Classified as one of the Most Beautiful Villages in France, Lyons-la-forêt has been the setting for several adaptations of Madame Bovary. Nestled in the largest beech forest in France, this Norman gem appeals as much to heritage enthusiasts as to film and nature lovers.
Preserved Norman architecture in the heart of France’s largest beech forest
Lyons-la-Forêt, just over a hundred kilometers from Paris in the north of the Eure département, is a bucolic interlude in the heart of Normandy. With just 700 inhabitants, this village, classified as a Station Verte and one of France’s Most Beautiful Villages, seems frozen in time.
Its half-timbered houses and pink bricks, half-timbered facades and XVIIᵉ century halles, always bustling on market days, make up a typically Norman setting.
The village takes its name from the state forest of Lyons, a majestic 11,000-hectare massif , once the hunting ground of the kings of France and Normandy. Today, its paths and clearings offer the ideal setting to recharge your batteries and breathe deeply, especially in the Jardin forestier des Bordins, a veritable arboretum with over a hundred plant species.
Lyons-la-Forêt, a life-size movie set
With its cobbled streets, half-timbered houses and romantic atmosphere, Lyons-la-Forêt seems straight out of a movie. In fact, this postcard village has seduced the seventh art – it was the setting for two adaptations of Madame Bovary, by Jean Renoir (1933 ) and Claude Chabrol (1991).
But its charm is not confined to the silver screen. Classified as one of France’s Most Beautiful Villages, Lyons-la-Forêt boasts a rare wealth of heritage, with several of its buildings declared Monuments Historiques – the Chapelle Saint-Jean-Baptiste de l’Essart-Mador, theformer Cordeliers convent, the House of Maurice Ravel and theHôtel de la Maréchaussée.
A stroll here is like walking through an open-air museum, a blend of cinema, history and Norman poetry!