Villaines-les-Rochers, about 5 km south of Azay-le-Rideau, is one of those places that exists almost nowhere else in Europe. The village has been the centre of the Touraine wicker-weaving trade for centuries, and a cooperative of local craftspeople still works osier (basket willow) into baskets, furniture, and decorative objects using techniques largely unchanged since the Middle Ages.
Many of the workshops are troglodyte — cut into the soft tufa hillside, which maintains a steady cool temperature ideal for working damp willow. The cooperative shop sells the finished goods at fair prices, and you can watch the weavers at work. It is a short detour from Azay and worth the drive for anyone interested in traditional crafts or the curious landscape of cave-houses this part of the Loire is famous for.