Saint Valentin,Indre,France

Le village de Saint-Valentin

The little village of Saint Valentin (pop.280) in the department of Indre within the Centre Val de Loire Region, has, since the 1980's, taken advantage of its name to promote itself as 'The Village of Love'. Some forward thinking by the then mayor Pierre Rousseau led to the creation of the Lovers’ Garden' (Jardin des Amoureux), plus an annual festival around St.Valentine's Day.

A village dedicated to love Photo © Mairie de Saint-Valentin

Residents deck their homes in blooms, the lovers' garden open its gates and the village is turned over to red hearts and romance.

Lovers may marry in the garden gazebo, attach their amorous wishes to the Tree of Vows, plant a tree in honour of their marriage or anniversary, or commemorate their love on the Tree of Eternal Hearts.

Couples from all over France and even further afield join with the locals in the celebrations. There is a programme of dining, dancing, an evening of cabaret plus a bridal gown show and a fireworks display to round things off.

This year (2010) we visited the village on the 14th February, purely for research purposes of course and despite a very cold day were very comfortable within the temporary 'salle des fetes'. The company, food and entertainment were good and we even had the inevitable surprise proposal and acceptance from a young couple in the audience!

As we left the village and the celebrations we did think that it was a shame that a day in July had not been picked to celebrate this honourable man - but then the village opens its doors to tourists all the year round to allow them to buy uniquely stamped valentines and postcards from the village's post office plus other souvenirs or simply stroll in the lovers' garden.

For more information on the town of Saint-Valentin, or to make reservations, contact the tourist office at:

Phone - (33) 02 54 21 41 77
E-mail - info@village-saint-valentin.com
Website - www.village-saint-valentin.com

Footnote: Where does Valentine’s Day originate? One theory is that it stems from a law imposed by the emperor Claudius at the beginning of the third century. This prevented soldiers from getting married, as it was believed that men who were celibate made better soldiers. A priest named Valentine disregarded this rule as he felt it unjust and married young couples in secret. When the emperor learned of these clandestine marriages, he had Valentine imprisoned. The origin of the Valentine card is believed to be because, from his jail cell, the priest left a farewell note for the jailer’s daughter, who had become his friend, and signed it “From Your Valentine”, a message we use to this day. It is said that Valentine, patron saint of lovers, was beheaded on February 14, 270 AD.

Some sceptics say it was all the invention of the greetings card industry !

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