Today’s ride was 53.8 km long with 724 m of climbing from Rouen to Forges. Our ride began with a walk through the main High Street to see the famous clock.
The astronomic clock lies on a Renaissance arch that has spanned the street since 1527. The clock lies roughly equidistant between the Place du Vieux Marché and the cathedral. The Gros-Horloge itself dates back to the 16th century and its movement from 1389
photo by Justine
We rode together to make our way out of the city and hit our first climb. Coffee was in a little village called
Ry, a village everybody in France knows and associates with Yonville-l’Abbaye, the village Gustave Flaubert invented for his book “Madame Bovary”. The writer set his novel in a small village like this, not too far from the city of Rouen, with its beautiful church, its Renaissance porch and its local artisanal activities.
Our destination for today was Forges-les-Eaux’s. Its motto, “Ferro et Aqua”, is a direct reference to the history of the town; it means “The city of Iron and Water”.
As early as the Gallo-Roman period, forges were set up in this area due to the abundant wood supply in the surroundings, allowing to fuel the fire needed to manufacture iron. It used to be combined with coal that was ignited and allowed to burn. This trade lasted until the 16th century and had an impact on the quality of local waters. Nicolas de Moy, Governor of Gisors, discovered in 1573 the ferruginous and consequently fortifying character of Forges-les-Eaux’s waters. From then on, a relentless succession of sick people came to take the waters.
Our hotel the domain de Forges was quite lovely but its bistro dinner was unbelievably good and we were very happy ????
P.S. A very good day especially as we got in well before the rain started.