La Roche-Guyon is squeezed between the Seine and a wall of chalk, and the village has the look of a place that has been fitted into the only space available. The château, one of the oldest in the area, backs straight into the cliff, with rooms and a stairway hollowed from the rock, and a medieval keep on the crest above is linked to it by a long covered passage. For centuries, it belonged to the La Rochefoucauld family, whose most famous member, the seventeenth-century moralist, wrote his sharp little maxims about human vanity, and the family still has links to the house.
The château has a darker chapter too. In the spring of 1944, Field Marshal Erwin Rommel made it his headquarters while he prepared the German coastal defences against an Allied landing, and the caves in the cliff behind were used as shelters and offices. After the Normandy landings, the Allies advanced quickly along the Seine, and the village was liberated in August. Today the château is open to visitors, with a fine kitchen garden and a museum of the 1944 episode, and the village has been named one of the most beautiful in France.
It is also a gateway to the Vexin Français regional park, a plateau of wheat fields, orchards and small stone villages above the river. The hills nearby produce apples and cider, and local farms sell fruit and honey from roadside stalls. The roads here are some of the best in the region for relaxed riding, with long views, smooth tarmac and a pleasing rhythm of villages, though the D913 along the river is narrow and can be crowded on sunny weekends. The village streets are tight, so park near the river and walk the last part.
Fuel is not available in La Roche-Guyon itself, so use Mantes-la-Jolie to the west, a larger town with several stations. A café on the main street serves coffee and pastries, and several restaurants offer lunch. Try a slice of tarte aux pommes with a cup of strong coffee, and sit watching the barges slide past on the Seine, as they have for centuries. The village is calm outside July and August, and the cliff glows in low sun.