Loches to Châtellerault is a rough road, with some short hills after La Haye Descartes.
PLACES OF INTEREST ON THE ROUTE
Tours.—A large manufacturing town on the Loire and the Cher; Cathedral Romanesque, thirteenth century, with coeval glass, latest work sixteenth century; the Archevêché, fourteenth, seventeenth, and eighteenth centuries; Tour de Guise, twelfth century; towers of the monastery of St. Martin; Tour de l’Horloge and Tour Charlemagne, both twelfth to thirteenth century; Churches of (1) St. Martin, built 1860 above the spot where his remains were discovered; (2) Notre Dame la Riche, fifteenth century; (3) Priory of St. Côme, remains of twelfth and fifteenth centuries; (4) Chapelle du Lycée, 1630; (5) St. Julien, 1225-1259; (6) Église des Jacobins, 1260, used for military purposes; (7) St. Laurent, ruined church of twelfth century; the Bibliothèque contains a Bible of Charlemagne.
Cormery.—A picturesque village with interesting Romanesque church and a ruined abbey by the River Indre.
Loches.—An exceedingly interesting and picturesque walled town; two gateways of fifteenth century; extensive citadel enclosing the unique twelfth-century Church of St. Ours, the donjon, with many remarkable prisons cut out of the rock, and the Château Royal, built in the fifteenth century.
Ligueil.—Village, with old houses and church from Romanesque to Flamboyant.
La Haye-Descartes.—A small town with old timber-framed houses, a restored Romanesque church, and a statue to Descartes.
Châtellerault.—Large town making the whole of the small-arms for the French army; Church of St. Jacques has a modern front, hiding the twelfth and fourteenth century building behind; bridge guarded by two large towers, built 1525 to 1609; battle of Tours fought at junction of the Clain and the Vienne, just south of Châtellerault (see map).
La Tricherie.—A picturesque village with a ruined castle and a church, both of the twelfth century.