The best road cycling routes around Saint-Léger-En-Yvelines

Great outing 👍

No water in the pond when I was there but a beautiful meadow

Very hidden castle in the forest of Rambouillet

Wild... as long as the tourists aren't there.

Small town, small church and bells on Sunday 12:00...

At the edge of this road a pond which forms with the forest which surrounds it a protected natural area. Each year, during the thaw (roughly from February to April), a "toadstool" is installed on the road that runs along the pond. But what is a toaddrome exactly? So, it is not a place where one could indulge in clandestine bets on toad races, but a device intended to prevent these poor beasts from being crushed by cars in crossing the road to breed and lay their eggs in the pond on the other side of the road. Indeed, thousands of common toads, but also frogs and newts, begin their long prenuptial migrations around March each year. They go to the nearest pond or pond to breed. Once their duty is done, they leave the aquatic environment to return to their summering areas where they will spend most of their time feeding. In order to avoid a carnage of amphibians on the road, a tarpaulin is planted 600m on each side of the road to block their passage. In various places a hole has been made in which a bucket is buried. By looking for a passage all along the tarpaulin, the toad will inevitably end up at the bottom of a bucket. Every morning, volunteers come to collect toads and other frogs and drop them off on the other side of the road.

At the turn of this bend in the road, you can see this magnificent castle through the trees, especially in winter when the vegetation has thinned out. The Château de Neuville, located in the heart of a forest park in Gambais, was built in the 16th century by Joachim de Bellengreville, Grand Provost of the Hôtel du Roy in charge of security and the Court police under Henri IV. Its design is attributed to Jacques Androuet du Cerceau, a famous architect to whom we owe the Louvre gallery, the Pont Neuf and the Hôtel Carnavalet in Paris. The Henri III style building has undergone many transformations over time. During the 2nd World War it was occupied by the German and then American armies, and gradually abandoned. Since the 1960s and 1970s, the family that owns the place, a descendant of the Marquis de Labriffe who acquired the château in 1795, has embarked on a long and costly restoration program which is still continuing today. To finance this work, the estate is regularly rented for film and television shoots, which is why its silhouette may seem familiar to you. Among the films shot in these places: La vie de château (JP Rappeneau), Peau d'âne (Jacques Demy), Dangerous liaisons (Stephen Frears), Cyrano de Bergerac (JP Rappeneau), Ridicule (Patrice Leconte), but also two seasons of the TV show "The Best Pastry Chef".

Historical documents attest to the construction of the first fortifications from the year 996 on the hill known as "Montfortis". The city then became the stronghold of the Montfort family and Amaury I had the ramparts built, of which some vestiges can still be seen. At the end of the 13th century, the county of Montfort joined the Duchy of Brittany following the marriage of Yolande de Montfort with Arthur II of Brittany for an allegiance that would last two centuries. During the Hundred Years War (1337-1453), the fortified castle was destroyed by the English and all that remains of the latter are the ruins of the keep, now called Tour Anne de Bretagne, because it was built under his reign. It can be seen when arriving in the city, and climbing this road which bypasses it. Once you have reached the top of the hill, you can take the small dirt road which starts from the intersection with the road to St Léger in order to go through the park to the foot of the keep, if the few hundred meters in gravel do not don't scare you. At the foot of the keep, being 183 meters above sea level, you can contemplate the panoramic view of the town and its surroundings. It is therefore easy to understand why this mound was an ideal place to establish a fortified castle. It is a perfect place for a break after climbing.