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Contres
201.5 km
Monday 8 March
Fifty kilometres outside Paris, Saint-Arnoult-en-Yvelines (with its 6,000 inhabitants) was once a major stagecoach stop. The town still boasts some beautiful 15th and 16th century houses and façades or the crypt in the Saint-Nicolas church that dates back to the 5th century. Head down to the Rémarde and you will arrive at the fountain dedicated to Saint-Arnoult, patron saint of children with weak constitutions and walkers, who was buried here in 535 and had the town named after him. Some of the many mills and laundry-houses that once lined the river’s banks are still standing, in particular Villeneuve Mill, the burial place of Louis Aragon and Elsa Triolet.
Saint-Arnoult is also famous for the A10 tollgate, which marks the entrance to the Île-de-France region. This is an old tradition here: in ancient Gaul, the Carnutes chose this site to charge travellers entering their lands.
Situated in the region of the Loire Valley chateaux and near to Beauval zoo, Contres (with a population of 3,500) is a town in the Sologne wine-making area. Contres boasts many assets and is a dynamic town, as demonstrated by the many businesses who set up here and the increasingly growing population. It has one of the fastest growing labour pools in the Loir-et-Cher thanks especially to its industrial zone where 2,000 people are employed by major French or European firms. Another distinguishing feature of Contres is its vast fabric of associations that promote social, cultural and sporting links. Contres was proud to receive the award of “leading sporting town in the Centre Region” in 2007. As such, it cultivates and encourages a wide range of sports by developing a broad array of infrastructures for its sportspersons to use.
A pleasant town to live in, Contres has a “3 flower” tourist classification and is constantly striving to improve its environmental quality.
