But as local mayors look to the future, some are thinking the unthinkable and threatening to demolish the crumbling churches they have to fund, prompting cries of sacrilege from a heritage lobby that says the French way of life is under attack.
Hundreds of 19th-century edifices face the wrecker's ball or wilful neglect, a crisis that reflects deeper shifts in society including the exodus from rural areas and falling church attendance, as well as spiralling upkeep costs.
In the quiet commune of Valanjou in the western wine-producing region of Anjou, mayor Bernard Briodeau is locked in a bitter battle with opponents who suspect him of plotting to rob their village of one of their three churches.
The dull outside walls of St Martin de Joue mask an elegant interior of white stone and boast an array of listed stained glass windows. But even if costly repairs enabled it to reopen its doors after five years, Sunday mass is now said nearby and the Catholic Church has no plans to resume services.
"On the one hand, I'm being asked to repair a church which is not going to be used for services because there are already two others," an exasperated Briodeau said.
"On the other, we have a young population which needs schools and creches. What am I to do? Look after churches or this young population which is the future of Valanjou?"
At a cost of 285,000 euros ($409,500), Briodeau says he wants to remove the church's crumbling steeple and put a roof on its 14th century fortified bell tower, which was once guarded by a knight-at-arms to protect the village from marauding brigands.
Renovating the entire church would cost 1.5 million euros, he says: but warns that at some stage the commune must bite the bullet about the empty building's long-term future.
His rivals say that price tag is deliberately inflated and regard talk of the long-term as evidence of a more radical plan to destroy the church, which remains a potent symbol for many of the commune's 2,200 inhabitants.
WAY OF LIFE
"It represents the heart of the village, a local way of life, an entire civilisation," said Rene Cottenceau, a Briodeau rival who is fighting to save St Martin.
Mayor Briodeau could now face a challenge from the pro-St Martin's lobby in 2008 elections, he says, such are the passions aroused by the church.
"This is going to bury people. It's going to kill lots of people," said Marie-Cecile Leger, another member of the St Martin's defence league, underlining the point.
