A small rural town with a rich architectural heritage
Immortalized by the Impressionist Sisley in his canvas Le Sentier au bord de l’eau à Sahurs, le soir (on display in Rouen’s Musée des Beaux-Arts), Sahurs stands opposite La Bouille. A useful explanatory panel at Sahurs includes reference to Sisley’s work. The place offers many walks, by the river or through fields and forests. Sahurs’s varied heritage is remarkably grand and includes: the châteaux of Trémauville and Soquence, plus the latter’s grounds; the Ferme du Gruchet; Saint Sauveur Church; and Marbeuf Manor, with its Notre Dame de la Paix Chapel, where Anne of Austria, wife of King Louis XIII, came to pray for peace in France in 1637.
Custom route
Custom route
9 Rouen / La Bouille
Leaving the bell towers of Normandy’s capital behind, cranes take over the skyline, signalling Europe’s largest port for the exporting of cereals. Enormous cargo vessels, some almost 300m in length, load up here. Gradually, heading west, the atmosphere changes, as typical Norman villages with old sandstone and timber-frame houses follow. You arrive in the heart of the Parc Naturel Régional des Boucles de la Seine Normande, where the relaxing feel is added to by the slow coming and going of vessels. Before boarding the ferry across the Seine to reach La Bouille, stop to see the gardens at the Château de Soquence, with a beautiful viewpoint over the river. On the other bank, you can spot the Château de Robert le Diable, historic guardian of this Seine meander. La Bouille, birthplace of 19th-century writer Hector Malot, proved a source of inspiration for Impressionist painters and makes a lovely place to stop.