Today we were on the ‘Route de Tours’ the scenic route to Tours along the River Loire. As a coda to our trip to the megalithic menhirs at Carnac, we stopped off in the elegant town of Saumur, (birthplace of Coco Chanel, famous for it’s sparkling wine and its cavalry training academy) to see the largest Dolmen in Europe, the Dolmen de Bagneux. It’s a vast chamber, 23 metres long and three metres high, which is believed to have been used as a burial tomb. It is thought to have been built around the time of the first pyramids in Egypt, about 5,000 years ago. It’s a internationally important site, and so I was slightly taken aback to find it tucked away in the back garden of No. 56 Rue de Dolmen, just behind a café. An entry fee of 4 euros is charged by the café owner. The Dolmen itself rubs shoulders with the everyday accoutrements of a French back yard – a few plastic chairs, a table, a rusty slide. Faded information signs are strewn about or propped casually up against the Dolmen.  I couldn’t decide whether to be shocked or delighted by this. On the one hand, there is something slightly magical in the idea of opening a gate into a back garden and finding an extraordinary object like that – and perhaps if it was owned by the French equivalent to English Heritage or the National Trust, you wouldn’t be allowed to go inside or touch it.

At the same time, I am slightly appalled that such a treasure has been left in the hands of a private owner.  Some old newspaper cuttings in the café revealed that the Dolmen was for sale from 2005-2009 – Pascal Normand, the owner of the café wanted to move house but couldn’t find anyone to take it off his hands.  The article said that he was hopeful that an Englishman would buy it – ‘the English seem to love this sort of thing, the French have no interest’. I’m not sure if he got his wish or whether he is still stuck with it.

Wonder if he’s open to offers…?