Lavardin or Lavardens? Two French villages with very different castles - Ouest-France

One has a ruined fortress above the Loir; the other, an art-filled Gascon castle. How to tell Lavardin and Lavardens apart before you plan a visit.

A single syllable separates Lavardin from Lavardens. Several hundred kilometres separate the villages. Both belong to Les Plus Beaux Villages de France, the association of villages recognised for their heritage, and both sit beneath a castle. The resemblance becomes less useful when you start planning a visit: one castle is a ruined fortress currently closed for restoration; the other has been rebuilt and turned into an exhibition venue.

For a visitor, the useful distinction is the setting: Lavardin belongs to the Loir valley, while Lavardens looks out over the rolling countryside of Gascony.

For Lavardin, the address to look for is Loir-et-Cher. This is the Loir valley, with no final “e” on the river’s name. It is a different setting from the famous Loire château circuit. The village gathers below the remains of a medieval stronghold, with a Gothic bridge across the river and old houses tucked into the slope.

The fortress gives Lavardin its skyline, but it should not be the reason to buy a castle-entry ticket. The Vendôme tourist office currently lists it as closed for restoration. You can admire it from outside. That makes the village itself, rather than a tour inside the fortifications, the centre of the visit.

Saint-Genest church supplies the other major sight: wall paintings from the 12th and 16th centuries. The tourist office describes a free interpretation leaflet at the entrance and a free Wivisites audio tour. These give the figures on the walls some context beyond simply admiring their colours.

Above the houses, the Rotte aux biques, an old goat path, climbs along the hillside. It offers views over the village and the Loir valley, passing dwellings cut into the rock. Several of those troglodytic buildings remain homes; the path is a way to see their setting, rather than an invitation to explore somebody’s doorway.

Lavardens is in the Gers, north of Auch in south-west France. It is a castelnau: a settlement that developed around a castle. Narrow lanes curl below the large stone building, with Saint-Michel church beside it and views opening out across Gascony.

Here, the medieval past is only part of the castle’s story. The building visitors see was reconstructed in the 17th century on the site of the earlier fortress. Its projecting square towers give it an unusual outline. The village association’s current guide describes its rooms as venues for art exhibitions. A visit can therefore combine the building with the art on display inside it, rather than a succession of empty historic rooms.

The lanes and the outlook over the countryside are part of the appeal too. This is the village to work into a stay around Auch or elsewhere in the Gers. It would be a substantial diversion from a holiday in the Loir valley, however closely its name resembles Lavardin’s.

Choose Lavardin for the combination of church paintings, riverside houses and a hillside walk, accepting that the fortress is currently an exterior sight. Choose Lavardens for a castle-centred stop in Gascony, with exhibitions as part of the reason to go. Neither village needs the other to make sense as a visit.

For accommodation and navigation, the department is the decisive detail: Lavardin, Loir-et-Cher, or Lavardens, Gers. The two markers below show why these are alternatives for different trips, rather than neighbouring stops on one château tour. Directions lead to each village hall.

Michel turned a love of travel into a career, working with a travellers’ association, guidebook publishers and the media, and leading groups for travel agencies.