The best traffic-free bike rides around Sambin

Small castle away from the crowds in a small sleepy town.

After some searching we found the new location of Mon Jardin and we certainly did not regret it! The food is still very tasty, the service is warm and caring and the price/quality is very good. You can go there for a cup of coffee with something tasty or possibly also for lunch. Lots of vegetables, also in combination with meat or fish. They also have a small terrace with a view of the river Le Cher.

The last part of "the circle" is no longer passable. Path is overgrown with bushes and grass.

Located in the heart of the Loire Valley, the castle of Fougères-sur-Bièvre built at the end of the 15th century is the image of the ideal fortified castle with its keep, its machicolated entrance curtain and its fortified postern. Built by Pierre de Refuge and modified by Jean de Villebresme around 1520, the castle acquired its definitive appearance in three generations and will retain it. A castle designed for entertaining, its defensive Gothic architecture allows Pierre de Refuge to assert his social status and his belonging to the French nobility. Acquired by the Lambot family in 1738, René Lambot had the idea of creating a spinning mill in the castle from 1813 to 1901. This made it possible to largely preserve it from revolutionary damage and to maintain life and activity there. Classified as a historic monument in 1912, put up for sale after the stock market crash of 1929, the castle of Fougères-sur-Bièvre was acquired by the State in 1932. The castle of Fougères-sur-Bièvre has a double face: an entrance facade with a particularly defensive Gothic appearance and a courtyard facade decorated with Renaissance decorations. Particularly well preserved, the castle today remains very close to that of 1525-1530 with its military exterior facade, the civil and domestic architecture of its interior courtyard and its medieval interior plan with rooms in a row without distribution corridors. The castle of Fougères-sur-Bièvre stands out from the great castles of the Loire by its sober and powerful architecture, very little altered over the centuries. It illustrates the art of building in the region with its walls made of limestone rubble from Beauce and its sculpted parts in tuffeau from the banks of the Cher. Young and old alike will easily find all the military attributes and the interior layout of a particularly well-preserved small castle from the end of the 15th century.

Benedictine abbey of the Congregation of Saint Maur, founded in the 11th century. The abbey church was built from 1040. It was destroyed by fire around 1262. At the end of the 13th century, a new church was built and the monastery enlarged. The abbey was ruined before 1391 by the English. In 1468, a church larger than the previous one was built. In 1837 the riding school was built on the site of the abbey house. For more information: https://www.abbayedepontlevoy.fr/

Small Church ⛪️, very pretty interior

The roofer knows how to demonstrate his know-how

The first constructions of the fortified castle of Fougères-sur-Bièvre date back to the 15th century. Of Gothic architecture, it was classified as a historical monument in 1912. It is currently owned by the State. The castle is open to the public during tourist seasons. More information on: https://www.fougeres-sur-bievre.fr.