The best running trails around Cléry-Saint-André

It's rolling

Greenway along the Loire. Rolling track with tarmac, dirt, or white gravel covering depending on the section. Allows you to be away from traffic with little shared road.

As in probably every other profession, there are a few so-called “black sheep” among the many honorable millers in the milling trade. The popular children’s book author Otfried Preußler tells the following short episode in “The Flight into Egypt”: “And they didn’t even get all the way to Klostergrätz that evening, but there was a mill on their way, the monastery mill – they stayed there until the next morning. At first the monastery miller was almost shocked when the k.k. Gendarmerie knocks on his door: There had been a certain dispute with a customer last week over a few sacks of milling material which had disappeared in the mill here in a completely inexplicable way […] but it could have been that he had been reported for it anyway – and now they’re coming to pick him up… then of course all the disputed milling sacks had immediately fallen from his mind, the monastery miller, just as [sergeant] Hawlitschek is now simply asking him for a place to stay for the night.”

A pretty garden to visit

A wild river that changes every day

Located between Orléans and Chambord, in the Valley of the Kings, the Notre-Dame de Cléry Basilica has stood in the heart of the town of Cléry-Saint-André since the 15th century. After several constructions and demolitions, the current Basilica in flamboyant Gothic style was built during the 15th century, under Charles VII and Louis XI. The latter chose it as the place of his final rest. In 1280, the discovery of a statue of the Virgin was the beginning of what would become the Basilica of Cléry Saint-André. In a small chapel where the statue is installed, pilgrims flock to pray before the Virgin of Cléry, invested with miraculous powers. In 1302, Simon de Melun, Lord of the Hall in Cléry, founded a chapter of canons and at the same time, the collegiate church of Cléry. A few years later, Philippe Le Bel undertook the construction of a larger church. It was Philippe VI of Valois who laid the first stone of the building in 1339 while the pilgrimage grew. In the midst of the Hundred Years' War, the English ravaged the collegiate church, leaving only the bell tower as the only vestige. Dunois, Lord of Beaugency, initiated the reconstruction of the collegiate church in 1444. This reconstruction is the fruit of the desire of the kings of France to honor the statue of the Virgin Mary. From 1459, Louis Since 1894, it has had the title of Basilica. Raised on a Latin cross plan, the exterior is punctuated by a series of buttresses, flying buttresses and high windows whose regularity is only disturbed by the original bell tower and a few chapels. Even today, the Basilica welcomes many pilgrims who come to pay their respects to the famous statue. During your visit, discover the film “Basilica” broadcast continuously in the old sacristy. It reveals the inaccessible places of the building but above all, the great beauty of its architecture and the emotion it provides. All year round: guided tour for groups by reservation only.

Mill whose name is taken from "béchet", that is to say pike in old French (fish). At the beginning of the 20th century, he witnessed an ancestor of the triathlon: the Three Sports Race, which combined cycling, running and rowing.

If you love roses, you'll love the Jardin de Roquelin in Meung-sur-Loire. It's a remarkable site featuring over 500 varieties of old roses, as well as other plants and shrubs. Stroll along the grassy paths and admire the colors and fragrances of the flowers. You can also observe the farm animals that roam freely in the garden, or buy a rose or homemade jam at the gift shop. The Jardin de Roquelin is open from April to October, except Tuesdays. It is part of the Route de la Rose, a tour that allows you to discover other rose gardens and producers in the Loiret region.