We have driven in the area and stop by finally, and a great surprise indeed, This is the nice City of Vendôme in the Loir et Cher dept 41 of the Centre Val de Loire region of my belle France, There is so much to see , and did see more for you and me, So close by it many times and finally in ,a great surprise, nice town indeed! Therefore, here is my take on curiosities of Vendôme, part III !!! Hope you enjoy it as I.
The City of Vendôme is located 36 km from Blois from where we were coming on the road D957,around City on the N10 to City center following signs for Rochembeau parking, The City is 89 km from Loches where we were first, and 359 km from our current home on the D357 short on the A28/A11 then on the A81 to N157 dir Rennes and past the rocade on the N24 going home on the D768.
Located in the historic center, bordered by the Loir and facing the castle, the rehabilitated Rochambeau neighborhood offers residents gardens, meeting spaces and landscaped parking near the commercial heart of the city. Abandoned for many years, the development of public spaces was the subject of work delivered in spring 2019. The functions proposed in the Rochambeau neighborhood were determined with a view to improving the offer with a large free city center car park with 325 spaces (ours) which supports the trade of the center and avoids its relocation to the outskirts. In the 19C, the buildings and grounds dependent on the abbey became a military barracks called Quartier Rochambeau, hosting cavalry regiments. Today, the buildings surrounding the old cloister house the museum, the CIAP, and the music school. We parked at the Parking du Quartier Rochambeau.
The history of the Grand Quartier de cavalerie of Vendôme called Quartier Rochambeau has never been written, despite the existence of a very fine archive collection preserved in Vincennes at the Service historique de la Défense. It begins with a phase of occupation and adaptation to the needs of the military, of the conventual buildings of the Abbey of the Trinity; it continues with the construction of a set of stables and stable-barracks between 1825 and 1850 around what will become the courtyard of honor of the Quarter. It ends with the construction of a second, more varied complex, because two large riding schools are added, around a second courtyard, called the stables, between the two arms of the Loir river between 1851 and 1886. This is the height, at the time of the Revanche, of both the cavalry and the Quartier, before its decline and then its disappearance in the 20C as such. The first complex is the Benedictine convent made up of the two east and west wings around the cloister and the large south wing, called the Maurists, built facing the Loir river in 1740. The second is exclusively the work of the officers of the Engineers and was built gradually throughout the 19C. Within the second complex, the walker can distinguish three types of buildings at first glance: the stables in the strict sense, the stable-barracks, and the riding schools. The Grand Quartier de cavalerie de Vendôme, there remain enough beautiful elements for one to be ardently concerned about its protection and its reuse since the Army returned it to the city of Vendôme administration.
The city of Vendôme on the Quartier Rochambeau: https://www.vendome.eu/dynamique/patrimoine/le-quartier-rochambeau/
The Musée de Vendôme –Centre d’interprétation de l’architecture et du patrimoine or Vendôme Museum – Architecture and Heritage Interpretation Center of which its permanent collections are presented in part of the buildings of the former Trinity Abbey. While waiting for the opening of the next building announced for 2026. On three floors, the rooms with varied collections are accessible by a superb 17C stone staircase which led to the monks’s dormitory. Religious art, popular arts and traditions, furniture, paintings, ceramics, sculptures punctuate the visit. An Interpretation Center for Architecture and Heritage located on the ground floor allows you to understand the heritage evolution of the city of Vendôme. Three rooms on the ground floor allow you to exhibit the major phases of the city’s evolution. In the central room, thanks to touch screens, the different stages of urbanization of Vendôme are revealed and the remarkable monuments are located. An iconographic database brings together the documents preserved in the heritage collections. These precious documents not on permanent display can be examined, enlarged, compared by the visitor. Two 3D reconstructions allow you to appreciate the Saint-Martin church, now destroyed, and the Abbey of the Trinity (see post) at different periods. Games complete the equipment. These virtual views of Vendôme are associated with works from monuments, some of which have disappeared.
The collections restore Vendôme and its surroundings, both in the geological and ancheological field. Ancient professions, sometimes disappeared, are mentioned in the ethnology room from tools: tanners, ganniers, clogs. In the Fine Arts field, the museum keeps some remarkable pieces: Marie-Antoinette harp, table of the Babeuf gracchus trial. Pictorial works: decorations painted by or after Nicolas Prévost from the Château de Richelieu, painting by Willem Van Aelst: Dead nature dated and signed by 1663, painting of the school of van der Meulen representing Louis XIV, paintings by Georges-Antoine Rochegrosse. By unidentified painters of the 18C: portrait of Lady Charlotte, portrait of Marie-Thérèse de Saulx. The room dedicated to earthenware reveals important productions of Rouen and Nevers.
The ministry of culture of France (CNAP=Centre national des arts plastiques) on the museum: https://www.cnap.fr/annuaire/lieu/musee-de-vendome
The rue du Change, pretty shopping street is pedestrianized. The street owes its name to the Exchange office from the 14C, beginning on the corner of the Abbey gate. This belonged to the lords of the Châtelet de la Galoche de Sainte-Anne. The latter disappeared probably in the 16C but the street kept its name. The current central post office was set up in 1956 in the former department store “Les Nouvelles Galeries” built at the beginning of the 20C. The street today goes from Place Saint-Martin to the Pont Chartrain bridge. Before, it began from Rue de l’Abbaye, ran along the chevet of the Saint-Martin church and ended at Rue Notre-Dame. It was followed by Rue du Pont-Perrin and Rue Porte-Chartraine. On either side of the street, the houses belonged to many different fiefs: Saint-Martin, Chapeau-Rouge, des Perles, du Paradis… poetic names that in no way prevented the payment of rents and the existence of a quitrent. The presence of a mill at Pont-Perrin and a communal oven only increased the importance of money in these places. It became “Sans-Culottes” in 1793, then “des Hommes-Libres” in 1798, but returned to its age-old name.
The place de la République goes from the Rue Saint Bie passing the place Saint Martin and continues to Rue du Change, One interesting building is at no 8 house from the 16C, opens with a Renaissance portal with a frame decorated with sculpted pilasters with also sculpted capitals. At the top, a band decorated with arabesques with, on each side, sculpted heads. Above, a semi-circular pediment with decorative motif of angels or cupids holding a shield. The whole is topped with a garland or cornucopia. Fleurons crown the whole. The street is full of shops, restos a very central quant place for walks and daily life in the city.
The City of Vendôme on its heritage : https://www.vendome.eu/dynamique/patrimoine/
The Vendôme tourist office on its heritage : https://www.vendome-tourisme.fr/en/what-to-see-what-to-do/visits-and-patrimony/chateaux-and-other-jewels-to-visit/
The local Val de Loire dept 41 tourist office on Vendôme : https://www.val-de-loire-41.com/sit/visite-de-la-ville-de-vendome-pcu41aasor100210/
There you go folks, a dandy area to explore and enjoy with the family, Memorable moments in my belle France,going all over in my road warrior trails brings out sublime awesome spots with nice memorable family visits of yesteryear always remember and always looking forward to be back, eventually. Again hope you enjoy the post on curiosities of Vendôme, part III !!! as I.
And remember, happy travels, good health, and many cheers to all !!!
Paris1972-Versailles2003 