Alençon is a town about which several books could be written without ever finding a need for repetition. The Tourist Office gives out two brochures; one of them details nineteen sights to see in the central area, the other runs to 35 sights, without including all of the first 19. And still, everywhere I went, I would notice a splendid building or a picturesque street and look on my two maps, only to find no mention.
Saint Theresa of the Infant Jesus, one of France's most recent and most cherished saints – one of the few saints, indeed, of whom photographs exist was born in Alençon and baptised in the splendid church of Notre-Dame. Her lacy christening gown is displayed in a special chapel.