Apremont-sur-Allier is one of the “most beautiful villages in France” (an official distinction). It derives its name from its location on the edge of the Allier river. In 1722 Louis de Bethune bought Apremont and since then the chateau and the estate have remained in the same family by inheritances through the female line. In 1894 Eugene Schneider (the iron master from Le Creusot) fell in love with Apremont and purchased all the shares owned by the family to become the sole owner. Over the following 50 years he transformed and embellished the chateau and village. He had a vision, deciding to renovate the village so that all the buildings were in the same local medieval style.
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Looking over the rooftops at the Chateau
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The Chateau sits on a hill above the village. It is still lived in by the owners.
It is up to the individual visitor to decide whether this is more Disneyland or a real village. It is charming, well maintained, and designed for tourists to spend a peaceful day wandering the streets, strolling through the park, having lunch, going to the little museums, and of course checking out the antique shop. To my amazement Tom actually purchased crystal wine glasses for Rabelo.
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A stream flows under the Chinese bridge to a pond.
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The Parc Floral opened in 1976 and brings to you the feelings of China, Japan, Turkey, Russian and more. The gardens and buildings create for you the feelings of different parts of the world through the flowers, landscape, architecture and follies. We also visited the stables and Carriage museum.
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Turkish Pavilion
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The gardens with its ponds, waterfalls and follies is a relaxing way to spend the afternoon.
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 | These buildings face a public park along the river.
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| One of the homes. |
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| An old wash house |
While we enjoy just hanging out on our boat and taking long walks, it’s also nice exploring the area. Tom read about an old Chateau and we decided to check it out. We drove to Lutheran-Uxeloup which has the imposing 13h century fortress Chataeu de Rosemont. We were disappointed that we couldn’t go inside this chateau, but it was impressive and the area around it was lovely.
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Chateau de Rosemont, the fort of Lutheran Uxeloup
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The fort’s entrance…no visitors allowed.
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| Parts of the fort are overgrown. |
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| The pasture lands and stream below the chateau. |
On our way back to Rabelo we saw a sign pointing to an Ancient church in Jaugenay. We did a U turn and drove off the main road in search of a Roman ruin. We found this Romanesque chapel dating from the second half of the 12th century.
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| Chappellet de Jaugenay - Chappellet Saint Etienne de Chevenon |
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| We walked by this wooden structure one day. |
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| A farm house we saw on our walk. |
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What a lovely area! I like the little 12th-century church very much, but am less sure about tourist-brochure neat villages. I think I prefer a more organic approach. The homes and chateau are beautiful, though!
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