Small towns of Character

The French tourism department has a recognition program called Petite Cite du Charactere, or small towns of character.  For Friday, our last day in Brissac, we decided to visit two nearby cities with this label.

The first one is Behuard, an pilgrimage site that goes back at least to the 5th century, located on an island in the Loire river.   The church is built on a large rock.  The site was reportedly a pre-Christian pilgrimage site in Gaulish times.  The current sanctuary was built at the orders of King Louis XI, who built it as a kind of ex-voto, in thanksgiving after a near drowning when his boat sank on the Loire river.  This was in the late 15th century.

Note the large rock on the right that the church is built on.

Located on an island, the town is subject to flooding, with a marker showing the level reached by floods in the last 100 years.  We spent some time walking around the island.

We then went to the nearby town of Savenniers, a small village with narrow streets, and a church from the 10th century.  The church appeared on the first list of French National Monuments.  We split a lunch in the cafe there.  Picturesque.

We enjoyed our visit to these towns, and plan to look for more small cities of character in future trips to France.

After that, we headed home and started packing, watering, and getting ready to leave Saturday morning.