The best road cycling routes around Courgeoût

I am delighted to see and see again the basilica of "La chapelle Montligeon" and I am proud to have been the doctor of this charming village. In the year 2000 and following after 40 years of general medicine in Paris. R.G. Dean of the "couch of doctors".

From very humble beginnings, a significant sanctuary with a very unusual patronage has emerged in La Chapelle-Montligeon, one I've never encountered anywhere else: The church here, with the papal distinction of "Basilica Minor," is not one of the usual churches dedicated to Our Lady, but rather specifically to "Our Lady, the Liberator of Souls in Purgatory." The present pilgrimage church was built at the turn of the 19th and 20th centuries, as the previous building had become far too small for the pilgrims who came here.

The priory was founded at the beginning of the 11th century and is dedicated to Saint Gauburge (or Walburge), abbess of a large Bavarian monastery in the 8th century. Originally owned by the lords of Bellême, it passed, from the 12th century, to the Royal Abbey of Saint-Denis-en-France. From the end of the 15th century, it was directly dependent on royal power until the Revolution. An important rural estate, its buildings bear witness to its special status and the magnitude of its revenues. Since 1972, it has housed the headquarters of the Perche Ecomuseum, which bears witness to the peasant life of the Perche and develops a diverse cultural program.

Pretty little town with character!

Praying for your deceased is more than necessary. If you don't pray for yours, pray for mine. 🙏🏻😇

After seven and a half years of experimentation, malfunctions and a yield well below expectations, this solar road was finally dismantled in the summer of 2024, signaling the failure of a certain technological utopia. The electricity production was never at the level of the hopes raised: in 2022 for example, the figures indicated that the road could only supply electricity to three homes. The idea of powering the village's public lighting, which had been launched at the start of the project, was quickly abandoned. From the first weeks of operation, many problems appeared: subsidence, fouling, noise pollution, etc. Technical problems that led to frequent closures of the road. And the dissatisfaction of locals and users ended up sounding the death knell for this pioneering experiment. In the end, the project turned out to be three times more expensive than conventional solar panels. Despite these setbacks, the manufacturer behind the project insists on the importance of the lessons learned. Recognizing that their photovoltaic panels are not suitable for a conventional road, the company decided to direct its technology towards cycle paths, parking lots or sidewalks, and other passages subject to less damaging traffic constraints. In any case, the idea of covering our roads with photovoltaic panels, where cars, trucks and various agricultural machinery circulate, remains, in the current state of technology, a utopia.

The Saint-Martin church, listed as a Historic Monument, is located in Nocé, Normandy. It was probably built in the 12th century near the ruined and abandoned Nocé castle after the Hundred Years' War. Originally, the church was surrounded by a cemetery that was moved in the 18th century. In the 15th century, the walls were razed and the Romanesque framework of the nave replaced by a new paneled framework. In the 16th century, after the troubles of the Hundred Years' War, the building was modified: a single large roof was built in place of the various previous volumes and the framework was transformed, a new chapel was added against the south facade and a stone bell tower was built to the right of the nave. This tower, square from base to top, stands twenty meters high. The church is composed of a rectangular nave, three bays and a choir with a Romanesque semicircular chevet. A succession of three chapels opens a side aisle separated from the nave by pillars. The chapels are covered with ribbed vaults. A sacristy is fitted out behind the church. Note the altarpiece and the tabernacle in painted and gilded wood with steps, installed in the choir and lit by two bays with tracery, a painting presenting the disciples of Emmaus and one of the Annunciation, as well as a polychrome terracotta statue and a stone statue of Saint Madeleine without forgetting a stone statue of Our Lady of Pity.

The church of St Pierre des Ormes holds an important place in the heart of the village, surrounded by its pretty flowerbeds. Dating from the 11th and 12th centuries, it has retained its Romanesque portal. After crossing it, you cross the narthex to reach a second door which opens onto the main nave of the building. The wooden vault is barrel-vaulted. An extension was made in the 16th century by adding a side aisle, with two windows which would become dormers. The small door with Renaissance decoration opened onto the cemetery, then adjoining. The current choir was built in the 19th century. The altar is made with two hemp braies supporting a beautiful wooden board. Note, on each side of the choir, wooden niches, one of which houses a statue of St John (with an eagle). A pilgrimage was organized every September 8th to Saint Gourgon, because the fountain was reputed to cure eye diseases. Very popular until the beginning of the 20th century, it was gradually abandoned. The fountain, now filled in, was located in the cellar of a house near the current town hall.