The best walks and hikes around Rivière

History in brief Antiquity: the site is strategically located on a promontory and has been inhabited for 3,000 years. It was not fortified until the end of the Roman Empire. Middle Ages: in 1154, the new King of England, Henry II Plantagenet, became ruler of an empire stretching from Scotland to the Pyrenees and made Chinon his continental capital. He had a large palace built next to the fortress, which has now disappeared. In 1189, abandoned by his sons, Richard the Lionheart and John Lackland, and fleeing from the King of France, he eventually died there. Philippe Auguste had the defensive Tour du Coudray built there after the siege of 1205. Renaissance: in 1454, the fortress became the main residence of Queen Marie d'Anjou, who lived there without her husband. She spent lavishly on decorating the house to her taste. From the 16th century onwards, the fortress was gradually abandoned and fell into disrepair. Despite the dangerous nature of the terrain, it became a public promenade in 1824 and was listed as a monument in 1840. The restoration of the estate began in 1854 thanks to the efforts of the writer Prosper Mérimée. Source: https://loirelovers.fr/en/visit-royal-fort-chinon/

The bronze statue stands on a high square base of Chauvigny stone and is decorated on the front and sides with bronze bas-reliefs. Rabelais, writer, humanist, doctor and clergyman, is depicted as a doctor wearing a beret and sitting in an armchair. The sides of the base are decorated with figures engraved in carved leather: Hippocrates, Galen and Rabelais performing an operation, Gargantua and Pantagruel. Source: https://pop.culture.gouv.fr/notice/palissy/IM37002204

There are beautiful graffiti everywhere in Chinon.

If you are nearby, you should stop by here

A detour here is worthwhile

There are very beautiful houses here.

The cave houses in question were carved into sandy limestone, which was probably deposited in the Cretaceous period. You can see from the layered structures that they were shallow sea or coastal deposits.

Seen from the outside, this little church doesn't look like much, and you have to go through the front door to discover this hidden gem. Its walls, entirely covered with decorations and motifs painted during several campaigns over the centuries, restore the original appearance of Romanesque churches with a state of conservation that is quite rare in France. The Notre-Dame de Rivière church was built between the 10th and 11th centuries. Legend has it that Saint Martin founded the early church on a site already devoted to prayer. Today, it has a choir, a crypt and recumbent figures dating from the 16th century, as well as remarkable exterior sculptures. But it is above all the 11th century frescoes, recently restored, which add to the historical richness of this building. Legend has it that Joan of Arc passed there, but this is not corroborated by any contemporary testimony, however Charles VII made a pilgrimage there.