Trip Report - Biking The Marne River
May 2, 2010 0:05:16 GMT
Post by frenchmystiquetour on May 2, 2010 0:05:16 GMT
If you're the kind of person who enjoys biking but just wishes there wasn't all that strenuous and annoying exercise involved then I've got a great bike ride for you. It's completely flat and includes pleasant scenery, modest to minimal pedestrian and bike traffic (except maybe on week-ends), smooth paved surfaces, little shared road time with autos and just a touch of history. Saint-Maur-des-Fosses lies just southeast of Paris and makes a great starting point for anyone seeking an easy, tranquil and scenic bike ride along the banks of The Marne river as far as Noisiel. If anyone wants to know the possible ways to get here by bike from Paris just drop me a line. If you want to do it the easy way just take your bike on the RER line A and get off at Saint-Maur-Creteil. If you bike at a light to modest pace without stopping, the entire ride (one way) should take about 1-1/2 hours+-, depending on your pace. Of course most people stop and rest but this should give you an idea of the effort involved to get to Noisiel and back. Exiting the RER station (through the doors that lead to the bus stop) turn right and then go left on the major road right in front of you. After a few hundred meters you will see the river. Before you cross the bridge over the Marne (Pont de Creteil) take a left and start following the river. From this point to about 1-1/2 kilometers from here there is a bike lane in the road but traffic is very light. This is the most drab part of the ride as to your right you are confronted with industrial use on the opposite bank of the river. Once you reach the RER bridge crossing the river the scenery instantly improves and there is a paved bikeway on the sidewalk and out of traffic. Be informed that on weekends in Saint-Maur you will be sharing this space with a lot of pedestrians. Now that I've given you the introduction and gotten you to the point where the scenery begins let's start with the pictures.
The above photos give you a pretty good idea of what your trip through Saint-Maur will offer in terms of scenery. Now let's move on to a bit of the historical side of Saint-Maur. The oldest section of Saint-Maur is known as Le Vieux Saint-Maur. You will see signs on your left just before you leave Saint-Maur and enter Joinville. When you see the second sign for Le Vieux Saint-Maur take a left onto Rue de l'Abbaye. About 75 meters ahead on your left you will arrive at (naturally enough) the abbey, or what's left of it in the form of a pleasant little park with a few ruins. The abbey of Saint-Maur was founded in 639 by the queen Nanthilde, making it one of the oldest abbeys in France. Here's a few photos.
The abbey was sacked and rebuilt several times throughout its history before it was ordered to be demolished sometime shortly after 1750. My favorite feature in the abbey grounds has no sign pointing to its location and nothing to even hint at its existence but if you head towards the rear of the park in the far rear right corner and high up on the hill sits a piece of pre-historic history in the form of a menhir (or a standing stone in laymans terms). It looks fenced off but there are trails around any fencing. For those unfamiliar with menhirs, they are large slabs of stone set in the ground in an erect position. They were built in the neolithic period (roughly 4,500BC to 1,500BC) and are assumed to have had some sort of ceremonial significance. There is no widely accepted achaeological theory as to their precise purpose but there are several theories. The menhir has been removed from its original position due to vandalism but this has done nothing to prevent the vandals from continuing to scribble away on this once revered stone.
What amazes me about this menhir is that it survived, as a pagan monument, in the midst of the most christian of places for centuries. There must have been some pretty deeply rooted legends among the locals that prevented its removal by the monks of the abbey. No doubt at some point it was likely christianized and the original pagan legends were adapted to christianity. The earliest christian churches were usually built right on top of previously utilized pagan sacred space as a way of sanctifying the grounds without alienating local tradition by keeping intact its ceremonial function. I'm a huge fan of megaliths and archaeology but I'll save that for another post, maybe Brittany. Anyway, when you leave the abbey turn left and go up the hill a few more meters and this puts you in the square/place of Le Vieux Saint-Maur, a quaint little place. You'll notice the medieval church, dated to the 13th century but likely originally built prior to the 10th or 11th century. A hodge podge of romanesque, early gothic and modern renovation in style.
Inside the church is another little piece of history. There are some great story boards inside the church detailing its history as well as the history of several saints, including the history of Saint Nicholas, the saint from which the church derives its name (Eglise Saint Nicolas). I now know why Saint Nicholas (Saint Nick) is associated with children. The legend is (in brief) that once upon a time there was a nasty local butcher who, upon running low on meat provisions, decided the local children would be an appropriate substitute (and you thought substituting Splenda for sugar was a tasteless alternative). He lured three little boys into his store and cut them up. Saint Nicholas appeared and saying the magic words (?abra cadabra?) reassembled the children. No long post-op rehabilitation needed here, just a few simple words and the children went merrily on their way. But that's not all this church has to offer. In the back right corner of the church is a wooden sculpture of The Virgin Mary in polychrome paint. Now there are signs in the church and in the abbey grounds that give conflicting verions of how this statue came to be but I'll give you the short version where both stories intersect. The statue was either carved in 1069AD (church story) or at the end of the 12th century (abbey story). Apparently the sculptor was working on the statue when he was either A) called by his master (church story) or B) heard voices calling him outside (abbey story). In any case, upon his return the statue was miraculously completed. Thus the church became an important stopover on the pilgrimage trail to Santiago de Compostela, reaching its high point at the end of the 13th century. Large annual pilgrimages from Paris continued for centuries up until the revolution.
Adjacent to the church is a prominent brick building that was featured in the Jacques Tati film Mon Oncle, however, the facade was redecorated in the film so you wouldn't notice it if you were watching the film.
And just across from the church is a small park with these statues made in homage to the film.
The above photos give you a pretty good idea of what your trip through Saint-Maur will offer in terms of scenery. Now let's move on to a bit of the historical side of Saint-Maur. The oldest section of Saint-Maur is known as Le Vieux Saint-Maur. You will see signs on your left just before you leave Saint-Maur and enter Joinville. When you see the second sign for Le Vieux Saint-Maur take a left onto Rue de l'Abbaye. About 75 meters ahead on your left you will arrive at (naturally enough) the abbey, or what's left of it in the form of a pleasant little park with a few ruins. The abbey of Saint-Maur was founded in 639 by the queen Nanthilde, making it one of the oldest abbeys in France. Here's a few photos.
The abbey was sacked and rebuilt several times throughout its history before it was ordered to be demolished sometime shortly after 1750. My favorite feature in the abbey grounds has no sign pointing to its location and nothing to even hint at its existence but if you head towards the rear of the park in the far rear right corner and high up on the hill sits a piece of pre-historic history in the form of a menhir (or a standing stone in laymans terms). It looks fenced off but there are trails around any fencing. For those unfamiliar with menhirs, they are large slabs of stone set in the ground in an erect position. They were built in the neolithic period (roughly 4,500BC to 1,500BC) and are assumed to have had some sort of ceremonial significance. There is no widely accepted achaeological theory as to their precise purpose but there are several theories. The menhir has been removed from its original position due to vandalism but this has done nothing to prevent the vandals from continuing to scribble away on this once revered stone.
What amazes me about this menhir is that it survived, as a pagan monument, in the midst of the most christian of places for centuries. There must have been some pretty deeply rooted legends among the locals that prevented its removal by the monks of the abbey. No doubt at some point it was likely christianized and the original pagan legends were adapted to christianity. The earliest christian churches were usually built right on top of previously utilized pagan sacred space as a way of sanctifying the grounds without alienating local tradition by keeping intact its ceremonial function. I'm a huge fan of megaliths and archaeology but I'll save that for another post, maybe Brittany. Anyway, when you leave the abbey turn left and go up the hill a few more meters and this puts you in the square/place of Le Vieux Saint-Maur, a quaint little place. You'll notice the medieval church, dated to the 13th century but likely originally built prior to the 10th or 11th century. A hodge podge of romanesque, early gothic and modern renovation in style.
Inside the church is another little piece of history. There are some great story boards inside the church detailing its history as well as the history of several saints, including the history of Saint Nicholas, the saint from which the church derives its name (Eglise Saint Nicolas). I now know why Saint Nicholas (Saint Nick) is associated with children. The legend is (in brief) that once upon a time there was a nasty local butcher who, upon running low on meat provisions, decided the local children would be an appropriate substitute (and you thought substituting Splenda for sugar was a tasteless alternative). He lured three little boys into his store and cut them up. Saint Nicholas appeared and saying the magic words (?abra cadabra?) reassembled the children. No long post-op rehabilitation needed here, just a few simple words and the children went merrily on their way. But that's not all this church has to offer. In the back right corner of the church is a wooden sculpture of The Virgin Mary in polychrome paint. Now there are signs in the church and in the abbey grounds that give conflicting verions of how this statue came to be but I'll give you the short version where both stories intersect. The statue was either carved in 1069AD (church story) or at the end of the 12th century (abbey story). Apparently the sculptor was working on the statue when he was either A) called by his master (church story) or B) heard voices calling him outside (abbey story). In any case, upon his return the statue was miraculously completed. Thus the church became an important stopover on the pilgrimage trail to Santiago de Compostela, reaching its high point at the end of the 13th century. Large annual pilgrimages from Paris continued for centuries up until the revolution.
Adjacent to the church is a prominent brick building that was featured in the Jacques Tati film Mon Oncle, however, the facade was redecorated in the film so you wouldn't notice it if you were watching the film.
And just across from the church is a small park with these statues made in homage to the film.