Lavoir

Nearly every village in France has its lavoir or wash house. Many lavoirs have been restored out of pride for their heritage. The old wash house where the women of the village congregated used to be by the river but got swept away in the great flood of 1940 along with most of the posh hotels. The lavoir was a very social place where much village gossip was exchanged. At the end of the street is a small notice saying, 'un lavoir pas comme les autres', a wash house unlike others. This is because the water runs constantly and is hot. People in the village still use it to wash large or bulky items and people come from the campsites in the summer to do some washing. The building is open all day and sadly gets some unwanted attention from local youths up to mischief. Also the pipes tend to fur up over time with mineral deposits. There are a dozen or more hot springs in the village but sadly they are not much exploited either for tourism or to heat public buildings. They are used for their health benefits in the thermal spa and two buildings use their hot water for heating but much more could be made of them.