"Langeais: A Sweet Little Town" Langeais by von.otter

Langeais Travel Guide: 12 reviews and 61 photos

The town’s name in flowers, Langeais, France 07/08

“From Ussé we passed to Langeais, chiefly along the great dyke, which says to the Loire, as well as it can: “Thus far and no further.” In most places, by the way, I could, just at present, walk across the so often terrible Loire. Langeais is approached by a long bridge across the river, and stands up grandly from the town which clusters round it, but it is of an earlier period than Azay and Ussé: built for defence rather than for the delight of life. It has been most elaborately restored and fitted up by its present owners, who are extremely kind in allowing it to be shown at all times, but we had only the last light of a brief, though superb autumn day to see it by.”
— from “Notes from a Diary, 1892-1895” by Sir Mountstuart E. Grant Duff, GCSI

Langeais is one of the oldest towns in Touraine. When the Gallo-Roman period had ended, there was already a small town called Alingavia on the current site of Langeais. In the fourth century, Saint Martin of Tours founded the Church of St-Jean-Baptiste in this sweet little town.

Langeais, in the department of Indre-et-Loire in the Centre region of France, has, as of 1999, a population of 3,960. The town is nestled between the forest and the River Loire, backing onto a hillside dotted with troglodytic houses. With a total area of 23.33 square miles, the forest covers almost 15.50 square miles. Langeais is a major financial center.

The town’s main attraction is its 15th century château, where the union between Charles VIII and Anne, duchesse de Bretagne was sealed in 1491. This alone would make Langeais a vital stop for anyone touring in the Loire Valley. In addition, this mediaeval fortress offers many important features: one of the oldest surviving square-shaped keeps in France, a working drawbridge, a walk round the castle’s battlements, and an outstanding collection of 15th and 16th century tapestries and furniture.

The town’s coat-of-arms, Langeais, France 07/08

A most unusual coat-of-arms is this one. A seagull, carrying a fish in its mouth, is flying over what appear to be three pumpkins!

The town’s canal, Langeais, France 07/08

With a canal fed by the River Loire and dotted with lily pads, as a willow weeps in the distance, this street scene, in the middle of Langeais, is a living, breathing Monet painting come to life.