Paris1972-Versailles2003

Here taken an extraction from several older posts to tell you about one street that is the village really. Other than the abbey and its museums, you can spent a good time of the day or the whole day here. Let me tell you a bit more on the Grande Rue of Mont Saint Michel!!!

The Grande rue street goes in layers upwards to the next loop of streets  A narrow street that takes on the assault on Mont-Saint-Michel, is lined with 15C and 16C mansions. with evocative names from medieval times. With the first pilgrims, curio shops settled in the village. In these small stalls, everyone could buy pilgrimage pellets stamped with the shell or representing Saint Michael. Today, the shopkeepers maintain this tradition of the Middle Ages and serve pilgrims and travelers from all over the world in search of a souvenir of their passage.

The Grande Rue is narrow and made of stones, it is lined on either side with houses, shops, inns and restaurants that date from the 15-16C. You can’t miss the Grande Rue. Enter through the main gate. You’ll see the Tourist Office on your left, and on your right the entrance to the Grande Rue. The street climbs steeply up through the town and eventually leads to the Grand Degré or Grand Staircase and the Abbey. You’ll also find some of Mont St-Michel’s museums there.

The Grande Rue, the main artery of the village, is protected by three successive gates. The Porte de l’Avancée, cart and pedestrian, leads to the courtyard of the same name, which houses the former Corps de Garde des Bourgeois (16C). Once you have crossed the Porte du Boulevard, you are facing the drawbridge, called Porte du Roy. Here begins the Grande Rue, which goes up to the abbey through the village, and has preserved its medieval shops and signs. The passage of the drawbridge also leads, on the right, to the rampart path.

The village of Mont Saint Michel : https://www.mairie-lemontsaintmichel.fr/

The Mont Saint Michel tourist office on its heritage : https://www.ot-montsaintmichel.com/en/discover/visit-the-mont-saint-michel/visit-the-mont-saint-michel/the-village-and-the-ramparts/

The Manche dept 50 Tourist office on Mont Saint Michel : https://www.manche-tourism.com/mont-saint-michel-normandy

There you go folks, a dandy street indeed. Hilly and cobblestones but worth the climb and see some of the prettiest houses and shops in all of Normandy. Even if getting too touristic at lately, it is worth the detour for many. Hope you enjoy the post on the Grande Rue of Mont Saint Michel!!!

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

Ok so came up with this piece as a road warrior I know my ways around the roads of Europe and especially France and Spain. I have come to many cities, towns, and villages and always amaze myself of folks telling how hard is to park your car! Well nothing at all, car parking is easy , at the most a bit of patience will do.

I will start with my favorite parking spot in Honfleur, Calvados dept 14 , region of Normandie in my belle France! This is the parking du Môle!

First a bit of history as to where it is. This outer harbor bears witness to the development and activity of the port of Honfleur in the 19C. 1840-1845: construction of the lighthouse, the beacon hut and the outer harbor huts. 1857: enlargement of the shack at the beacons, construction of the first wooden mast. 1876: reconstruction of the metal mast. They are there, on the mole, opposite the Quai de la Quarantaine: the lighthouse, the former lighthouse and beacon building, now occupied by the Society of Sailors (SNSM) and..the house, which was once the captain’s port.

Its very easy, you come into Honfleur from the A13 autoroute de Normandie ,then on the D180 and then D580A road that in city limits becomes Cours Jean de Vienne bear right to quai Tostain turn right on voie Charles Berthelot into Place de la Gare continue and you have a huge parking, right for camping cars , and left for automobiles, The fee is 4 euros per day!

Of course, now we come the other way from Deauville/Trouville on the road D513 then D62, then D579A which once in city limits becomes the Rue de la République to the back of the Vieux Basin turn left rue du Dauphin quick right to continue in rue du Dauphin, rue des Logettes, then right quai de la Quarantaine, then, left into Voie Charles Berthelot, into Place de la Gare, and the parking ahead. Several names but most is a straight line just the street names change.

The Honfleur tourist office on parkings with a nice map my parking shown in green B: https://www.ot-honfleur.fr/visiter-decouvrez/infos-pratiques/parkings/ 

There are many parkings in Honfleur but the one above is our favorite after many years coming here, The city of Honfleur on parkings : https://www.ville-honfleur.com/decouvrir-honfleur/honfleur-et-ses-visiteurs/parkings/

So therefore, take the road and enjoy the cities, towns and villages of my belle France, and of course one of my favorites, Honfleur. Hope you enjoy the post as I

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

Another wonderful monument in Evreux, dept 27 of the Eure in the Normandie region of my belle France. I had this minimally mentioned in another post and decided to split the old post into the wonderful monuments you can see in this nice layback Norman town. Therefore, here is my brief take on the Notre Dame Cathedral of Evreux!!!

The magnificent Cathédrale Notre Dame d’Evreux is fantastic;first mentioned in 912 and consecrated in 1077 and renovated after many fires, the dimensions are 109 meters long, height at the nave is 22 meters,the lenght of the nave is 25 meters, high of the choir is 24 meters and lenght of the choir is 32 meters. 13 chapels where the enclosure in wood dates from the 16C.  You must stop by the Chapel the Mother of God, a gift from king Louis XI  ,it keeps a Virgin with a Child from the 15C. At the entrance stands a Pieta, dated from the 17C in painted wood. It has a magnificent modern organ with many activities.

Notre-Dame Cathedral is a Gothic-style cathedral. As early as 912, Archbishop Francon of Rouen presented it to Duke Rollon as one of the most venerable churches in Normandy. The current cathedral is a synthesis of successive styles: the radiant then flamboyant Gothic architecture and the architecture of the French Second Renaissance.  The diocese of Évreux was erected in the 4C. According to the legend an 11C monk in the Vita Sancti Taurini, Saint Taurin , Christianized an ancient pagan temple to become the first church.

Gallo-Roman column bases and a Corinthian capital were discovered during the installation of a heater under the south transept transept.  During work in the courtyard of the bishopric in 1857, a carved stone dated to the 7C was discovered, pierced in the center with a circular opening. It would be a fenestella confessionis, a slab pierced to present the relics to the faithful.  A Gallo-Roman stone basin was found on the south side of the nave, near the transept, in the usual location for a baptistery in an episcopal group. It would have served as a baptismal basin.

The Notre Dame Cathedral was completed under Bishop Gilbert II de la Grue and consecrated to the Virgin in 1077 by the Archbishop of Rouen, Jean d’Ivry. Some vestiges of this church were unearthed in 1892 during the repair of the paving and the lowering of the level of the sanctuary. It is a semicircular wall and an axial absidiole.  Following the massacre of 300 French knights in 1195 at Évreux by John the Landless, Philippe Auguste besieged the town and burned it. Taken over by Richard the Lionheart, Philippe Auguste burned it again in 1198.  On May 22, 1199, Évreux was attached to the domain of the King of France.

The large arcades of the nave, spared by the fire, are preserved. Work on the triforium took place around 1225-1230, in a radiant Gothic style. The aisle chapels, five on each side, were added between the abutments of the flying buttresses in the late 13C, early 14C. A first organ, was installed in the cathedral in 1549. The present organ was built in 2006.

The Chapel of the Mother of God is an apsidal chapel and was built between 1461 and 1470 in commemoration of the coronation of Louis XI. There is a Virgin and Child, a polychrome stone statue, which dates from the beginning of the 16C, and a painting by Gian Antonio Guardi, Christ Appearing to the Pilgrims at Emmaus.

Promised for sale to be demolished, the cathedral suffered destruction during the French revolution: the decoration of the tympanum disappeared; the 56 16C statues surmounting the north portal are broken and serve as the foundation for a bridge. The Notre Dame Cathedral was strongly restored in the 19C. Renovation work, completed in 1973, restored the building to its former glory and its vigorous silver bell tower, a high spire crowning the lantern tower of the transept which dominates it from the Middle Ages.

The Evreux tourist office on its heritage : https://evreux.fr/decouvrir-evreux/monuments-evreux/

The Eure dept 27 tourist office on the Notre Dame Cathedral: https://www.eure-tourism.com/cultural-heritage/notre-dame-cathedral/

The organ of the Notre Dame Cathedral of Evreux: http://orgues.evreux.free.fr/english/instrument/instrument-page/page-presentation-organ.htm

There you go folks, a dandy monument to visit and close to all the major attractions listed in my posts on Evreux. The Cathédrale Notre Dame d’Evreux is worth the detour. Hope you enjoy the brief post on this wonderful monument.

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