How to get lost in… Le Saosnois

Detour No. XI — Rillettes, Truck Stop, and Le Corbusier

By frequently travelling between Touraine, where my roots are, and Rouen, where my partner’s grandmother lives, I began exploring the Saosnois simply because it sits right between the two destinations. It was by pure chance that my daughter and I stopped one day in the incredible village of Piacé, which will come up often in this article. In addition to this, part of my family comes from Sarthe, and my brother even held his wedding celebration in the area — enough reasons to pique my curiosity.

Le Saosnois, a little-known natural region located in the northern part of the Sarthe department, marks the end of the trendy Perche area and the beginning of the more rustic countryside part of Normandy. It’s a land of valleys and hedgerows, with its best-known feature being the beautiful Perseigne Forest.

What I love about this region is its raw rural character, completely unpretentious, and the rolling landscape where fields and ancient forests reveal small villages with houses that feel deeply anchored to the earth. It’s not a touristy area, and the infrastructure is far from polished — but that’s exactly what gives this place its genuine charm. It doesn’t need you to keep going; it just does.

L’ITINÉRAIRE

STEP 1
Le Relais des renards
A contemporary roadside restaurant

I hesitated for a long time before writing a full article about this place, simply because it excited me so much. Here is a restaurant completely off the radar — off the guides, off the hype — offering a full menu for just €15.50. It starts with an all-you-can-eat selection of appetizers — salads, leeks with vinaigrette, celery remoulade, or grated carrots — followed by a charcuterie board featuring local meats, also all-you-can-eat, then a hearty main dish, a dessert so beautifully simple it could make a brutalist architect weep with joy, and a quarter liter of wine lively enough to wake the dead. Everything is made fresh daily, with respect for the seasons. Two smiling, bustling women run the dining room. The customers are truckers, workers, passing artists, and local folks — and they are all happy. Life feels so generous, so delicious, so warm that you feel like thanking the owners for creating a place with such strong political, social, and economic value. Long live everyday cuisine!

Le relais des renards – 36 route nationale 72170 Piacé – Open from Monday to Friday from 11.30am to 2pm – +33981117015