The best traffic-free bike rides around Brunelles

Nestled on hillsides painted with ochre, yellow, or pink sand, limestone, and lights, Mortagne-au-Perche is a must-see for anyone wanting to explore Le Perche. A favorite holiday resort of the Counts of Perche and their wives, Mortagne-au-Perche has managed to preserve its monuments and historical heritage. This medieval town brimming with character is recommended for exploring by bike or on foot.

Pretty little town with character!

Occupying mainly a hill dominated by a curious dome-shaped bell tower, the territory of Brunelles has a rich historical past, sometimes even bordering on the marvelous. If the very ancient occupation of the place is attested to in Bois-Jahan, the disappearance of the village of La Ferrière and its church of La Madeleine during the Hundred Years' War (14th-15th century), give the hamlet of Vieux Murs a legendary air... A fortified castle and a chapel below probably stood here. Furthermore, because the lords of Brunelles who were the vassals of the Rotrou, were required to guard the Saint-Jean castle, one of the towers of the Nogent castle still bears the name of the village today. Situated on a rocky peak, the Saint-Martin church is visible from afar. Built in the 15th century, most of it, including the spire, was unfortunately destroyed by fire, and only the stone choir with a semi-circular vault is original. The nave is lit on each side by three flamboyant-style windows, and in the choir you can admire the beautiful stone altarpiece that has recently been restored. You will also notice an oculus on the south face, found during the 1998 restoration campaign, and enriched with a recent stained glass window illustrating the Creation. Finally, visitors should not fail to stop by the relics of the young Alexander, tortured for refusing to renounce his faith in Christ, as were other saints called martyrs for this, from the Greek "witnesses". There are thus many relics in our churches: they can be found at the first origin of basilicas, often built on ancient funerary areas on the outskirts of ancient cities. The relics of the saints are to be considered as the very humble signs of what their bodies were, the evocation of their human condition: it is with their bodies that the saints acted, thought, prayed, worked, suffered and experienced death. The monastery of the Val d’Arcisses was the first foundation of the monk Bernard d’Abbeville, later called Bernard de Thiron, because the monks of St.-Denis de Nogent-le-Rotrou would not let him do it! Bernard had to settle nearby, in the parish of Gardais, under the protection of the bishop of Chartres, Saint Yves and de Rotrou, Count of Perche. He had been established in a manor located between Brunelles and Ozée. The Notre-Dame-du-Val-d’Arcisses abbey welcomed Benedictine nuns during the 17th and 18th centuries. Destroyed during the Revolution, all that remains is the gatehouse, a beautiful arch embedded in a façade. One of the monks' major works was to dig the Arcisses canal, a diversion from the Cloche: it irrigated the abbey's lands and supplied the fountain which flowed near the Notre-Dame church in Nogent-le-Rotrou.

Church built in the 12th and 16th centuries. Listed apse from the 12th century. 4-storey bell tower. Corner buttress bell with staircase turret. Renaissance portal. Large Gothic window above the portal. 16th century roof and nave. Stone statue of a bishop, 16th century paintings.

Always straight ahead. Slightly downhill, through the shady forest.

The Huisne is a river in central France, flowing in the regions of Normandy, Centre-Val de Loire and Pays de la Loire. It rises in the municipality of La Perrière, in the Perche Regional Nature Park, initially drains to the northeast, later to the southeast, finally turns to the southwest near Condé-sur-Huisne and, after around 165[2] kilometres, flows into the Sarthe in Le Mans as a left tributary.

Very beautiful start to the route with an arrival at this magnificent mill

In the heart of Perche, Bellême, a medieval village, is full of charm. Its location, on a hill, and its proximity to the forest that bears its name, make it a village integrated into the landscape. This of course reinforces its fine reputation.