1 day at Évreux

Normandy/2022

The former capital of the Aulerques Eburovices became the prefecture of the Eure. Evangelized in the 1st century by Saint Taurin, it became a major commercial crossroads, thanks to the Iton River which flows through it. It was then made a county by the Dukes of Normandy, turned to the cloth industry and prospered. For the visitor, today it's a town of reconstruction, the main pre-war districts having been destroyed by bombing. With a large surface area - Évreux is larger than its neighbors Rouen and Caen - it boasts many green spaces.

The town's heritage is concentrated between the town hall, in front of which stands a statue of General de Gaulle on the march, and the cathedral, to which is attached the Musée d'Évreux, housed in the former episcopal palace. This sumptuous complex of buildings houses the medieval and pictorial collections - including watches and Aubusson tapestries - of this fascinating museum of art, history and archaeology. Also worth a visit is the listed Place Saint-Taurin, as well as the church of the same name, which holds a rare piece of silverware, the châsse de Saint-Taurin. The walk around town is fairly short. From Place Clemenceau, where a market is held on Wednesdays and where the Rex once stood - the cinema's name is still inscribed on the facade of the Carrefour City store - shopping life is concentrated on Rue du Docteur-Oursel, then, by turning left, on Rue Chartraine, which becomes Rue de la Harpe. Apart from these two thoroughfares, most food shops are located in Place du Grand-Carrefour, near the town hall. At number 22 rue Chartraine was the Novelty, a cinema and concert hall. On October 13, 1966, Johnny Hallyday performed there. Opening the concert was a young artist, then still unknown in France, by the name of... Jimi Hendrix. The journalists present spoke of "deafening noise". One of them had this visionary comment: "It was a guitarist-singer with bushy hair, a bad cocktail of James Brown and Chuck Berry, who contorted himself for a good fifteen minutes on stage, sometimes playing the guitar with his teeth." The venue was replaced by a shopping mall, now closed. The must-see walk, even for a short stay, is along the banks of the Iton. The river splits into two branches that criss-cross the town. You start by following the river from the Tour de l'Horloge, then crossing the Rue de Grenoble. After a stop at a pleasant little bar, the Levrette Café, walk around the weeping willow and admire the city's main monuments: the cathedral, the former bishop's palace and the museum. If you join Rue de la Harpe and cross to the other bank of the Iton, you'll discover the Gallo-Roman rampart, the city's oldest vestige, but also a favorite spot for ducks, which have replaced the swans of yesteryear. If you're looking for greenery, there are several directions you can take: to the Bel-Ébat meadow or to the Saint-Michel district, on the heights where the American base was located in the post-war period.