The best museums Auvergne

In the middle of the th century, a ferry was allowed to reach Chanteuges on the other bank of the Allier River. In 1887, the construction of a bridge on the river resulted in the boatmasters's disappearance. It was in the house of the smuggler that this original and unique museum was built in France. A collector of ancient objects in iron-white, Abbot Paul Bidault, the pastor of Le Mans, left his rooms in 1986 for the first fund of the museum. Another collector, Claude Fustier, a dentist-dentist in Langeac, also gave his collection to the museum with some 300 pieces. In 1988, the museum was made up of 700 objects purchased in Sommières in Gard. The iron-white, that is, the tin sheet of tin, was used for centuries, especially for the manufacture of household objects. Cake molds, buckets, bidons, teapots, coffee makers, plats… Some pieces are particularly remarkable, with the image of this steam-run egg drummer. We will also discover a large number of religious objects: quête, ciboires, shrines, chalices, some dating back to the th and th centuries. Toys and military objects are also exposed.

In 2012, when René was looking for a house to retire, he found himself at the Monastier-sur-Gazeille. He was surprised to see this large 400 m ² building when the announcement indicated that it was a school. He and his wife had the idea of reviving this old school through a museum. It opened in 2013 and several classrooms have regained their soul of yesteryear. Wearing a coat, a berret and hooks, you will become an actor in your visit. You will discover this school universe which begins in late nineteenth century until school closure. René will tell you his story and bring you back to the age of your youth. You will have the opportunity to learn to calculate using the lily, and to practice in writing with the filler and the pen. Beware of mistakes, otherwise it will be the donkey! Emotion guaranteed.

It was the glaciers of the quaternary era that covered the lava flows of the Cézallier. They created creux where they came to shelter lakes and bogs. In these wetlands, sphagnum, hypnes, sedge, drosera… It is through the partial decomposition of this flora, the fossil coal. The Tourbières and Cézallier House invites us to discover this particular environment in a museum space and an outdoor site with a pontoons. Tours, thematic tours are organized.

This small museum, created in 1994 on the initiative of Jean Bac, a former member of the Resistance, has become an interesting educational tool and much more than a simple place of conservation. Every year, this museum contributes to the knowledge of one of the darkest historical episodes of the contemporary era. Through lectures, excursions, guided tours and activities for schoolchildren, it ensures that history is well understood. From the rise of Nazism to the Nuremberg trials, the exhibitions are comprehensive.