Descartes is a large village and commune in the Indre-et-Loire department in central France. It is approximately 29 kilometers east of Richelieu and about 48 kilometers east of Loudun, on the banks of the Creuse River, near the border of the French department of Vienne, and the border of the region between Centre-Val de Loire and Nouvelle-Aquitaine. It is famous for the birthplace of the French mathematician and philosopher who invented the Cartesian coordinate system, René Descartes.

Indre-et-Loire is a department in west-central France named after the Indre River and Loire River. In 2019, it had a population of 610,079. Sometimes referred to as Touraine, the name of the historic region, it nowadays is part of the Centre-Val de Loire region. Its prefecture is Tours and subprefectures are Chinon and Loches. Indre-et-Loire is a touristic destination for its numerous monuments that are part of the Châteaux of the Loire Valley.