The best traffic-free bike rides in Bois De La Brandelle

Magnificent

Lovely place for a bike ride.

Flagy is an old fortified place. The village was built in the 12th century by order of Louis VII in 1130. On the edge of a royal domain, it is built according to a rectangular plan, as shown by the seven parallel streets leading to the river crossed by seven bridges or gateways. The course of the Orvanne has been diverted and developed to supply the village with water. The mill, built in the 13th century, still exists and is a good representation of the traditional regional architecture of the time. Besides the river, seven wells, one in each of the parallel streets, provided drinking water. There are still several of them, which were used until 1960. On Heritage Day, you can visit two underground entrances. A network of underground passages connected the food cellars which also served as refuges during invasions of the village by enemies. One can see in one of the underground passages some remains of ancient objects. A curiosity on the roof of the church, the weather vane has two symbols: a rooster, the usual symbol, and a pig's head, another symbol, a lasting memory of a local legend, transmitted orally. During the Hundred Years War, the terrible Black Death reached many villages in Île-de-France. Affected by the epidemic, the inhabitants of a neighboring village came to seek help in Flagy, where there was a hospital (Hôtel-Dieu). But the Flagiens energetically refused entry into the village to the sick. The poor people had to look elsewhere for a better welcome. It is said that the bishop, outraged by this attitude of refusal, this lack of compassion, inflicted a punishment on the Flagians. Since then a weather vane in the shape of a pig's head has been turning according to the winds on the roof of the church. Recently rediscovered in the "Favorite Village of the French" 2023, Flagy may not have won the crown, but remains a nice heritage to discover.

Many arms of the Lunain river, you can walk along it and see its many mills. Paley is a beautiful village, very well maintained.

Do not hesitate to leave the main road a little to make a small detour in the streets of this borough classified among the villages of character of Seine et Marne. The old houses line the streets organized in quadrilaterals around the church square, the old washhouse and a 12th century mill.

Very nice church along a very nice road. Very bucolic place with pretty medieval houses.

Just opposite, on the other side of the road, the castle of Paley, from a first fortress of the 12th century. Some vestiges of this primordial building still remain inside the courtyard. The main main building, destroyed under Charles VI, was subsequently rebuilt, to be finally extensively altered in the 19th century. The part visible from the road dates from the 18th century.

The notable characteristic of this 12th century church (in my humble opinion) resides in this inscription engraved on the frontispiece of the entry "The French people recognize the Supreme Being and the immortality of the soul". This inscription dates from 1794 at a time when the old religions were suppressed in favor of the cult of Reason (fall 1793-spring 1794) then the cult of the Supreme Being (spring 1794-summer 1794), and finally Theophilanthropy . In the spring of 1794, Robespierre and his colleagues from the Committee of Public Safety had the Hébertists successively arrested, then Danton and the Indulgents, measures followed by the condemnation and execution of the leaders of the two "factions". He then contributes to putting an end to the policy of dechristianization and makes vote, as rapporteur, the decree of 18 Floréal Year II, by which "the French people recognize the existence of the supreme being and the immortality of the soul. ". A very small number of churches throughout France have kept track of this period.