The Epte Valley: From Giverny to Gisors via Saint Clair sur Epte

Giverny:Village known throughout the world for its Claude Monet museum (10 a.m. -12 a.m./2 p.m.- 6 p.m. except Mondays, Apr-Oct. Gardens and studio 10 a.m. -6 p.m. 02.32.51.28.21) . The great Impressionist artist settled in this former manor house in 1883 and lived there until 1926, having attracted whole colonies of artists to the Vexin. The vivid green shutters chosen by Monet hang the length of the pink roughcast façade. The bright yellow dining room is decorated with one of the finest collections of Japanese engravings. The Nymphéas studio houses many reproductions of the artist's works. The gardens, which have been replanted as they were, exude a charm that is to be found nowhere else... An underground passage leads to the water garden, with its exotic plants.
The Church of Saint Radegonde (12th century): Monet's tomb is in the churchyard .
The American museum (10 a.m. -6 p.m. Apr-Oct. except Mondays 02.32.51.94.65) was founded in 1992 and exhibits the works of American artists who joined the Impressionist movement in three main groups: 1) Giverny landscapes painted by Americans (late 19th century); 2) Personalities of the 1900-1920 period; 3) Canvasses of Paris, Brittany and other holiday resorts favoured by American artists early in the 20th century.
The Baudy museum (10 a.m.-6 p.m. 28/05-31/10 every day, 02.32.21.10.03) Birthplace of modern American art; art gallery and creative centre for pictorial artists.

Gasny: It is here, they say, that Saint Nicaise and his companions Saint Quirin and Saint Scuvicule, who were given the task of evangelizing the Vexin by Saint Denis, were buried at the end of the 1st century. The local druids did not appreciate their activities, so the three companions were decapitated next to Ecos .Legend has it that they walked back to Gasny carrying their heads in their hands. Church of Saint Martin (13th - 14th century): Statues of the companions of Saint Nicaise and Saint Martin, a canvass by Mignard and a Saint Roch.

Fourges: Renowned water mill converted into an inn on a widened stretch of the Epte. Church of Saint Peter (12th century) with its gargoyles.

Bray-et-Lû: Where you are staying - Remains of a fort (11th century).

Saint Rémy: Cistercian abbey - L'Abbaye cistercienne du Trésor (13th century).

Dampsmesnil: Church of Saint Peter & Saint Paul, with its walls set out in fishbone pattern; bas relief depicting crucifixion of Christ, Saint Peter and Saint Paul Near Aveny : 6000 year old megalithic monument (the oldest monument in the Vexin area). To get there, take the D172 to Aveny for 1.5 km and look out for a path (there are always a few cars parked); go 400 m into the wood following the "AC" signs with red arrows.

Aveny: Opposite a marvellous stone bridge crossing the the Epte, a "Château-restaurant" with fine railings surmounted by heraldic arms representing two hunting hounds (15th century).

Château sur Epte: Imposing dungeon remains, one of the ruins of the first motte castle built by William Rufus (son of William the Conqueror), which was a link in the chain of defence built by the Norman kings of England against the kings of France. Left more or less to abandon, this dungeon and the mantlet walls give one an idea of the fortlet in the ducal period.

Take the N14 towards Cergy-Pontoise, and you are on the ancient Roman road between Paris and Rouen.

Saint Clair sur Epte: Birthplace of Normandy under the treaty signed in 911 between Charles le Simple, King Of France, and Rollon . Further ahead, at the junction near Gisors, there is a mosaic dedicated to "our ancestors from the grateful Normans" and is Normandy's birth certificate. The church (9th-16th century) in the flamboyant Gothic style, houses 13th century statues and a 16th century Entombment of Christ with very fine stained glass windows. The Hermitage of Saint Clair and its miraculous fountain. Martyred in 884, Saint Clair gave his name to the "commune."

Dangu: Castle (18th Century), with highly renowned stables where very famous race horses have been born, including "Gladiateur." The winner of the Paris Grand Prix and the Epsom Derby is buried in the grounds of this castle, which originally was the first fortlet built by Rollon as a look-out over the Epte Vally and the Gisors plain. Located in Montre-Tout near Saint Cloud, Louis XV visited Madame de Pompadour there before their marriage. Marquis Pozzo di Borgo became the owner and dismantled it brick by brick to rebuild it on the Dangu heights. This Italian patron also contributed to the restoration of the church of Saint John the Baptist including its Renaissance porch, with its arches on Doric columns and Romanesque tiles. In the funeral chapel there are twelve recesses housing the apostles. To the left of the church, there are fine wooden houses.

Courcelles-les-Gisors: Imposing oval dungeon (the only one in the area) at the foot of which took place the famous battle of 1198 between Philip Augustus and Richard the Lionheart, who defeated him. There is a church (12th - 16th Century) which was originally a Templar chapel to the Castle, with numerous Templar symbols.

Gisors: Splendid feudal fortress built on a spur bordering the Epte with its imposing dungeon with 100 steps located on a motte overseeing the city, where the red and gold standard featuring the leopards of the dukes of Normandy flies aloft; it is an infallible landmark, whether one is approching from Rouen ,Paris or Beauvais. Built by William Rufus in 1097, the dungeon was surrounded by a circular mantlet wall. In 1125 Henry 1st, his brother, surrounded it by an enclosure wall flanked by towers.
For 50 years Gisors was fought over by the Kings of England and the dukes of Normandy until the Capetian era; the castle became the definitive property of the kings of France in 1196. Richard the Lionheart settled at Castle Gaillard in Les Andelys. Philip Augustus strengthened the enclosure wall and had a tower built, "The Prisoner's Tower," which became a new dungeon. During the Hundred Years War, more work was carried out around 1375, such as that on the dungeon's turret stairway for example .
Today, there is a pretty garden inside where once were the royal residences; towards the dungeon motte, on the right, stand the remains of the chapel of Saint Thomas Becket, the archbishop of Canterbury, murdered by Henri II Plantagenet, who offered up this chapel to him as a sign of repentance. At the southeast corner of the enclosure wall is the fortified "Governor's" door with a large rib vault hall. This castle is the source of many legends, including that of the prisoner in the tower who is said to have written a lot of graffiti on the walls of his prison, the tenor of which is still unknown today, the most serious lead being that the author was Nicolas Poulain, Queen Blanche's lover; thus, the Templars and their fabulous treasure buried beneath the dungeon thus attracted the most eccentric of treasure hunters...
The church of Saint Gervais & Saint Protais (13th - 16th century) The church was built during the reign of Blanche of Castile, with four enormous gothic columns of the transept square which was to contain the centre tower; the choir was to be finished a century later. War slowed construction and it was only during the Renaissance that most progress was made; the portal, a genuine triumphal arch, then the nave, supported by openwork flying buttresses, the Northern tower with the large statues of Christ and the apostles, then the larger one off-centre in the South (which was never completed). The church suffered a great deal of damage during the Second World War. Inside, among the many works of art, we note a depiction of the church in the eye of its creator, as well as a recumbent statue set in a wall. The overall architecture of the church is best admired facing south from the top of the 100 steps of the castle dungeon.