What to do and see in Cantal, Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes: The Best Castles

Reviewed By chrisaW803PJ

Tournemire is a small town in the hills - there is one small hotel/cafe, one parking lot at the bottom of the hill for tourists, and one castle at the far end of the town that overlooks an amazing pastoral landscape. This is a location that is easy to miss traveling through France because there are so many wonderful pastoral areas, but that would be unfortunate. We knew about the castle because of one of their tapestries that we had tracked down and made it a point to get there. I'm glad we did. My wife's mother purchased a tapestry kit over 30 years ago in France, and then spent over 10 years making it - my wife can recall her working on this through much of her childhood. She finished her copy about 10 years ago, and she has wanted to find and view the original ever since. So, when we invited her to come with us to France, this was the top activity on her list. There are regular tours that are in French with an English write-up. However, we were able to communicate with them before our trip and they were nice enough to setup a private tour. Although they were nervous about giving a tour in English, our guide Clemence did a wonderful job. In addition to the general tour, she did an excellent job answering all our random questions and allowing us to spend time with the tapestry. There are many interesting areas, rooms, and artifacts in the chateau - and Clemence did a great job explaining them and telling the historic stories about the owners. We had three generations (youngest was 10 years old) and Clemence was able to keep everyone interested. This castle has been in the same family since its creation (with one short gap during the French Revolution that is an amazing part of the story involving hidden paintings and documents, near beheadings, and a smart woman who ended up having to buy back her own home). We were fortunate enough to be welcomed by the Marquis D'Anjony who lives in a more modern addition to the property with his family. He is extremely friendly and entertained us in discussion while the previous tour ended. During the tour, there are things on each floor from the store in the cellar to amazing views at the top in the watch tower - so lots of stairs. Each floor has a main room (all decorated with original art, furniture, and artifacts) and a combination of side rooms in each of the four towers. The chapel and main entertaining area have awesome original frescos. Since the castle has never been attacked and has been continuously occupied, everything is really in great condition and if feels less like a museum. So, one might ask if going to somewhere as off the main path as Tournemire is worthwhile. For an American who doesn't speak French well (or at all) this was worlds apart from Paris - but is exactly the authentic experience that I (and I believe the rest of my family) will remember fondly from our trip. I would recommend that you combine this with Salers (just a 20 minute drive) which is a bit larger and has a large number of activities to enjoy.