Paris1972-Versailles2003

Therefore, need to update this older post to go along the others recently done on the Île de Noirmoutier. I had it separate because of the local meaning to the monument, the Church of Saint Philbert! Hope you enjoy as I.

And I take you to the islands!! on the West coast of my belle France again. Here all is wonderful and peaceful, and other things to see besides the beaches! This is just south of me along the coast!  I like to take you to the Île de Noirmoutier, in the dept of the Vendée 85 (old Poitou area) in Pays de la Loire region and to show a bit more of the Church of Saint Philbert.

The island of Noirmoutier  or Île de Noirmoutier is in the Atlantic Ocean, on the coast of the Vendée dept85 . It is separated from the mainland by the Strait or gully of Fromentine, wide from 700 to 800 meters, and  connected  to the mainland  by the Passage du Gois (or Goâ), 4 km long and practicable passage at low sea. A bridge further north has also been connecting the island to the mainland since 1971.

The Church of St Philbert, which is the former Benedictine abbey, is in its present state dates from  the 12C, 14C and 19C, but it is built on a crypt that must be that of the primitive Church and go back to the end of the 7C or 8C. It contains a sarcophagus of Saint Philbert, which passes to be the tomb of the Saint, but which is in reality only a modern restoration. Beautiful 14C rectangular dungeon, flanked by turret-shaped buttresses. This dungeon had to be built by the lord of the island, on the location of the Castle raised in the 9C by the monks to defend against the Vikings.

Who was Saint Philbert? ,well a brief description: he was abbot of Jumièges in Normandy, then of Noirmoutier in the Vendée. He had left the court of King Dagobert to make himself a monk at first to Rebais  in the French Brie area (77 Seine et Marne). Later he founded a monastery in Jumièges near Rouen in Normandy. When he learned that Ebroïn, the mayor of the palace, had murdered Saint Léger of Autun, he went to reproach his crime to the mayor of Neustria. Ebroïn instructed Saint Ouen to make it disappear. The Bishop of Rouen obeyed, made him imprisoned, but the captivity was gentle and lasted little, for Ebroïn was assassinated in his turn. Saint Philbert thanked Saint Ouen for his hospitality, assured him of his perfect friendship and took the way to the monastery of Noirmoutier. During the Norman invasions, his relics were transported to Tournus in Burgundy, where a magnificent abbey was built.(still there).

A bit of history I like on the Church

The Church of Saint-Philbert rises on the site of an abbey founded by Philibert de Tournus in 677AD.  It was plundered by the Saracens at the beginning of the 8C, then burned down by the Normans in 846AD. It was then rebuilt at the end of the 11C on a primitive Chapel, which is the present Crypt, but only the Choir and the main nave remains. From the end of the 14C to the 17C ,the left and right naves were raised, and it was consecrated in 1849.

The bell tower is neo-Romanesque it was built in 1875 to replace the old steeple which had been destroyed by a fire in 1848. Inside you can admire a model of a frigate, made by an artisan watchmaker of the village in 1802 for Auguste Jacobsen.

The Crypt is located under the Choir, it hosted the body of Saint Philbert between 690 and 836, when it was transferred to Saint-Philbert-de-Grand-Lieu, then to Tournus in Burgundy, where the monks had fled after the Norman invasions in 875. A shrine on the altar contains some relics of the Saint transferred in 1863 date on which this Crypt was restored.The Merovingian Crypt where Saint Philbert rested is what remains of the abbey destroyed by the Normans. Indeed the abbey which extended over the location of the church and the castle was never raised in its walls after the monks fled the occupation of the Vikings who had made the island their base behind their raids on the Loire. Only a priory was restored which became the Church we know today.

The windows of the nave tell us of Saint Philbert and the ancient Abbey, the castle, the arms of the abbey and on the other side four stages and foundations of Philibert: Jumièges, Saint Philibert of Grandlieu, Cunault and Tournus.  The altarpiece of the Holy Mary is the oldest altarpiece of the Church, and the most lavishly decorated. You can admire the garlands of roses and sun carved in stone. The altarpiece of the altar St. Anne was built in 1711.

The Noirmoutier island tourist office on the Church: https://www.ile-noirmoutier.com/fr/que-faire-sur-l-ile/patrimoine-sites-de-visites/eglise-saint-philbert.html

The parish church of Noirmoutier island on the Church: http://saint-philbert-en-noirmoutier.fr/saint-philbert-de-noirmoutier/

Hope you enjoy the story, the island is very nice just close by Nantes and the passage of Goa in low tide is sublime experience, written on it in previous posts. For now enjoy the history and architecture of the Saint Philbert Church in the Ïle de Noirmoutier!

And remember, happy travels, good health, and many cheers to all!!!

I need to update this post , very unique to me. Actually, hard to come up with titles, and as Cholet is dept 49 of Pays de la Loire region of my belle France...well I thought of the 49ers as in American football lol!!! Even not my favorite team there but very famous… okay so why talk about sports! Let me tell you what we have in this 49ers of Cholet!

Ok so in continuing the saga looking into new areas in my belle France, we decided today to visit Cholet in the département of the Maine-et-Loire no. 49 in the région of Pays de la Loire. This is a historical town of very much links to the Vendéen wars against the French revolution. In what was the Anjou area.  As usual , I passed by these departments and regions all the time but always lack the time to visit all. France is a mouvable feast!!!

As I said the history is huge here, and  my small contribution on this post is not enough.  And as usual, I went by car/auto; taken the N165 direction Nantes hooking up direct to the N844  direction Poitiers/Angers ,on exit sortie 44  linking with the N249 direction Poitiers  exit 38 into the D753 that takes you into Cholet Centre city  center. We parked in the limits of the city center at parking Turpault easy in and out for 40 cents!!!, a nice small garden with plenty of inexpensive parking fees and walk along rue Nationale to the center really less than 5 minutes.

This is the lands of Foulque Nera Count of Anjou , and passing by one of his loyal soldiers who later passed it on to their sons until the family lineage is gone in the 13C.  Passing again by several hands until becoming part of the reign in 1343 due to the grand extensors of salt ,by 1463 the lands are even sold to the Duke of Brittany! However, nothing compare to what behold the town and area during the French revolution, especially during the battle of Cholet in 1793.  it goes to textile and shoes industries ups and down until today a revitalizing town on the move.

The first thing we did after parking the car is walk the town as we love to do. We saw a very modern and nice shopping center right in city center!  the  « Les Arcades Rougé »; something different to have one around the old town.  Anchor by a Super U supermarket and with plenty of stores of all kinds and Irish pubs as well ! Webpage: http://www.les-arcades-rouge.fr/le-centre/.

There is a huge wonderful Place Travot, it seems the center of it all in town. There is an impressive building now hosting the Mercure hotel; and you can see the back of Notre Dame Church (see post).  You have nice winding old streets like the rue Bretonnaise or Breton street ,and the Grand Pharmacie in the place Travot , and the long and winding rue Nationale, actually cut in half by the Place Travot. All very nice..

However, as often happened here in our belle France; tradition calls for specific lunch hours , and even missing by a few minute and with half a restaurant empty the answer will always be, we are closed or food service is over!!! We arrive there to a place we have picked to eat at 14h06 that is 2:06PM and were told the routine answers. We tried others in the Place Travot and the answer was the same, and of course many were even closed. So we end up hungry as usual and settle for the all American chain Subway sandwiches !!! Part of the Arcades Rougé shopping center.The official Subway webpage with location Cholet: https://www.subway.com/fr-FR/FindAStore?zip=cholet

So we had a nice big 30 cm long BMT my all time favorite here from younger days, and my 7 Up along with a chocolate cookie ! neat and came out to 9.10€ per person; at least my wallet was in heaven! And we headed back home.

This was before the New Year 2018 (see post) and of course was on my way to change car tomorrow  for another Ford!! , my lifetime car/auto and never a problem. Until my next post, I want to wish you all a very very Happy New Year 2018!

The city of Cholet things to see: https://www.cholet.fr/welcome/tourisme.php

The tourist office for Cholet on its heritage: https://en.ot-cholet.fr/exploring/heritage-cholet.html

And there you go folks, a short post on a sort of introduction to wonderful historical Cholet. Plenty of posts in my blog on things to see there, worth the detour and to know the whole history of France. Hope you enjoy the post as I

And remember, happy travels, good health, and many cheers to all!!!