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La
Boheme
"The sculpture garden of the former plasterer Lucien Favreau in
Aqutaine is dedicated to the public figures and events that marked his
long life. Singers Mireille Mathieu and Georges Brassens rub shoulders
with statesmen such as Charles de Gaulle, while a fresco commemorates
the victims of Treblinka."
"A hand stands embellished with a heart in homage to the French
comedian Coluche. Favreau's beloved dog Zappy has its own tomb, and the
artist built one for himself too, so that he could rest in peace amid
his own creations."
- From "Fantasy
Worlds" by Deidi Von Schaewen
and John Maizels
A goodly amount of very wacked-out sculptures, in a very
pleasant setting. You need to drive to this; it is WAY out in
the
country. It is worth it.
Hours
There are no hours, that I know of. However, the sculptures
are outdoors, you can walk among them any time. You can also go inside
the
garden, through the gate, which is unlocked. Leave a donation as you
leave.
There are more things inside the house, but you most likely need to
make arrangements to see them. We didn't. There is enough to see
outdoors.
Directions
16210 Chalais, Charente, near Yviers, south of Angouleme
Tel: +33-(0)5 45 98 02 65
From
Chalais, take D731 toward Bardenac (Northwest). Follow the signs
to Yviers. If you are coming from the north (Bardenac), there is a
small sign pointing right which you might miss, or ignore, because the
road looks rather tiny. We passed it up in favor of something more
substantial, which we didn't find. However, after turning around in
Chalais, we came back the other direction, and found a more visible
sign to Yviers. It is from that road that the following directions are
given.
In Yviers, drive through town, and veer to the left, or at any rate,
south/south-west. A little further, down a hill, around some turns, and
you are there. The road runs right through it; sculpture on the right,
house on the left. If you drive for longer than 15 minutes past Yviers,
you have
taken the wrong road out of Yviers, unless you are a very slow driver.
I found these directions on the Web, and, incredibly, they worked
pretty well, once we found Yviers:
"A Yviers (environs de Chalais), ne pas prendre la direction de Boresse
mais la route à gauche. C’est tout droit.
Après 2
km environ, un embranchement, La Vaure à droite."
Using auto-translation, we end up with:
"In Yviers (surroundings of Chalais), not to take the direction of
Boresse but the road on the left. Go straight. After approximately
2 km, a junction, Vaure on the right. It is there. To telephone to
visit."
If you can't find
it, ask for directions in Yviers. It's very close.
More information
There is no Web site, but if
you search for La Bohème de
Lucien
Favreau, some things will turn up, such as this:
animula
vagula
Photos
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