  It is basically a museum now.  Because Saumur is the horse riding capital of France, many articles there relate to riding and equines.  The Cadres noir de Saumur riding school was founded in 1768 and is the Vatican of How to Stay on a Horse Elegantly, you might say.

I saw a silo for the storage of wheat preserved in the middle of the city from the 14th C., and it was in remarkable condition.  A traveller ends up in a kind of contest to see what is oldest structure that is not a ruin.  There are a lot to consider in this region of France.