Travel Guide Hell Bourg

Don't trust his name. Hell-Bourg, a charming town perched at 930 m altitude, is anything but "the village of Hell"! It is even more a small paradise that took the name of the governor of Hell at the time when he ruled "Madagascar and its dependencies" (1838-1841). Thanks to its springs, discovered in 1832 and of a quality worthy of the waters of Vichy, Hell-Bourg became in the 19th century a spa resort of choice, frequented by the Creole high society but also by South African settlers, Malagasy princes and Indian nabobs. Baudelaire is said to have stayed there during his trip to the Mascarene Islands, on the arm of a charming Malabarese woman whose beauty he praised in Les Fleurs du Mal. But in 1948, a cyclone made the hot spring disappear. From then on, the city experienced a severe decline until efforts were made, from the 1980s onwards, to preserve its architectural heritage. Thanks to these initiatives, today the old huts along the main street are superb. They used to be known as the "air change huts", as most of them were used as second homes by wealthy families from the Bas. One of the most remarkable is the Maison Folio, a listed building. Don't miss it under any circumstances, its owner will be happy to tell you its history and convince you, if necessary, that Hell-Bourg is one of the most beautiful villages in France, it is even the only overseas village to be so labelled.