Our Blog - Loire Valley Trip - Saché, France

The little village of Saché is pretty small, less than 1500 people, but growing (most likely as a commuting village now from the city of Tours). It is probably only really known for the writer, Honoré de Balzac, who came here to write. Balzac was born in Tours in 1799 but spent a good deal of his life in Paris. However, he would often come here, to the Château de Saché, to escape the Parisian life and worries about finances. Between 1824 and 1837, he probably spent a total of close to 400 days here. There is a Balzac museum now housed in the Château de Saché, but it is closed on Tuesdays (the day we were there).

The town and its immediate surroundings have housed several water mills, some of them described by Balzac in his writings. These including the Moulin du Gué Droit (dating from the 15th century), the Moulin Rouge (from the 16th century), the Moulin Neuf (from the 17th century), and the Moulin Vert (18th and 19th  centuries).

In the middle of town is the Saint-Martin-de-Vertou church, which dates back to the 12th century. It was remodeled in the 13th century, enlarged in the 16th century, and then restored in 1870. You can somewhat see the different centuries on the outside with the difference in appearance. The bell tower and the apse are from the 13th century.

The interior of the church is a bit interesting. There is a part with rather high ceilings and vaults that go down to the floor, and then a side aisle where the ceilings are much lower and the ceiling vaults only go about halfway down before stopping. There are a few nicely carved wooden choir stalls, which seem to be no longer used. The floor on one side has this very interesting tile-work as well.

There are a few colorful stained-glass windows that date from between 1880 and 1903 and were done in a glass shop in the nearby city of Tours.

There is also an Auberge from the 12th century, which is what remains of the old abbey which was built in the 16th century between the castle and the church. There is now supposedly an "internationally known" gastronomic restaurant there.