Secure

Totally unintentionally, but a recent visit to the hot springs of La Bourboule / Mont Dore (the springs themselves are otherwise known as Source Croizat) meant wading in to a highly staked controverse, concerning what to do with the source.

I had known that the hot spring was there, just waiting for me to visit; it was just a question of time. 

So I had recently arranged a visit, intending to stay nearby for two nights. Just a few days before leaving, a quick look into some more recent info (just in case) revealed that in April 2021 the local government (of La Bourboule) had decided to destroy both the tub as well as the pool along the Dordogne!

Local news outlet La Montagne (Apr. 16; translated):

'At the beginning of the week, the municipality of La Bourboule (Puy-de-Dôme) launched work to "secure" the hot water source of Croizat, located in the municipality of Mont-Dore, but of which it is owner. A project that is far from being unanimous'.

So what is meant with "securing"? Scaled up to national news a week later, Franceblue (Apr. 21 and translated):

'On April 14, at the request of the town hall of La Bourboule, owner of the source, the construction machinery came into action. The infrastructures around the source were destroyed for safety reasons because the sloping access is dangerous, specifies François Constantin the mayor of La Bourboule.

But this is not the only reason, since 2016 a prefectural decree prohibits swimming in the concrete tank and the pools built around it also because of incivility, abandoned rubbish, equivocal sexual behavior that regularly requires intervention [by] military policemen.

François Constantin also points to the over-frequentation of the site "This source has long been the secret of Bourbouliens and the inhabitants of the Sancy massif, but from the moment we created easier access, people came more and more and we talked about it on the internet to such an extent that last summer we counted 25,000 people on this site which is only a few tens of square meters, it had to stop even if I regret it, it was becoming too dangerous we would have had serious problems! " A year, according to the mayor, 35,000 people come to bathe in these arsenical waters known for their beneficial effects on asthma and the skin.

So authorities unilaterally decided to destroy the hot springs. This way they need not manage the soaking site. Problem solved.

Opposition sprang up and probably more than authorities had envisaged. 

A petition on change.org (background interview) has as of October 4, 34,000 signatures, while a special Facebook page (Sauvons la source Croizat) now has 4,300 members. And on Tripadvisor very unpleasant reviews were left, as well as comments on the news stories linked above.

Blogger Christian Barbier notes:

'Friday April 14, 2021 - La BOURBOULE, destruction of the Croizat hot spring site

What blind imbecility has struck again?

How to deprive yourself of a natural heritage, an emblematic place, a unique curiosity in the Sancy massif'.

thibs_photo

"Mais rien de cette nature n'est définitivement acquis. Comme une eau, le monde vous traverse et pour un temps vous prête ses couleurs. Puis se retire, et vous replace devant ce vide qu'on porte en soi, devant cette espèce d'insuffisance centrale de l'âme qu'il faut bien apprendre à côtoyer, à combattre, et qui, paradoxalement est peut-être notre moteur le plus sûr." Nicolas Bouvier

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Modèle : @estellesm19

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#zen

Nude

But being streetwise enough, I quickly saw from the photos published of the destruction, that a new pool would not be unimaginable. A sandbag here or there et voilà, a new soaking pool could come into existence.

Visiting beginning of September this was indeed what had happened. The denuded direct natural landscape now played host to a pool with quite some mud around, but a pool it was. And good to soak.

Twice visited, once early morning, I had the place very much to myself, second time around there was another group soaking their legs in the pool.

The direct surroundings are very natural and serene and access is easy from a footpath between both named villages. The demolition though had resulted in a wider path.

Assassination

However after my visit the situation changed yet again. 

Apparently authorities dissatisfied with what they had achieved,  did a bigger destruction and sought to cement the direct surroundings and divert the waters. 

But 2 days after starting, somehow they demolished what work had been done and retreated. 

Speculation is that the public outrage reached higher authorities who had different opinions of what can be done adjacent to a UNESCO protected natural site of the Dordogne. For up to date info see the Save the Source Croizat Facebook page:

Though at the moment of publishing this blog, again a new makeshift pool has been constructed by those damned soakers!

Discovery

Let's leave this as it stands and see what more we can add to our knowledge on the source of Croizat.

EHTTA had an overview of La Bourboule's history. 

Here's interesting piece of the history of the Croizat source, though the translation does help very much. This central part of France is quite well known for it's volcanic origins and both La Bourboule and Mont Dore have bathing facilities with thermal waters as source.

Somehow the source Croizat had yet to be discovered, which took place early last century:

'The source was discovered during construction work on the railway line linking Laqueuille to Mont-Dore. It has a Ministerial Operating Authorization Decree dated April 28, 1912 and a Declaration of Public Interest of February 12, 1935 which establishes a protection perimeter with an area of ​​7.2 ha.

It was bought from its inventor, Mr. Croizat, by the Compagnie des Eaux minérale de la Bourboule, which was seeking to increase its resources. Croizat water, very strongly mineralized, hot (40 ° C) and above all very abundant (flow rate of more than 100 liters per minute) could constitute an important complement to supply the baths, swimming pools and showers of the station'.

It also mentions the existence of the Felix source, 500m downstream, which might qualify as just warm hot spring. Depending on the season.

Final shot (note it also a couple of older photo's), translated:

'Today, like many Auvergne mineral springs, the Félix and Croizat springs are abandoned. The Félix establishment, property of the General Council, is in a state of advanced ruins, but the Croizat source (whose outlet of the gallery was summarily refitted by the same General Council) is [was?] very busy. In all seasons, swimming in its hot and salty waters is very popular'.

A note to myself: the much older photos show a lot less natural backdrop; so some things do improve in time. 

This website has photos and descriptions from the last 25 years.

Following is what the source looked like in better times:

mams2girls

This morning it was the discovery of a hot spring. 40 ° c. 🏞️

#sourcechaude #eauchaude #montdore #sourcecroizat