The best traffic-free bike rides around Saint-Mars-D'Outillé

Watch for cars busy roads

The oven is the highest point of the sector

Small road going uphill steeply

Placed in a self-service distributor 7 days a week, 24 hours a day, if you have a craving for rillettes! Butcher, bakery and Spar right next door

Founded in 1229 by Bérengère de Navarre, widow of Richard the Lionheart, it constitutes one of the most beautiful Cistercian jewels in France. It was acquired by the Department of Sarthe in 1959. The Royal Abbey of Épau constitutes one of the finest examples of Cistercian architecture in France. In 1229, Bérengère de Navarre, widow of Richard the Lionheart, decided to found this abbey at the gates of Le Mans, where she was buried a year later. During the Revolution, the abbey, almost deserted by monks since the 18th century, was sold as national property to an industrialist. Then transformed into an agricultural operation, the abbey experienced many vicissitudes before its purchase by the Department of Sarthe in 1959. A vast restoration program, still in progress, is giving it a second wind, making the abbey one of the most important places cultural heritage of Sarthe. The abbey also hosts the sessions of the departmental assembly of which it has been the seat since the 1970s. Since July 1, 2016, its management has been entrusted to the Sarthe Cultural Center whose mission is to offer it a new dimension, in order to strengthen its cultural role in the region. Recently, the research of Father Michel Niaussat, a Cistercian monk writer, has shed light on the royal character of the building. L'Épau Abbey then became Royal Abbey of l'Épau in March 2017. Alongside this cultural and tourist growth, another flagship project which will guide the development of the abbey in the coming years: the transformation of the park into permacultural garden. It must then be remembered that times of prayer and work were equivalent in the Cistercian rule. This agricultural dimension is at the heart of the departmental project, the ultimate objective of which is to restore as faithfully as possible the original principles of the place. The abbey, which has preserved almost all of its buildings, is located at the gates of Le Mans. It is inserted in a 13 ha enclosed park delimited by a surrounding wall.

VISITS Free individual visits Individual guided tours Average duration of the individual visit: 1:30h Groups welcome from 10 people Free group visits Guided group tours Guided group tours on request Educational group visits Average duration of the group visit: 1:30h Point of interest visible without visit Languages available Spoken: French, English Panels: French, English Audio: English, French ACTIVITIES Specific thematic animation Workshop for adults Children's workshop Conferences Temporary exhibitions Sound and light

PRICES Individual price adult: €5.50 Individual price reduced: €4.00 Job seeker, student, RSA, person in disability situation, Cezam card, CE Individual price child: €3.00 10-17 years old Free: €0.00 Under 10 years old and accompanying person

Fort des Salles is one of the most little-known castles in Sarthe. Dating from the Middle Ages, it was probably built during the reign of Henry II Plantagenet. The castle, which is very rarely visited, is private and is under rehabilitation. Right next door, you will find a pretty little body of water and a municipal campsite.