Philippe Gaudet, january 2026
During a family celebration in Touraine last summer, I visited the cellar adjoining the house recently acquired by our hosts. It wasn’t really a vaulted cellar like the ones I knew in Burgundy, but rather a real cave, dug out for the extraction of tuffeau blocks, stones used to build houses and also the châteaux of the Loire.
Stored in a corner were some old blocks. Without a moment’s hesitation, I loaded a small one into the car and carved a first sphere. I was delightedly surprised by how enjoyable it was to sculpt this very soft limestone.
After a 15-day training course in stone cutting in La Châtre in November, and the construction of a small, handcrafted gantry to carry stones weighing up to 1 tonne, I took advantage of the end-of-year holidays to bring back a stock of tuffeau blocks, with lots of projects in mind for 2026.
Just a few more weeks to wait before I receive a suitable harness, and then I’ll be ready to go, equipped with a good dust mask, as tuffeau stone has the disadvantage of containing silica.
The new homemade gantry by Philippe G., supporting up to 1 tonne
To learn more about Tuffeau stone: https://www.tuffeau.com/p28,le-tuffeau-de-la-vallee-de-la-loire
