The month of October is synonymous with Halloween. Thus, it seems right to share a list of the most haunted places in France to prepare your next vacation.
1. Le Château de Fougeret
City of Queaux, Vienne. A majestic building, has been classified as haunted since the 14th century when the Hundred Year War began.
The Fougeret castle is one of the favorite places of people loving thrills and the paranormal. It even made the news. People have claimed to see threatening apparitions and hear voices screaming at visitors to go away. The castles ghosts seem to wish to be left alone.
Bonus: People say that a man had been touched by ghosts while he was cutting trees in the castle’s park.
2. The apartment Square La Bruyère (Paris 9)
City of Paris, in a HLM housing. Several awful tragedies gave this place the reputation of being doomed.
First incident: Most likely the worst of all, the tenant had been cut in to pieces with a saw, then carefully placed in a suitcase found in the Gare de Lyon. The next tenant, an antiques dealer, committed suicide. The third one died due to unexplained circumstances. And the last one… threw herself through the window after writing the following note: “The thing pushed me to die.” Weirdly enough, the apartment has remained uninhabited since then.
3. The house of the ghost of Cramant.
City of Cramant, in the Marne. The house is seemingly pretty normal, but has been left abandoned for a long time. A couple, the Meslats, decided to move in to the house in 1967. Soon after, they started hearing footsteps on the second floor and muffled screams. Noises as a wooded leg on the stairs resonated every night. Unfortunately, it didn’t stop there, the ghost started to attack them and violently knock them out against the walls. After a hospitalization, the couple left the house forever.
People say that the house was haunted by a British sailor whom, at the beginning of the 20th century, was assassinated and thrown in the well. A little bit like in the movie The Ring.
4. The White Lady of Palavas-les-Flots
White Ladies are one the most famous paranormal phenomenons. Dozens of cases in France and abroad, and each time, the same scenario. One story is however a bit more renowned than the others: One night of 1981, a mysterious female hitchhiker got in the car of many sober young people (Police investigation confirmed it) in Palavas-les-Flots. Her description: Dressed in white, in her fifties, and unwilling to speak. Sitting in back, she would always disappeared after screaming: “Mind the turn, mind the turn”, while the car was driving. If you take this road between the sea resort and Montpelier, be ready to welcome the While Lady on board!
5. The Castle of Brissac
The tallest castle in France, Pays de la Loire, has been turned into a private mansion. This wonderful building, besides being beautiful, is the place of residence of another White Lady. She would be the ghost of Charlotte, wife of Jacques Brézé, former owner of the castle. The story tells us that she was pierced by her husband’s sword for falling in love with another man. The young woman refused to follow the light and enjoys night walking though the corridors.
Bonus: If you are lucky, it would even be possible to hear dreadful screams.
6. The bleeding house
This is one of the most famous story in France, covered by the news.
Remicourt neighborhood, St Quentin in the Aisne. A family moves in to an ordinary house, then they start to hear pans clanging and groaning coming from the first floor, but think at first it could be the neighbors. But when the walls start to bleed, it starts to raise a lot more questions. Thinking first about paint, they ask for an analysis of the liquid. Confirmed result, it is human blood running down their walls. To rule out the hypothesis of a bad joke, the family and the investigators leave the house after putting flour everywhere on the floor. When they come back and blood is everywhere. It doesn’t stop flowing anymore. Finally, the decision is taken, the house will be destroyed. Under it, we discover the the graves of about fifty German soldiers from the First World War. Since being rebuilt, the original house was never spoken about again. This story makes us think about the infamous house of “The Amityville Horror”.
7. The Man in red of the Tuileries
Palace of the Tuileries, Paris. Few tourists or Parisians know that a ghost would haunt the place. This spirit would be the origin of one of the most famous Parisian legends. The story tells us that a butcher had his throat cut by order of Catherine of Medici, because he knew some of the biggest secrets of the Crown. He would have also announced the place where the Queen will die. Known as the Man in red of the Tuileries, this ghost would appear to announce that a tragedy is coming. It is said he appeared to Marie-Antoinette and to Napoleon 1st and could be seen at a Palace’s window during the fire of May, 23rd 1971.
8. The manor of Ste-Geneviève des Brumes
Bouchevilliers, Normandy. A spooky building in the mist could be one of the most haunted in the Hexagon. No owner stays long between those walls. Why? Scary noises, freezing breath, apparitions of a ghost coffin in the corridors among other paranormal occurrences. But that’s not all, the specters of three monks would appear by the Epte River, a disturbing woman with a pale face would sometimes show herself to visitors. Between dark magic and story of the Templar, the manor fascinates as much as it frightens.
9. Castle of Blandy-les-Tours
Blandy-les-Tours, Seine et Marne. Here is the most haunted place in France. Why does it have this gruesome reputation? An amazing number of ghosts. For All Soul’s day, there would be dozens whirling around the medieval ramparts, along with the traditional iron chain noises (a classic) and screaming coming from the underground. The specter of a Lord from the 10th Century, awful murderer, would walked through the rooms of the castle… in a bloody suit and armed with a knife. Yes, that’s all.
10. Castle of Bonaguil
Bonaguil, Lot-et-Garonne. Film set of the cult movie “Le Vieux Fusil” (The Old Gun a.k.a. Vengeance One by One) by Robert Enrico. The Castle of Bonaguil is highly praised by the tourists for its amazing medieval architecture. But for others, its ghosts are the main reason for its fame. Another White Lady for example, but not only, we also hear about a hidden gate open to Hell somewhere on this property.
The RIP team (Paranormal Investigators) investigated, and reported troubling facts: pressure on the shoulder, a burning feeling, howling in the wind, temperature drops, lots of unexplained noises… Plenty of phenomenon that made of this place one the most haunted places in France.
For the brave who are still with us, we wish you good night and mostly, a Happy Halloween.
