The best MTB trails around Les Bottereaux

The church dedicated to Saint Christopher was under the patronage of the Abbey of Saint-Père de Chartres in the 12th century. Of Romanesque origin, the building was extensively enlarged and remodeled during the 16th and 19th centuries; it is currently undergoing a general restoration. This church owes its fame to the automobile pilgrimage held on the last Sunday in July. The single-aisled building, preceded by a porch, consists of a nave and a choir with a recessed flat chevet. To the south are the bell tower and a chapel. The use of traditional materials in this part of Normandy—flint and grison, a locally quarried ferruginous stone—indicates that the oldest parts of the building are of medieval origin. The nave is built of rubble masonry (grison and flint) set in mortar. In dressed stone, Grison was used to form, on one side, the corners of the exposed gable of the nave and, on the other, the corner buttresses, to frame the small arched openings, since walled up but still visible on the north and south walls, as well as the pointed arch of the portal. The same approach is found in the choir. The elevations are finished with a quarter-round cornice, part of which is also made of Grison stone. The use of brick corresponds to the 19th-century interventions, in two phases of work whose completion date is unknown. An examination of the construction reveals a first phase of repairs to the openings, particularly in the choir and nave, where large rectangular openings with curved lintels were created, the bricks of which are light in color. This was followed by further interventions with pointed arched openings framed in purplish brick, some of which replaced the rectangular openings of the previous phase. The porch features an ornate gable of light-colored, rendered brickwork, flanked by brick and chipped flint pilasters, and pierced by a central bay framed in brick and topped with a niche; the side sections are timber-framed on a masonry base. The southern flank of the building was added during the 16th century to a vast chapel and a bell tower, made of rubble blockwork, in which bays are pierced, framed in limestone, with curved profiles in the case of the bell tower. Restoration work has revealed several molded courses on the south face of the chapel, corresponding to a bay removed during later restorations, which confirm the dating of this part of the building. This chapel opens onto the nave through a large arcade adorned with several rows of moldings, resting on simple square piers devoid of decoration, with animal figures (reused?) at their bases, unearthed during the restoration work. The interior is remarkably simple, with whitewashed walls and geometric stained-glass windows. Only the choir is more ornate; its entrance is marked by a stone arch resting on hexagonal piers with historiated capitals, where a sculpted frieze of foliate ornaments, figures, and a coat of arms unfolds. The church has a painted faux-marble altarpiece, above which are visible traces of incomplete wall paintings depicting draperies. The rafter frame forming a truss was straightened and reinforced by restoring the removed or weakened kingposts and tie beams. According to tradition, the carpenters left the mark of their work by sculpting a scalloped ... The bell tower's belfry has also undergone a complete restoration. For this restoration, designed to strengthen the church and enhance its architecture, the Sauvegarde de l'Art Français (French Art Protection Agency) granted €10,000 in 2005.

Superb fresco

The Church of Saint-Christophe-sur-Avre, is a church located in the department of Eure in Normandy.

La ferrière sur Risle, a beautiful little village.

Beautiful little Norman village.

Very beautiful typical village but be careful ⚠️ it climbs well

Yes it is a magnificent country village, beautiful panoramas, along the Risle. An indescribable charm. This village has been in a new commune with La Vieille Lyre since the end of 2018. La Vieille Lyre, a charming town with a small flowered village center and the lodging of Trou Normand, a famous inn where the film Le Trou Normand was shot with Bourvil and Brigitte Bardot. You can stop for a picnic at the La Vieille Lyre leisure park on the edge of the Risle. Tables await you with games for children. You can also go from the Vieille Lyre to Champignolles via the valley, you can beautiful homes all along the Valley and discover the Moulin Rouge, magnificent buildings on the banks of the Risle. You will arrive at Champignolles after having discovered the superb valley!

This small village in the Pays d'Ouche (36 inhabitants at the last census) is located on the edge of the right bank of the Risle, at the foot of a very steep hill. It presents itself as the dreamed rural space. All the parameters of rurality are combined, the topography of the site which protects a vast open valley where the Risle runs, the hills framed by woods, forests and copses, the tidy Norman houses of vernacular proportions built in half-timbered buildings. , flint and stone. What is most striking is the quiet preservation of the site, no disturbance linked to the intrusion of constructions out of step with the spirit of the place. The road which descends on the hillside from the secondary road, takes place through the forest. For cyclists, this is the opportunity for a nice dry climb to do from the river.