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The traditional image of cave dwellers is probably ape-like creatures clad in skimpy animal skins, complete with clubs and matted hair and chewing unidentifiable bones. But in the region around Saumur, living in caves is making a comeback. Not that it ever completely disappeared.
In a region famous for its wine production( Anjou), it is hardly surprising that caves form a part of local life, but it was the nineteenth century quarries cut into the local tuffeau stone which provided an impetus for cave dwellers. Excavating the stone for building purposes left arched caverns, and local inhabitants found that these provided cheap living quarters. If you wanted to extend them, all you had to do was to hack away a bit more of the easily worked rock. Build a wall across the front, with a door and windows and you had a home.
"It’s possible to drive through this area without seeing it properly because so much is underground," says Michel Renou, director of a recently opened study center at Doue la Fontaine.
Until recently many cave houses were used for storage, for maturing wine and for growing mushrooms rather than for habitation, but now there is a definite trend back to cave dwelling. Caves are proving particularly popular with painters, sculptors and craft workers. There is even a building firm that specializes in restoring and making safe disused cave houses.
Bernard Foyer, once an electronics executive, moved to a cave this summer, selling his conventional home. "It’s more tranquil," he explains. "It suits my state of mind: I like to be left alone in my cave." He claims that the authorities pay little attention to cave dwellers and, knowing that they often have small incomes, the tax collectors by and large leave them be.
"And they’re a lot cheaper to buy than any normal house," says Mr. Foyer. "I bought my first cave 15 years ago. It had five rooms, a lot of storage space and cost me 1,000 francs (about ￡ 100)."
Why did Bernard Foyer move to a cave