Lavardin and Bouloire

 

Our journey today took us a little further north and on the way we bagged another BVoF  by the name of Lavardin.

It was a little difficult to navigate to.

Firstly, Google maps showed a closure on an approach road, so I made sure we approached from a different direction, only to discover the medieval bridge over the Loir was closed.

I'm still not sure if there are two road closures, (unlikely) or the Google maps one is incorrectly located ?

Anyway it was worth the effort to get there.

There are of course lots of pretty cottages, a church with 11 century frescos but unfortunately the church was closed up today, and the remains of a castle on the hill above the village.

I managed to park in the center of the village and a short walk takes you to the medieval bridge over Le Loir.

The Le Loir flows into La Loire but not directly. 

First it flows into the Sarthe north of Angers then the Sarthe after being joined by the Mayenne runs through Angers before inexplicably changing it's name to the Maine for a short distance before joining the Loire just south of Angers. 

France has a lot of rivers to keep me busy for a few years. 

Lavardin - Beautiful Village of France

Lavardin's medieval bridge over Le Loir, currently closed to traffic

Lavardin Castle withstood an attack by Richard The Lionheart in 1118 thanks to the tiered defenses of the castle. However the lords of the region were not in a position to fight back when they faced Henry IV. He destroyed the castle, along with those at Vendome and Montorie when his subjects refused to convert to Prodestantism.  

Lavardin cave houses

Lavardin church's 11th centuary fresco's we didn't get to see

So after a walk around, some photos and a walk up to the closed today castle, we set of for tonight's parkup in Bouloire, a few miles east of Le Man's.

It's another CCP , so we have electric hook up should we need it for the air con, which we don't, it's decidedly cooler now and last night went down to about 6c, so we're more likely to need the electric hook up for heating rather than cooling now.

Bouloire is quite a nice town with the essential chateau at the center and a very old looking church right next door.

It's not often you get them both in the same photo.

Tonights parkup in Bouloire

Village wash house not looking it's best ! 

Bouloire Chateau

Bouloire Church

. . . and both in the same shot !

The only downside is quite a busy road heading into Le Mans, but our parkup is far enough away to not be troubled by traffic noise.