Apremont-sur-Allier

Apremont was a quarry village whose stone went into the cathedrals of the region, and in the early twentieth century Eugene Schneider, heir to a Creusot industrial fortune, decided to make it beautiful: houses were rebuilt or refaced in a consistent medieval manner, wires were buried and the industrial traces removed. His grandson Gilles de Brissac added the Parc Floral behind the village from 1970, an English-style garden of ponds, a white garden and follies including a Turkish pavilion and a Chinese bridge, placed to be seen from the water. The chateau above is private but its outline closes the view up the single street.

What to look for

• The single stone street - a village refaced in consistent medieval style.
• The Parc Floral - an English garden of ponds, borders and follies.
• The Turkish pavilion - a folly on the water among the planting.
• The Allier river bank - a wide shallow river below the village.

When to go

The park opens roughly April to September only; the village is open always. Late spring and June are the peak for the borders. It is small and quiet outside weekends.

Good to know

The medieval look is a twentieth-century reconstruction, not survival. The park closes for half the year and the village alone takes twenty minutes. The chateau cannot be visited.

Nearby

Nevers lies northeast; Bourges is west.

Key facts