Bagnoles de l’Orne is a village of Orne department, in Normandy region. It is 6 km from Ferte-Mace, 70km South of Caen, and 200km West of Paris and is located in the centre of the Andaines forest. Bagnoles is famous for its spa and attracts a lot of visitors.
Access
By car, from Paris : exit A13, then RN12 Dreux-Alençon, or A11 exit Le Mans, A28 exit Alençon towards St Malo.
From Caen: head towards Falaise and Argentan.
By train, from Paris’ Gare Montparnasse III/Vaugirard train station: Paris-Granville line, get off at Briouze and take a bus towards Bagnoles de l’Orne (Bagnoles de l’Orne station: 02 33 37 80 04)
History
In the 12th century, the legend of the Knights of the Round Table was written in Domfront, located a few km from Bagnoles. The story’s setting was based on the region of Bagnoles de l’Orne and Bocage. Between the 19th and the 20th century, Bagnoles de l’Orne became a spa and a place of interest for tourists and period villas, of which some are heritage listed, are still standing. In 1975, the Normandie-Maine Nature Park was created and aims at preserving animals, plants and the forest’s ecosystem.
Activities
From a cultural point of view, le “quartier Belle Epoque” consists of charming period villas that were built with materials from the region only: sandstone from the Bocage area, slate from the Northern Mayenne, tiles from Calvados… The buildings’ shape and colours had to be in line with a well-defined style, respecting the environment. For instance, the colours used were related to the four elements: blue for the sky, green for the forest, yellow for the air and red for the earth.
Also, the traveller can visit the Casino or the Eglise de Bagnoles de l’Orne which date back from the 1930s and are examples of the Art Deco architecture.
Numerous monuments are also worth seeing in the surrounding area of Bagnoles de l’Orne such as Carrouges’ castle and Mansion of the Normandie/Maine Nature Park, the castles of Flers and Lassay, the medieval city of Domfront with its stronghold and its church (Notre Dame sur l’Eau)…
Orne is the department of horses; therefore, Bagnoles de l’Orne is ideal to discover the forest horse riding from the horse village (St Michel des Andaines, 5 mn from Bagnoles). Bagnoles also provides a 250km marked way for hiking activities and a 460km way for bikes.
Food and Drink
Bagnoles de l’Orne offers a few specialities such as brochette tripe (Fertois style), Pont l’Êvèque which is a cheese made from Mayenne and Normandy cow milk. In autumn, the traveller can go and look for Andaine forest’s mushrooms: Bordeaux Boletus, Russula, Chocolate Milky mushrooms… As for drinks, Pommeau is an alcoholic drink from the region made by mixing apple juice with apple brandy. Normandy is also famous for its cider (sparkling or pear cider).
Restaurants
Bagnoles de l’Orne provides a wide range of restaurants :
- LA TERRASSE offers typical food from Normandy. Rue des Casinos 61140 Bagnoles de l’Orne. Tel : 02.33.37.81.44
- Traditional meals are served in LA POMMERAIE (Hotel du Beryl), 1, rue des Casinos 61140 Bagnoles de l’Orne. Tel : 02.33.38.44.44
- LE BORD DU LAC is a crêperie 2 avenue Robert Cousin 61140 Bagnoles de l’Orne. Tel : 02.33.37.86.91
In the event that you fall in love with the region and intend to buy a property there, Sextant properties have bi-lingual agents in the area who known the available properties. They will be able to accompany you on visits, answer your queries and generally make finding and choosing your ideal property a pleasure – all of which will speed the day you walk into your new home in Bagnoles de l’Orne.