Chatsam, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons
Grottes de Saulges
The Saulges caves, or caves de Saulges as locals call them, form a group of about twenty cavities carved into the limestone cliffs of a steep-sided stretch of the Erve valley, resembling a miniature canyon in its relief in the heart of the Mayenne bocage. Two of them are developed for visits: the Margot cave, steeped in fairy and witch legends, and the Rochefort cave, which traces the history of underground lighting from the candle to fibre optics. The site also holds traces of human occupation going back to the Palaeolithic, with cave engravings among the northernmost in France, and remains part of the Natura 2000 network for the richness of its underground fauna, notably its bat colonies. Hiking trails run along the river between rock walls and lush vegetation, offering complete immersion in a landscape shaped by water over millennia.
