2023 - La Loire à Vélo: Day 33: Sun 25 Jun

13-32 degC, bright sunshine all day today, with wind picking up in the afternoon

Walk: 14km; total: 248km

After breakfast with scrambled eggs and bacon and all the other usual stuff, we hit the streets of Nevers armed with our completely useless tourist map. Whilst we didn’t follow it religiously, we did see all there was to see on it, and more. Mornos was had near the Town Hall on a park bench under shady trees and lunch was at Maccas. We returned to our room for an afternoon rest, then went for another short stroll to gather dinner. The hottest part of the day over here is between 3-6pm and the sun only goes to bed after 9pm.

Buildings, places, and things we saw today, in no particular order:

Place de la République - a large green space in the city in front of the Palais Ducal.

Palais Ducal from the Place de la République side. A 15th century building that has seen counts, dukes, magistrates, local councilors and young married couples pass through it. It was a court of law for 130 years. Between 1983 and 1993, the Palais was converted into a place of cultural and municipal activity. The carvings on the centre turret are amazing given that it is all stone. It is now the Centre of Interpretation of Architecture and Heritage.

Saint Cyr - Saint Julitte Cathedral. Whilst we could go inside the cathedral today, it was only into about one third of it, the business end. The sun was in the right position today to cast light from the stained glass windows into the cathedral, and it was just beautiful. If it was not undergoing renovations, we could have climbed the 285 steps (52m high) for a 360 degree view of Nevers. It probably would have really done our legs in, so just as well we had to stay on the ground!

World War I & II Monument.

Saint Bernadette’s Sanctuary, open to believers and non-believers. It is a large structure with a hotel, restaurant, gardens and a chapel. Cyclists using the Loire often use the hotel as a place of rest. Had we known about it, we may have too.

Saint Pierre Church. It was closed, but apparently it contains frescoes on the ceiling forming an internal sky. They were created in the 17th century by Italian painters.

Porte de Paris. Built in the 18 century, it marks the northern entrance to the medieval town of Nevers. It looks like a mini Arc de Triomphe.

Ancient Church of St Genest. This was also closed, but looked really old from the outside.

Porte du Croux (Door of the Cross) and old town entrance. A defensive gate (14th century) on the walls, and was also used to collect excise duty charged on entering the town. It is one of four entrances to the city and protected the pottery district. Today it houses the precious stones of the Nevers Archaeological Museum.

Jewish Memorial. A memorial and tribute to the Jewish deportees of Nevers and the rest of France who died in Nazi prison camps. It lists the names of the different camps, and number of prisoners who died there. Quite sad really.