Chartres / Illiers-Combray

Leave Chartres to head for Illiers-Combray, riding along small roads through wide fields, following in the footsteps of famed author Marcel Proust and his landmark novel, In Search of Lost Time. This writer was greatly inspired by the little town of Illiers-Combray, re-christened Combray in his fiction, which evokes the church, the Pré Catelan Garden and the Maison de Tante Léonie, named after a character, but in fact his real aunt and uncle’s house, now a museum that plunges you back into a fitting Belle Epoque atmosphere.

🚲 Stage description and details:

Leave Chartres via the cycle path along the Eure River, riding up to Barjouville, then follow further cycle paths to Fontenay-sur-Eure. After that, you ride along small country roads leading to Illiers-Combray. You get to sample the typical arable farming atmosphere of the Beauce Plain, marked from April to June by blocks of green and yellow as the rapeseed crop comes into flower.

⭐ Don’t miss:

• The many unmissable sites around the town of Chartres: its medieval lower town; the illuminated buildings, after nightfall, of Chartres en Lumières; a tour of the world-famous cathedral and its towers; the Centre International du Vitrail, on stained glass; and the art naïf Maison Picassiette... Find further information on Chartres under the stage Maintenon - Chartres.
• A danse macabre, a representation of the dance of death, a popular theme in late-medieval times, depicted on the walls of the church of Meslay-le-Grenet, one of the best-preserved examples in France.
• The Musée Marcel Proust or Maison de tante Léonie in Illiers-Combray, recreating the setting in which the writer, as a boy, spent family holidays and which featured large at the start of his literary masterpiece.
• Illiers-Combray Church and its painted wooden ceiling, typical of the wider Perche area.
• The Jardin du Pré Catelan was designed by Marcel Proust’s uncle along the lines of an English-style garden. You can visit it freely, but note that you cannot take your bike into the grounds. 

🍴 Food and drink en route:

• Chartres:
  • Rue de la Pie, the street with the greatest array of stores selling local produce with which to put together a splendid picnic.
  • The Saturday morning market on Place Billard, ideal for buying provisions from local producers while enjoying their unfailing sense of humour!
  • Chartres’s guinguette (a waterside, outdoor restaurant), La Petite Venise, to enjoy a glass of wine and a platter of local produce beside the Eure River.
• Luisant: for the guinguette, O’Lac, beside its lake
• Fontenay sur Eure: for its boulangerie and a pleasant waterside area dedicated to cyclists behind the church, making for a nice pause
• Illiers-Combray: a good number of stores, plus a market on Friday mornings on Place Maunoury

💡 Bring up Accueil Velo accredited restaurants by clicking on the 🍴 icon on the map. De-select "only show accueil velo accredited services" to view further possibilities.

🔧 Repair Service:

Consult the list of all the bike repairers along or near the route. 

🚆 Train stations nearby:

• Gare de Chartres
• Gare d'Illiers-Combray

💡 Also see our section on reaching the veloscenic cycle route, including conditions for taking a bicycle on board trains.