Touraine is an ancient province of France which became "le département d'Indre-et-Loire". It is a part of the Paris Basin and is situated in the southwest of this one.
The major part of Touraine is constituted by chalky or clayey-siliceous, often monotonous, plateaus, with cereal fields, meadows, scattered woods, moors and some more important forest massifs (forests of Chinon, Loches and Amboise). The maximal altitude does not reach 200 m (650 feet).
If Touraine was named the "Garden of France", it is because of the numerous valleys which cut plateaus and which make the attraction of this region. The main valleys are those of la Loire and the numerous tributaries which converge on the west of Tours: le Cher, l'Indre and la Vienne, enlarged by la Creuse. A big part of valleys is steep-banked between chalky cliffs with many ancient troglodytic dwellings.
The vine's cultivation is mostly situated on the edge of plateaus.
Ancient troglodytic houses dug in the yellow tuffeau chalk (upper Turonian) - Azay-le-Rideau, vallée des Goupillières (site opened to public and whose tour I recommend to you)
