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What could be better than combining nature and culture in the department of the same name this summer? While waiting to discover the festival illuminations in the evening "Lights of Bourbonnais" in various towns in the region, the Moulins les Avenelles golf course welcomes you to Toulon-sur-Allier. A green course which is located just a few kilometers from Moulins, the prefecture of the department and the historic capital of Bourbonnais. In a wooded setting in the heart of a network of ponds, this hilly nine-hole course is suitable for beginners as well as seasoned golfers. The narrow greens are well defended by cleverly placed small bunkers, and several holes are bordered by relatively close out-of-bounds. Water is also present, mainly on two holes where the access to the green passes through a shot above a pond. The general atmosphere of the golf course is particularly friendly and the inn allows you to continue the games around a drink or a good meal.

Vichy Sporting-Club

More than a century old, the Vichy golf course is one of the oldest courses in France. Traced in 1907 by Arnaud Massy, ​​the famous golf champion and teacher, winner of the British Open, this course initially 9 holes became in 1922, the Sporting-Club de Vichy. It has since welcomed many personalities, the Queen of Yugoslavia, the Agha Khan, the Duchess of Westminster, the Pasha of Marrakech and closer to us François Mitterrand, Jacques Lafitte, Yannick Noah or Henri Lecomte… Today the journey through 70 of 5366m long has a club house with changing rooms for men and women, a restaurant and a driving range with 8 stations, a putting green and an approach area. Seemingly easy, the Sporting-Club de Vichy golf course has some unpleasant surprises in store for those who do not ride straight. This compact course (35 hectares), one of the few to be located in the city (20 minutes on foot from the city center and 5 minutes by boat in summer), favors lovers of finesse approaches and sometimes also adults. hitters. Almost all of the greens are raised and protected by rough bunkers. The golf school offers numerous activities for children and juniors, as well as courses and private or group lessons.

Golf of Saint-Agathe

Wooded and embellished with a river, the green on the Sainte-Agathe pond is a slightly rolling 18-hole course that is very pleasant to play. In 1987, the Sainte-Agathe golf course was created thanks to the generous creativity of its architect and patron René Bréa. This course, owned by the Community of Agglomeration Montluçonnaise is located between the city of Montluçon and the charming spa resort of Néris-les-Bains. A green getaway before setting off to explore the architectural and cultural heritage of the department.

Summer entertainment

To return to the activities of the summer, the Allier County Council for its part is launching Act 3 of its program of illuminations of remarkable heritage. From July to October 2020, five cities in Allier will benefit from the mapping * "Lights on the Bourbonnais". After the one devoted to the Bourbons which continues, two new themes are emerging: hydrotherapy and industry. The department thus pursues its ambition to be the first in France to offer a festival of lights, in the form of a permanent route. Explanations. First, the "Chemin des Bourbons" who returns this summer. He saw animate, during the two previous acts, the facades of the Mal-Coiffée in Moulins, the Castle of the Dukes of Bourbon in Montluçon and the Hotel de la Borderie in Cusset, showing the influence that the princely family may have had on all three cities. But also by approaching more contemporary periods of national and local history.

Industry and hydrotherapy

Then, two new routes will open for this 3^e season. The first on the theme of industry at Commentry. Rural, this town was created in favor of the great industrial revolution, by the exploitation of mines, metallurgy and the steel industry. It grew like American cities in pioneer times, shaped by a strong working culture and local traditions that still influence it today. A past that will be highlighted on the facade of the Town Hall. The second route will be devoted to hydrotherapy in Vichy, with the Palais des Congrès-Opéra as a screen. Built on the banks of the Allier river, known for its sources since Antiquity, the "Queen of spa towns" owes much to the stays of Napoleon III, who transformed the town planning of this city and favored its economic and thermal development. Its opera, its parks, its façades mixing styles, eras and continents, its thermal baths and its hippodrome give Vichy a charming air of continental "French Riviera".

Economic recovery tool

With this free public production, "Lights on the Bourbonnais" also asserts itself as one of the tools of the local economic recovery plan, following the health crisis. “Through the tourist activity that this lighting program was able to generate in previous editions, my objective is that this year it will contribute to the resumption of activity in the most affected sectors, such as cafes, restaurants and 'hotel. And more generally, all of Bourbonnais' economic and commercial activities. " explains Claude Riboulet, president of the department. With its five radiating sites, and thanks to the support of the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes region and its program "The Region of Lights", Allier is the first French department to offer a festival of light shows on its territory.

Photo: DR

Lights on the Bourbonnais - Light shows

From July to October 2020 - Moulins, Cusset, Montluçon from Friday July 3; Commentry, July 16; Vichy, July 17. Last session around 23:30 p.m. in July / August and 22:30 p.m. in September / October. Every evening, as soon as night falls - Free - All ages - For total immersion, an application can be downloaded on a smartphone to enjoy the music track live.

Click on the image to enlarge - Photo: DR

David Raynal

* Video mapping, also called light fresco is a multimedia technology allowing to project light or videos on volumes, to recreate large images on raised structures, such as monuments, or to recreate universes in 360 °.

More about www.lumieres-bourbonnais.com

Moulins les Avenelles golf course
9 holes - Par 33 - 2500 m - Architects Fromanger and Adams - Created in 1986
The Avenelles
03000 Toulon-sur-Allier
Phone: 04 70 20 00 95
http://www.golfdesavenelles.com

Vichy Golf
18 holes - Par 70 - 5390 m - Architect Arnaud Massy - Created in 1907
Alley Georges Baugnies
03700 Bellerive-sur-Allier
Phone: 04 70 32 39 11
http://www.golf-vichy.fr

Golf of Sainte-Agathe
18 holes - Par 72 - 5674 m - Architect René Bréa
Villebret
03310 Neris les Bains
Phone: 04 70 08 91 54
http://www.golf-sainte-agathe.fr