A UNESCO priory, a town built on books, and the closest trip from the lake.
La Charité-sur-Loire sits on the Loire river, fifteen minutes from the lake — the closest town with anything substantial to see. The hook is a 900-year-old UNESCO priory and a centre full of bookshops and book trades. It's also the obvious pick if it's raining: the priory, the bookshops, and the cafés are all indoors.
What's there
A small medieval town on the east bank of the Loire, in the Nièvre département. It sits inside what's left of its medieval ramparts. Officially classified a Ville d'Art et d'Histoire (Town of Art and History) and labelled both Ville du Livre (Book Town) and Ville du Mot (City of Words).
Two things make it worth the trip.
The priory. Founded in 1059 as a Benedictine monastery affiliated to the great abbey of Cluny, the priory church of Notre-Dame is one of the finest surviving examples of Burgundian Romanesque architecture. By the 12th century it was one of the richest monasteries in France. It's listed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site as part of the Way of St James, the medieval pilgrim route to Santiago. The town's name comes from the charity — la charité — the monks showed to the pilgrims passing through.
The church was originally larger than what stands today; what survives is what came through a major fire in 1559 and centuries of decline. Two stories worth knowing. In 1429, Joan of Arc laid siege to La Charité and failed to take it — a defeat later held against her at her trial, on the logic that a soldier aided by God shouldn't lose. And in 1840 the surviving church was nearly demolished to make way for a new road, until the writer Prosper Mérimée, then an inspector of Historic Monuments, intervened and stopped it.
The books. The streets around the priory are full of bookshops, second-hand book dealers, calligraphers, illuminators and bookbinders — La Charité has been a designated book town for years and has the trades to prove it. The town hosts several book events through the year (a festival of words in June, an antique book and document fair in July, Book Night in August) and a book market on the third Sunday of every month from October through March.
You'll also notice quotes and song lyrics engraved into walls around the town as you walk — that's the Ville du Mot side of things.
If you're doing the Saturday market run
Saturday is market day. If you're heading over for fresh bread, produce, charcuterie or anything else for the cabin, this is when to go.
Park near the centre — it's well signposted from the bridge — and walk in. The market sets up in the streets around the centre. Allow an hour, two if you stop for coffee. Back at the lake before lunch.
If your partner wants a half day
Three or four hours fills easily — and most of it is undercover, so a wet morning is no obstacle.
Start at the Jardin des Bénédictins. A quiet garden by the priory with views of the church. Good place to take in the scale of the building before going inside.
Then the priory church. Go in, walk the nave, look up at the carved capitals. There's an exhibition near the entrance with models and drawings showing what the church used to look like before it was reduced in size — worth ten minutes to make sense of what you're seeing. The cloister is being converted into an arts centre.
Then the bookshops. Whether anyone in your party reads French or not, the bookshops are worth wandering through for the buildings alone. Most of the trade — illuminators, bookbinders, antiquarians — works in restored old townhouses; you can often see them through the windows.
Lunch in the centre. Several restaurants and cafés in the streets around the priory. Ask at the tourist office for current recommendations — places change hands and a recent local steer is more useful than a website list.
If you've got a full day
Add the ramparts, the river, and the forest.
Walk the ramparts. A signposted route runs around the base of the old town walls between the Perrinet Gressard Tower and the Cuffy Tower, and takes you up onto a section of wall with the best views over the town and the Loire.
Cross the bridge. The old Pont de Pierre crosses the Loire at the foot of the town. Walk halfway out and turn around — the view back at the town, with the priory above the rooftops, is the photo to take.
Walk along the Loire. On the far bank you can pick up a riverside path along the Île du Faubourg, an island in the Loire that became a town quarter of its own. Quiet, sandy, good for an hour's wander.
Drive east to the Forêt des Bertranges. A short drive east of town is a large oak forest with marked walking and cycling paths. Easy walks, plenty of shade, no crowds. Worth it if anyone in your group needs the air and the trees more than another building.
When to go
The town is open year-round; the priory and the bookshops don't stop for winter.
Saturday is market day — the busiest, most useful day if you want food and atmosphere.
The third Sunday of the month, October through March, is the book market — one for the bibliophile partners.
June, July and August carry the main book events: the festival of words in June, the antique book fair in July, Book Night in August. Worth checking the tourist office calendar before you go in summer.
Autumn is when the town looks its best — the priory and the river take the autumn light particularly well.
Practical bits
- Drive. Fifteen minutes from the lake. No useful public transport.
- Parking: signposted in and around the town centre.
- Cards or cash: most places take card; market stalls sometimes prefer cash.
- English: spoken in some places but less reliably than in tourist-heavy towns. A few words of French and a smile go a long way.
- Tourist office: in the centre, near the priory. They run guided tours of the priory on Friday afternoons in July and August.
Lac de Lumière is a private 5-acre carp lake in the Loire Valley, fifteen minutes from La Charité-sur-Loire. Take a look at the lake → or book a stay →
