La Flèche: Henri IV's College Where Descartes Studied, and the Polar Bears of the Zoo
Pays de la Loire, France
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Prytanée Cadet
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225
XP
+100 France
= 325 total
1 day
La Flèche: Henri IV's College Where Descartes Studied, and the Polar Bears of the Zoo
225 + 100 XP
Henri IV gave the Jesuits his house at La Flèche and their college took its first pupils in January 1604, near a thousand of them in the first year; René Descartes was among those who followed, and the king promised his own heart and Marie de Médicis's to the college church, for which niches were cut in 1648 high in the transept arms. In September 1793 the urns were opened and the hearts burned on the public square; a Flèche surgeon saved some of the ashes and his descendants gave them back in 1814, and the urn stands in the church of Saint-Louis still. Napoleon's Prytanée moved in by a decree of 24 March 1808, and just outside the town the Zoo de La Flèche, founded in 1946 as the parc zoologique du Tertre-Rouge, claims 1,500 animals of 160 species over 18 hectares, two of them polar bears.
Required Activities
1
of 4
On the guided tour of the Prytanée, cross the cours d'Austerlitz and de Sébastopol to the church of Saint-Louis and find the urn that holds the ashes of Henri IV's heart, then pick out the Second Empire physics instruments in the Pierre Guillaumat room and the stuffed animals in the zoological collections hall
2
of 4
Time your visit to the zoo's aquatic zone for one of the daily feeds of the two polar bears, then stay for the Californian sea lions, the Humboldt penguins and the Canadian otters in the same water
3
of 4
In the Prytanée's vaulted library, find the early edition of Descartes's Discours de la méthode, the polyglot bible of 1645 and Father Bourdin's 17th-century manual of military architecture — the only copy in France — and look up for the frescoes of the muses on the ceiling
4
of 4
Cross the four hectares of the zoo's Asian plain, opened in 2017, and find the two Indian rhinoceroses, the blackbuck and nilgai antelope and the axis deer, then go into the 500 m² aviary standing 8 m high to see the rainbow lorikeets
On the guided tour of the Prytanée, cross the cours d'Austerlitz and de Sébastopol to the church of Saint-Louis and find the urn that holds the ashes of Henri IV's heart, then pick out the Second Empire physics instruments in the Pierre Guillaumat room and the stuffed animals in the zoological collections hall
Time your visit to the zoo's aquatic zone for one of the daily feeds of the two polar bears, then stay for the Californian sea lions, the Humboldt penguins and the Canadian otters in the same water
In the Prytanée's vaulted library, find the early edition of Descartes's Discours de la méthode, the polyglot bible of 1645 and Father Bourdin's 17th-century manual of military architecture — the only copy in France — and look up for the frescoes of the muses on the ceiling
Cross the four hectares of the zoo's Asian plain, opened in 2017, and find the two Indian rhinoceroses, the blackbuck and nilgai antelope and the axis deer, then go into the 500 m² aviary standing 8 m high to see the rainbow lorikeets
Before you go
The Prytanée is a working military lycée and opens to visitors only in high summer — in 2026, daily from 11 July to 16 August at 15h, one tour a day, booking required on 06 79 19 06 71. Entry is by the rue du Parc, adults 5 euros and children 6 to 15 half that, cards are not accepted, and every visitor must carry photo ID. Outside those five weeks the courtyards and the church of Saint-Louis cannot be seen, so do the zoo and leave the Prytanée for another trip. The zoo itself opens every day of the year except 25 December and 1 January, and its keeper talks and flying displays run only from April to the end of October.
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Challenge Location
XP Breakdown
Challenge XP
225 XP
France country bonus
+100 XP
Potential total
325 XP
Country bonus earned on completion of your first challenge in France.
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