... I'm continuing my journey along the river Loir today. Join me as I explore more little towns and villages ...
From Montoire, the D917 takes you through the verdant Loir valley to Trôo. This is a small village with a population of around 300 inhabitants. It’s worth a stop-off as you can see everything of interest in about an hour or so, and if you want to spend more time there, you can sleep in a troglodyte cave! But that will be using modern furniture and fittings rather than the ground and animal hides!
The troglodytes were ancient cave-dwellers who are mentioned in manuscripts as early as the 5th century. In Trôo, you can see and experience their ecosystem at the museum and by visiting some of the caves and underground dwellings. The most intensive network of troglodytic homes is further south around Saumur.
Continuing on, the D917 will bring you to la Chartre-sur-le-Loir, a charming little town with a boulangerie and pâtisserie on one side of a tiny triangular town square. I stop and purchase an apple tart for lunch. From here, if you exit on the D305, the road will take you to Montval-sur-Loir, a much larger and more modern town and then onto La Lude where you can pick up the D305 which takes you to the heart of La Flèche, my destination for today.
La Flèche sits principally on the north bank of the river but extends across the massive weir to the south side also. Here, the river is wide and fast-flowing. It’s Wednesday, and it is market day. It seems that the whole of the town’s 15,000 inhabitants are moving around the stalls.
La Flèche has always been an important town within the region and has a significant history stretching back to the earliest centuries. There are significant connections to England, too, through the seigneur (lord) Jean de Beaugency, also known as Jean de la Flèche, who lived between 1030 and 1097. He was granted land in Yorkshire, England, by William the Conqueror. I can’t help but wonder if the very significant number of people with the surname Fletcher here in Yorkshire might be connected to Jean!
It appears that les Flèchois didn’t restrict their travels or land ownership to England only. In the seventeenth century, local people, under the leadership of Jérôme le Royer de la Dauversière (1567-1659), moved to Canada and settled and helped to establish the city of Montréal in the province of Québec.
Leaving the marketplace and walking away from the river into the centre of town, you will discover, at the end of an unimposing street, the fabulous masonry gateway to the Prytanée National Militaire. A stunning piece of architecture that now houses one of the six military schools in France. The buildings within the walls date from the 17th century and need a blog post of their own.
But my focus is the river and I have to move on as we are nearing the end of our journey along the Loir.
Join me on December 3rd as I cover the last leg of my journey from La Flèche to Durtal and the final reaches of the river. If you want to catch up on the earlier posts, just click the following links: Le Loir Châteaudun Vendôme Vendôme part 2 and Montoire-sur-le-Loir
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