Our first stop today after leaving Vichy is the small but charming village of Le Crozet. It is a “Village of Character in the Loire” so we wonder how it is different from the other beautiful villages we visited till now. At least the parking is very different though, it is down a steep hill and we leave our relative up top while we park the car and then scramble back up the hill. And then a short distance away is the gate to the old village and in we go.
Almost immediately we reach the first attraction, the very scenic City Hall. It is also very flagged, we haven’t seen that many France flags on one building till now.
The city hall is right in the central square, as you would expect, and it is a beautiful one and we have it to ourselves, there are no other people here exploring at this time. We then follow our map into an interior courtyard where we can explore the old wall and an ancient fountain.
And not any part of the fortification system, we can enter into one of the towers. However only the bottom level is open for exploration, you cannot climb higher up as it is private.
Next we stop at the old church. It is the first church built in Le Crozet in 1180 by Artaud III for the redemption of his many sins. The church was heavily damaged in the 17th century during the Wars of Religion and then finally collapsed in 1978. Now the ruins are maintained as part of a small park with some interesting carvings that might clash with the previous religious setting.
We continue exploring the old village with houses both renovated and not but all of them are quite scenic. We are following the street to another famous house in the village the sundial house. It is quite clear why it is called th sundial house however the instructions to read the sundial are unexpectedly complicated and we give up on reading it after a few tries.
Next we walk to the new church which is visible from almost anywhere in the village. This is because it was built in 1862 on the site and with stones from the old castle that was sitting here. And the castles are always the high point of any village.
One thing that remains from the old castle is the former keep. That has been since then changed and restored to become the donjon and bell tower for the new church. It has a small exhibit at the bottom about another thing that Le Crozet, tragically, is known for, a major railway accident in 1971.
The donjon can be climbed and we do exactly that for a great view over the surrounding area. It is a good place to wonder if the former lords owned everything as far as the eyes can see.
We then descend and enter into the church to cool down and relax while exploring the more modern but still beautiful church.
We start returning to the carpark via a slightly different route. Here we pass next to the “flower house”, our name. It is a beautiful house with lots of flower planters, it seems to be straight from a movie and not an actual house.
And then we reach the central square where we take a few more photos before moving on to the parking lot and then to Ambierle, our next goal for the day.
