The best traffic-free bike rides around Grossœuvre

In the summer heat, the church offers a wonderful shady spot on the north side.

The parish, dedicated to Saint Germain, dates back to Merovingian times. Emma, daughter of Leutgarde and Thibaut-le-tricheur, having married William Ironarm, Count of Poitiers, founded the Abbey of Bourgueil, which she endowed with her Normandy possessions, inherited from her mother, widow of William Longsword. Coudres and Marcilly-la-campagne were included in this endowment. The two Marcillys had the same lords for a long time. Around 1060, Teudon, Lord of Marcilly, approved the gift of the land of Les Loges to the Abbey of Saint Père de Chartres by Robert des Loges. In 1107, Foulques de Marcilly, the second of the name, founded the Abbey of Breuil Benoit (near Marcilly-sur-Eure). By the Treaty made in 1194 between Philip Augustus and Richard the Lionheart, Marcilly was part of the King of France's estates, on the border with Normandy. We were ROYAL! In 1226, Fulk IV, Lord of Marcilly, gave the Monks of Saint Taurin an annuity on his mills in Marcilly. During the 15th-century invasion, the King of England granted Jean Yprès on August 27, 1419, all the lands that belonged to Fulk of Marcilly, "in default," that is, devoted to France. The coat of arms of the House of Marcilly was a chevron, but the color, as well as that of the background of the shield, are unknown. At the 1470 watch, Jehan Tailleman, Lord of Marcilly-la-campagne, appeared naked. Aged 90, he could not wear a harness, and his fiefdom was very small. It is discharged, on condition of providing a vougier. (13th century weapon, made of a sharp and asymmetrical blade fixed to the end of a handle)

Located in Eure, the church of Bretagnolles, dedicated to Notre-Dame, is a magnificent building made of rubble, with a rectangular plan of Romanesque origin. The whole was remodeled in the 13th, 15th, 16th and 17th centuries.

The Notre-Dame church, in Le Cormier, in Eure, in Normandy, is attached to the Pacy Vallée d'Eure parish, in the Eastern sector in the diocese of Evreux.

On the eastern edge of the Pays d'Ouche, between Breteuil-sur-Iton and Verneuil-sur-Avre, the village of Dame-Marie has been home to at least one building dedicated to the Virgin Mary since the 11th century. While certain elements such as the lower half of the south façade or the baptismal font are reminiscent of a 13th/14th century building, the building was almost completely rebuilt in the 16th century, after the ruins caused by the Hundred Years' War. The following were then created: raised stone buttresses, single or double-mullioned windows with flamboyant tracery pierced to the south of the nave, bays with banded arches and semicircular arches. Finally, the essential contribution was the addition of a seigneurial chapel of Saint-Sébastien to the north of the nave. After numerous alterations in 1955 and more recently, it now presents a general state of disrepair. The village of Dame-Marie merged in 2016 with those of Saint-Ouen d'Attez and Saint-Nicolas d'Attez, to form the commune of Sainte-Marie d'Attez, which has fewer than 600 inhabitants. Two of the three churches listed as Historic Monuments required major restoration work. The commune began with the emergency of the one in Saint-Ouen which was threatened with closure. It is now the one in Dame-Marie which requires major restoration. We are attached to our three churches, they bear witness to our past, help us to pass them on to future generations!

The building is oriented. The church is built according to an elongated plan with a semicircular apse chevet. There is a porch at the front of the nave and it adjoins another building. Access to the church is via a porch made of half-timbering. A wooden door is placed on the south side of this porch. The gable wall on which this porch is placed is devoid of decoration. The south drip wall is pierced with two small semicircular bays. The drip walls are decorated with a checkerboard frieze. The semicircular chevet to the east is slightly narrower and lower than the nave. It has three semicircular bays. Finally, on the ridge of the roof is placed on the west side a bell tower. This square-based bell tower is opened with a few louvered openings. Finally, a domed octagonal spire rises above the square base. The roof of the porch and the nave has two inclined planes. The chevet is covered with a hipped roof.

The Roman baths of Vieil-Évreux are the remains of a Roman bath complex in the ancient town of Gisacum. You can explore the archaeological site and admire the impressive architecture and engineering of the baths, which were built between the 2nd and 3rd centuries AD. You can also enjoy the botanical garden surrounding the ruins which features plants used by the Romans for medicinal, culinary and ornamental purposes. The site is open from April to November and entry is free.

If you are interested in ancient history and megalithic monuments, you can visit the Dolmen de la Pierre Courcoulée, a stone tomb dating from the Neolithic period. You can admire the impressive puddingstone slab that covers the dolmen, measuring more than 4 meters long and weighing about 10 tons. The slab rests on four pillars of the same material, forming a chamber which was probably used for funerary rituals. The dolmen is one of the oldest and best preserved in Normandy, it has been listed as a historical monument since 1889. The Pierre Courcoulée Dolmen is a privileged place to get some fresh air and discover the local heritage.