The best traffic-free bike rides around Moncoutant

It is from Place de la Solidarité, near the village hall, and in the light of a sunny afternoon, that visitors can best admire Courlay's church, firmly anchored on a hilltop, built in the middle of the village. It is squat and austere, like a fortress, a half-Gothic, half-Romanesque building whose square bell tower dominates the surrounding houses. Crossing the square, created on the site of the former cemetery relocated in 1900 and now adorned with a beautiful fountain where water cascades over granite chirons, note: the square bell tower with two small bays on each side (11th and 12th centuries); to the east, the large wall of the church's apse; on the north facade, a small rectangular tower resting on the bell tower and housing the stone staircase providing access to the bells; on the south facade, the turret topped with a slate pinnacle, the modillions of the cornice, a small door at the top of a few steps, and the Romanesque portal or main gate.

The church was built in the late 15th and early 16th centuries. It was embellished in the 19th century in a flamboyant Gothic style and equipped with rich furnishings and stained glass windows.

As you probably know, in the year 732, the armies of Charles Martel repelled the Arab advance around Poitiers. A troop of routed Saracens then barricaded themselves in the old parish church of St Sauveur and promised to surrender only in the event of divine intervention. However, in this month of May, after nights of prayers by the villagers, a cold snap hit the Poitiers countryside to the point of covering the grove with an astonishing layer of frost. The Saracens saw the sign of Allah in this unexpected event and decided to leave the village without giving battle. This legend gave its name to the village and the church of the Holy Trinity became a place consecrated by the religious authorities of the region. The oldest parts of the building that stands today on the small village square date back to the 11th century, but the church had to undergo several restoration campaigns during the 19th century. It now appears to us as a fine example of a Romanesque church, simple, rustic and austere. Note the modern stained glass windows made in the 1990s by Louis-René Petit, an artist who also worked in Sénanque and St Benoît sur Loire. His compositions inspired by frost give the church an atmosphere in harmony with its legend.

nice climb

Woods/Forest. Very nice forest climb.

The Jardin des Abiès, which is a kind of conifer, is home to more than 70 varieties of this family of trees. Very nice walk, on well-maintained grounds.