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Beautiful trails along the Loire

Greenway along the Loire. Rolling track with tarmac, dirt, or white gravel covering depending on the section. Allows you to be away from traffic with little shared road.

A beautiful design - impressive and a great view!

Located between Orléans and Chambord, in the Valley of the Kings, the Notre-Dame de Cléry Basilica has stood in the heart of the town of Cléry-Saint-André since the 15th century. After several constructions and demolitions, the current Basilica in flamboyant Gothic style was built during the 15th century, under Charles VII and Louis XI. The latter chose it as the place of his final rest. In 1280, the discovery of a statue of the Virgin was the beginning of what would become the Basilica of Cléry Saint-André. In a small chapel where the statue is installed, pilgrims flock to pray before the Virgin of Cléry, invested with miraculous powers. In 1302, Simon de Melun, Lord of the Hall in Cléry, founded a chapter of canons and at the same time, the collegiate church of Cléry. A few years later, Philippe Le Bel undertook the construction of a larger church. It was Philippe VI of Valois who laid the first stone of the building in 1339 while the pilgrimage grew. In the midst of the Hundred Years' War, the English ravaged the collegiate church, leaving only the bell tower as the only vestige. Dunois, Lord of Beaugency, initiated the reconstruction of the collegiate church in 1444. This reconstruction is the fruit of the desire of the kings of France to honor the statue of the Virgin Mary. From 1459, Louis Since 1894, it has had the title of Basilica. Raised on a Latin cross plan, the exterior is punctuated by a series of buttresses, flying buttresses and high windows whose regularity is only disturbed by the original bell tower and a few chapels. Even today, the Basilica welcomes many pilgrims who come to pay their respects to the famous statue. During your visit, discover the film “Basilica” broadcast continuously in the old sacristy. It reveals the inaccessible places of the building but above all, the great beauty of its architecture and the emotion it provides. All year round: guided tour for groups by reservation only.

Quick discovery of the city of Orleans

The Moulin de Lignerolles is one of the last pivotal windmills in the Loiret department. Built in 1848, this wooden mill belonged to Louis-Joseph Soulas, famous painter and director of the Orléans School of Fine Arts. You can admire the restored mill and its ingenious mechanism, as well as the panoramic view of the plain. The mill is open to the public on Sundays from 2:30 p.m. to 6 p.m., and also hosts various events throughout the year, such as a flea market, concerts and exhibitions. Visiting the Moulin de Lignerolles is an excellent way to discover the heritage and charm of the Beauceron countryside.

Magnificent bridge, the latest in the city of Orléans.

The Saint André church (13th-15th-16th centuries) In the 7th century, the Benedictine abbey of Bonneval created a priory-curate. Its existence is confirmed by a bull from Pope Gregory second half of the 16th century. In 1793 the church was desecrated and transformed into wine and spirits warehouses. In 1801, the church was returned to worship and changed diocese: from the diocese of Chartres, to which it belonged before the Revolution, it passed to the diocese of Orléans, notably for reasons of distance: Chartres is 48 km from Patay then that Orléans is only 27 km away. The church is 30 m long and 17 m wide. The oldest parts are located near the large porch (13th century). One of the pillars of the nave is decorated with a vestige of Danse Macabre from the mid-15th century. A small masonry door on the right communicated with the old priory, of which ruins remain to the south of the church. The choir dates from the 14th century; the apse wall was decorated with paintings at the end of the 19th century, the chapels were then redeveloped and equipped with new stained glass windows. The keystones of the large nave were made from casts taken from the figurines which adorn the Thesis Room of the University of Orléans, built in 1411. The bell tower, located to the north of the choir, would be an old watchtower. Its pinnacles and eight openings were made after the Wars of Religion. The four bells were melted in 1868. The largest was cracked by a Prussian shell in 1870 and was recast in 1871. Since that year, Ernestine (809 kg, 1 m 12 in diameter at the base, sounding the F), Gabrielle (550 kg, 0.981 m in diameter, sounding the ground), Anne (398 kg, 0.573 m in diameter) and Marie (222 kg, 0.724 m in diameter, sounding the C) give rhythm to the daily life of the small town of Patay, old Beauceron railway junction. On August 15, 1944, an ammunition train was blown up at Patay station. The station was blown up, except for the carriage shed, and all the windows in the town were shattered. Luckily, a providential storm limited the damage. The only two stained glass windows that survived the explosion are those on the right side aisle which date from 1930 and relate the communion of Joan of Arc in the Patay church in 1429. The church was listed as a Historic Monument in 1925 by decree of October 6, 1925.