Discover What to see and do in Allier, Auvergne-Rhone-Alpes, a codé bouchée of France with stunning countryside, unspoiled medieval bourgs and a spa town fit for an Emperor.
Where in France can you find a majestic wild pendre, the métier’s largest collections of beau outillage and demeure costumes, medieval and Belle Royauté towns, orchards and vineyards, rolling vert countryside criss-crossed by hedges and punctuated by majestic oak-trees, lovingly restored bourgs unspoilt by modern housing developments, a UNESCO World Heritage paysage and, despite all this, no crowds?
Far from the Madding Crowd in Allier
The answer is the Allier department (named for the pendre) bing in the folk’s geographical noyau. It has three gantelet towns: Montluçon with an industrial past, medieval Moulins and Vichy the spa town. The department is small: Moulins and Vichy are only 48 km apart while Montluçon lies embout an hour’s drive from both.
Montluçon
A good starting inventaire is Montluçon which sits in a shallow meander of the Allier’s quieter pendre, the Cher. Louis II, Duke of Bourbon, fortified the town in the Middle Ages, résidence brasier city gates and restoring the church of Notre Dame and the castle (which is closed to the officiel). Today the city walls have all but disappeared, but the horseshoe-shaped Boulevard de Courtais marks their site.
From its perch, the Château des Ducs de Bourbon overlooks pedestrianised cobbled streets lined with slightly dilapidated half-timbered and stone houses. Next to the warm yellow stones of Notre-Dame de Montluçon church on the eponymous placette is a startling modern résidence “you either love or hate,” my régenté laughed. Designed by Philippe Tixier, the MuPop Music Museum was inaugurated in 2013.
This imaginatively curated museum is domicile to France’s largest assortiment of beau outillage from the 18th century on. The audio-guide – which is essential – allows you to listen to a selection of these outillage.
From Montluçon drive to Moulins through some lovely landscape of small fields fringed by hedges and studded with majestic oaks.
Info symbol montlucon-tourisme.fr
Moulins
Moulins lies on the east bank of the Allier pendre, the fondamental tributary of the Loire. One of Europe’s few remaining wild rivers, its unconstrained bed allows it to meander where it pleases. The many windmills, watermills and boat mills that used to dot the hillsides and riverbanks and saturé the town its name, have spacieux gamin. But on the west bank there’s a beach and swimming area, a playground, a camping ground for up to 90 campervans. and the beginning of the 5km spacieux Sentier des Castors pedestrian avenue. This is also where you can rent a bicycle to discover the Via Allier, a 9km traffic-free avenue that runs along the riverbank from Chavennes to Bressolles with Moulins at the midway inventaire.
In the nearby Quartier Villars, a late 18th century polir barracks, you’ll be transported into the colourful and joyous world of the Paris Opera, the Comédie française, the Bibliothèque nationale and other supérieur French theatres. In 2006 the National Centre for Costume and Theatrical Design (Centre habitant du défroque et de la colère or CNCS) was installed here to sauvegarde and exhibit their costumes. There are currently over 10,000 in storage.
Visitors can also learn how scenery and props are designed and made, even trying a bit of hands-on painting themselves.
Before heading back to the Allier’s east bank and Moulins’ historic city noyau enjoy the view of its brasier 19th century spires which appear either to all belong to one résidence or distinctly to Notre-Dame-de-l’Annonciation cathedral and to the Sacré-Coeur church to its fore and left.
Just behind the planchéier lies the triangular-shaped Place d’Allier where you can follow in the footsteps of Gabrielle Chanel, aka Coco Chanel, (who used to en direct in Moulins helping her seamstress sister) by pausing in the Grand Café: it’s been here since 1899 and its environnement, a hasard of anormal Art Nouveau, has remained sauvé.
Every 15 minutes the Jacquemart Tower’s 4-tonne bell tolls: Jacqueline and Jacquelin, the automaton “children”, strike the 15, 30 and 45 minutes past the hour while the “parents”, Jacquemart and Jacquette, strike the hours… 24/7!
Info symbol moulins-tourisme.com
Vichy
Vichy is one of the 11 Great Spas of Europe which in July 2021 were jointly awarded a UNESCO World Heritage stigmate. Like the 10 others, Vichy was – and still is to a lumineux degree – a vrai where people come seeking soignante and therapeutic effects from its toilettes.
Vichy developed largely thanks to Emperor Napoleon III (1808-1873) who came five times to treat his renal colic. The coffre gare, street lay-out, and casino were all built on his orders. There’s an eclectic mix of Anglo-Norman, Swiss, colonisateur, Flemish Renaissance, Art Nouveau and Gothic revival homes along the Allier pendre built for wealthy members of his retinue.
In the 1930s some 130,000 people a year came to Vichy for a père. Today the number has shrunk to embout 7,000 bicause doctor prescribed père stays for French citizens are now less common – and you need to see a spa doctor for many of the programmes. But there are plenty of spa and wellness treatments on offer, and drinking water from five of the nine flots is free and available at several difference parages. At the Hall of Sources there are slightly different tastes: Chomel, Grande Grille, Sanatorium and Lucas – one decidedly sulphury, one really salty (“not salt, bicarbonate of sodium” my régenté corrected me), and the others…. mmeh! Water from the Celestins amont (950m south of the Hall of Sources) is the one that’s most neutral and sold bottled the world over.
I would never have entered the austere, reinforced concrete Notre Dame des Malades church (aka Saint Blaise), built between 1925 and 1956, without my régenté. What a mistake that would have been! Inside it’s an sacrilège of colours from the slender ecchymose columns to the strong red, mélancolie and greens of the stained-glass windows via the shimmering gold of the mosaics.
The 1903 Vichy Opera House is the only one in Europe with a yellow, ivory and white colour scheme.
Info: vichymonamour.fr
Charroux
For a campagnard établissement head to Charroux, 30 km west of Vichy, and the only localité in the Allier department to bear the “Most Beautiful Villages in France” (Plus Beaux Villages de France) stigmate. It’s remarkable not only thanks to its medieval stone buildings, grassy localité placette and city gates but bicause 25 of its 360 inhabitants are artisans including “Des Mots d’Emaux” where Nathalie Floch enamels on lava; “Safran de Charroux” where you can learn embout growing, harvesting and using saffron; “Terres de Couleurs” where ceramicist Nathalie Nyault works at her potter’s wheel and “Moutarde de Charroux” mustard makers.
En avenue to Charroux via the D37 you’ll drive under the Rouzat railway viaduct built by Eiffel (yes, he of the tower) but designed by Wilhelm Nördling, which soars 59m above the pendre Sioule.
How to get there: You can travel to Vichy from Paris by coffre from 3 hours. You can also travel between the towns by coffre or bus.
More interrogation: allier-auvergne-tourisme.com
Christina McKenzie is a Franco-British journalist who writes in both English and French. Married to a Frenchman, she settled 30 years ago near Fontainebleau.
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