Bains Doux et Bain Fort de Rennes-les-Bains

Rennes-les-Bains

At Rennes-les-Bains, hot springs emerge near the river Salz. The Bain Doux, at the entrance to the village, is also known as the Bain des Ladres. According to a local historian, Gino Sandri, in the Gazette de Rennes-les-Bains (2009), lepers lived in the surrounding area and archaeologists are said to have found one of their cemeteries; this fact is reported only by him. The Bain Fort, very close by, was for a long time a wash-house where young people bathed, before being cemented over and closed because of its enormous popularity. The Romans knew these waters: Dr Paul Courrent published in 1934 a text on the ‘thermes romains (ancien Bain Fort)’, and the same local historian speaks of statues of Hygieia and Asclepius found on the spot. A scholar from Toulouse at the beginning of the 19th century notes that several Celtic medals were picked up there, so the baths may have been in use before Rome. He writes that the place was formerly called the baths of Montferrand; a local document, without a source, gives this name in 1377 and in 1571. The same scholar counts, around 1800, five springs of which three are hot; the Rainfort reaches 41 degrees Réaumur, about 51 °C. In 1805 the marquis de Fleury launched major works, and the Nouveaux Thermes opened in 1870. Around the village, the old texts name other emergences, none of which has enough material for an entry. The Bain de la Reine, one of the three establishments recorded at the end of the 18th century along with the Bains Doux and the Bains Forts, occupied the ground floor of the hôtel de la Reine, and its spring rises in the garden (article of 1913). The analysis of the early 19th century judges its taste ‘austere’; a local historian gives it at 42 °C. According to the legend, reported by Wikipédia FR, it was there that Queen Blanche de Bourbon (1339–1361), exiled to Peyrepertuse, is said to have been cured of leprosy, hence the name; no detailed early source for this was found. Near the Bain de la Reine, M. Gastilleur had created the Bains Sainte-Marie (article of 1913). The springs of the Bains Forts and Marie fed the thermal establishment until 1997; a flood of September 1992 had destroyed their protective works, and the water has since come from the Yvroux borehole, at about 32–33 °C (opinion of the Académie de médecine, 2004). The cold waters are ferruginous: the former fontaine du Cercle, 800 m above the village, which the analysis of the early 19th century describes as ‘styptic and acidulous’, and, under a small bridge, 200 m beyond the Bains Doux, a ferruginous spring (Pont, Pontet or Poulet depending on the texts). A third bath of Rennes-les-Bains, the Bain de la Reine, owes its name to an old legend. According to Louis Fédié (1880), an old chronicle ‘passed into the state of legend’ says that a queen Blanche, treated with the waters of Rennes, gave it her name. Fédié identifies her with Blanche de Bourgogne, wife of King Peter the Cruel of Castile and a refugee in the château of Peyrepertuse; the account of 1849 and Wikipedia speak of Blanche de Bourbon. A travel account of 1849 places this bath ten minutes from the village, on the bank of the river, on the left bank.

Getting there: The Bain Doux is at the roadside of the D 14, just before the village, with pools on the river bank; you have to walk from the car park (Atlas Obscura, published February 2024; Komoot). The free and permitted nature of bathing is not confirmed by any official source: to be checked with the town hall. The Bain Fort, cemented over and closed, cannot be visited (Wikipedia EN, date not specified); a modern, paying establishment is open in the village. Coordinates: ‘Bains doux’ node in OpenStreetMap (42.92212; 2.31759), confirmed to within 30 m by Atlas Obscura and Komoot; Bain Fort at 42.92007; 2.32038 (OSM).

Opening times and access details are given as a guide only: check before you set out.

Ambient sound