You can see it through the gate … those ruins are what is left of the Saint-Clair-Sur-Epte Castle.
Here we are on the boundary between the two parts of the Vexin region: Norman and French Vexin!
The fight for power between the French kings and the dukes of Normandy went on for a long time.
Now we are in front of the castle gate … look at the skyline of the castle, it’s so romantic!
From the beginning the church of Château-sur-Epte was dedicated to Saint Martin – it didn’t change even when the Abbey of Saint Denis owned the land in the 12th century.
Even in the 3rd century B.C. first the Celts and then the Gauls were famous for making wine and beer and also for salting meat to preserve it.
This is the southernmost point of our ride, we are up on the high land.
I knew nothing about these legends. Odin was a powerful god, wasn’t he?
These cottages were built for the workers at the Saint-Clair paper mill.
It’s a regional nature park. It is an area that has a remarkable natural, man-made and architectural heritage ; one that is fragile and needs protection.
To start with, let’s go and see if the door to the right of the church is open, so we can go in near the priory to the buildings of the heritage orchard.
Let’s go round the Hermitage to the spring on the other side.