In the footsteps of Pascal

Parking is available in the car park next to the town hall and opposite the church.

(S/E) With the church on your right, walk up through the car park to the pavement running alongside the road, then, at the town hall, turn left between the barriers and take the Pont l’Évêque path, walking past the village hall. Follow this path, skirting the tennis courts on your left, then at the fork, head up the path on the right into the Bois de Gassard. Follow the^GR®26and, after a few twists and turns, negotiate a wide right-hand bend, then continue along the edge of the woods until you reach the D 208a road.

(1) Cross the D 208a road with care and continue left towards Pierrefitte-en-Auge. After about 50 m, at the wayside shrine, take the Chemin de la Croix Poulain on the right and head towards Les Pétions. Walk for about 300 m until, after a farm, you reach the Chemin du Lieu Satis on the left, where you will leave the^GR®26.

(2) Continue straight ahead towards Les Pétions, ignoring the first path on the right, until you reach La Cour Bloche. At the first fork, take the Chemin des Pétions on the right; at the second fork, turn right again, as the path opposite is blocked by a small embankment. Pass La Cour Neuve and continue to the road.

(3) Take the road on the left at number 449, pass Lieu Hauvel and reach Cour Leroy. Pass in front of “Le Pré Aux Coeurs” at number 1301, then at the bend, leave the road and continue straight ahead until you reach Bruyère aux Français.

(4) At the crossroads, turn right onto rural track no. 50, cross La Bruyère aux Français, keep to the right to join local track 158 and continue to the fork. Turn left onto Chemin de la Cabine, continue onto Chemin de la Forge Plichon and follow it for about 500 m down towards Les Épinettes.

(5) At the start of the left-hand bend, after the house on the left at no. 537, turn right and follow the sunken track northwards towards the village of Saint-Hymer. At the fork, after about 300 m, turn left, still heading north. About 250 m further on, ignore the Chemin de la Pierre Plate on the right and continue northwards. Continue for about 300 m until you reach La Chancellerie.

(6) Ignore the Chemin de la Chancellerie on the left at number 291 and continue straight ahead for about 300 m until you reach a path coming from the right. Turn sharply right onto this Chemin de la Bruyère and follow it for about 500 m to reach the Croix des Bruyères.

(7) Turn left onto Route du Torquesne heading due north, and keep to the left before turning left a few dozen metres further on. Follow Chemin de la Bataille straight ahead for about 600 m until you reach Pré d’Argences at the junction in the bend, at road number 550.

(8) Join the^GR®26, take the path opposite for a few metres, ignore the steep, steep-sided path that descends straight ahead, follow the path that turns right and then descends to the Route du Torquesne. At the road, turn left, head back towards the village of Saint-Hymer, walk past the Priory and reach the D 208a road. Turn right, walk past the cemetery on your right and use the pedestrian crossing to carefully cross the D 208a road and reach the car park (S/E).

Local and national history
In Saint-Hymer, local and broader history go hand in hand because, despite the peaceful nature of this green valley, its history is eventful.

Legend has it that Hugues de Montfort chose the site because of its resemblance to the Val Saint-Hymer (in Switzerland), where he stopped on his return from a pilgrimage to the Holy Land, and decided to found the priory of Saint-Hymer there.

The priory, whose buildings were remodelled in the 18th century and can still be admired today, was founded in 1066. In the 13th century, the monks decided to build a bell tower and asked the parishioners to raise the funds. Their request was refused, leading to conflict: a wall was then erected to divide the church in two, separating the monks from the parishioners, and the bell tower was never built.

In 1722, Abbé de la Roquette took charge of the priory, which was then in a state of serious disrepair. He had been educated at a Jansenist seminary; the Jansenists were a religious movement opposed to royal authority and the power of the Jesuits, and were therefore considered ‘heretical’. De la Roquette, in whose possession banned books were found in Saint-Hymer, was exiled several times and even imprisoned in the Bastille. Nevertheless, he pressed ahead with major restoration work on the church and buildings and commissioned the construction of the bell tower, a replica of the one at Port-Royal (Chevreuse Valley), the “mother house” of the Jansenists, which was razed to the ground on the orders of Louis XIV in 1710. He also had a school built, which is now the town hall of Saint-Hymer. He died at the age of 90 and is buried in the church.

In the 19th century, the priory was purchased by Colonel Langlois, a painter and soldier, who saved it from ruin by restoring it. On his death, he bequeathed it to the hospital in Pont-l’Évêque to be turned into a retirement home. One of the residents of the retirement home was ‘Mère Denis’, famous for having promoted a brand of washing machine on every television screen. She is buried in the cemetery near the church.