Rue des Écrivains

Loches is a small town in the Indre-et-Loire, on the left bank of the river Indre, about forty kilometres south-east of Tours, and its old streets climb the hill to the royal castle in a tangle of lanes lined with houses of pale tuffeau stone. The Rue des Écrivains, the Writers' Street, is one of the quiet lanes of this old quarter, and the name recalls the writers who have a connection with the town and the surrounding Touraine. Few details of the street are documented, so this description concerns the setting and the literary background, and the best way to see it is to walk the lanes below the castle.

The Touraine has attracted writers for a long time. The poet and playwright Alfred de Vigny was born in Loches in 1797 and spent part of his childhood in the region, and he is the best known of the town's literary sons. Honoré de Balzac, the great novelist of the nineteenth century, was born in Tours and set several books in the area, among them The Lily of the Valley, whose valley is that of the Indre, and he spent time at the château of Saché, not far from Loches, where he wrote some of his work, and which is now a museum. François Rabelais, the author of Gargantua and Pantagruel, came from the neighbourhood of Chinon, and the Loire valley as a whole has a deep literary heritage, from the poets of the Renaissance, among them Ronsard and Du Bellay, to the novelists of the nineteenth century.

The old town of Loches, which is known as the Cité Royale, has several layers of history. The great Romanesque keep of the castle, the Logis Royal, the ramparts and the collegiate church of Saint-Ours with its unusual stone pyramid vaults stand on the hilltop, and below them the medieval town has narrow streets with half-timbered and stone houses, from the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries, with carved doorways and turrets. The Renaissance town hall, built in the 1540s, with its fine façade and windows, is one of the most elegant buildings of the town. The Porte Royale, the main gate of the walls, leads into the Rue Saint-Antoine, the main lane of the old town, which is lined with shops. The Tour Guillaume and the Musée du Vieux Loches are other places to see.

A walk through the streets takes about an hour, and it is free. The streets are steep and paved with stone, so wear comfortable shoes. The Marché de Loches, held on Wednesday and Saturday mornings, brings the town to life, and the surrounding countryside offers walks along the Indre and visits to the châteaux of the region. The street suits walkers and readers who enjoy a literary stroll.