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COUTERNE Our little ol' town has a population of about 1080 and 45 shops, tradesmen and medical services. Situated at the southern extremity of Normandy on the border with Mayenne departement (county). Couterne was founded at a fording point on the Mayenne river on the route from Caen to Jublains (A roman fortress which is well worth a visit.) The actual church . |
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The old church . The actual church can be seen under construction in the background. |
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The LAVOIR (clothes washing in the river) It still has it's faithfull washerwomen |
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Couterne has an air field and a club to go with it. One of the members has built the one of the smallest planes in the world. The Cri-Cri. You don't have to see it to know it's flying. The two Suzuki 250cc engines have a very distictive sound. Another member is currently building his own (normal) plane. |
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The Chateau of Couterne: has belonged to the de Frotté family since 1542. Edward deFrotté has been
our our current mayor since 1994. The chateau can only be visited on the heritage day in september. |
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Anglers have plenty of choice for finding a quiet spot to fish. The fishing club "the Couterne trout" looks after 120 Km (75 miles) of rivers and ponds. For those who prefer to walk there is the templar's trail that links Couterne to Bagnoles then round to the airfield and back to Couterne. One can even link up to Sillé le Guillaume and Le Mans, or get onto the Paris to Mont St Michel long distance path. |
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2 miles away at Tessé la Madeleine there's a chateau that masquerades as a renaissance chateau. It was infact built in 1855 by a woman who inherited a great fortune. The estate at the time took in all of what is now the lake at Bagnoles (a mile away). She also planted a great collection of exotic trees which can still be seen in the park which surrounds the chateau. Today the chateau is used as the town hall. |
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Bagnoles de l'Orne : It's lake, casino, and pedalos.
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