Halloween special: Top 10 most haunted places in France

The All Saints' Day vacations in France have begun, and with them the perfect opportunity to experience Halloween night in a place surrounded by myths and legends. From the catacombs of Paris to the Gouffre de Padirac, passing by numerous castles as well as the forest of Brocéliande, discover ten extraordinary places that will give you the shivers.

1. Château de Commarque

This time it is not a human soul but an animal soul that haunts this castle in the Perigord dating from the 12th century. The daughter of the Count of Commarque fell in love with the son of the Baron de Beynas, her father's sworn enemy. When the Count discovered their secret love affair, he captured the young man. After keeping him locked up for several months in the castle dungeon, he had him beheaded. Legend has it that the horse of the unfortunate man still haunts the place, looking for its rider. The intrepid people who tried to cross his path all died on the spot under very strange circumstances.

2. Jardin du Trianon

On August 10, 1901, in the gardens of the Palace of Versailles, two Englishwomen experienced a kind of temporal regression and found themselves in the time of Marie-Antoinette. Since then, the case has not ceased to fascinate researchers in parapsychology. After visiting the Hall of Mirrors and the various rooms of Louis XIV's palace, the two women head for the Petit Trianon and venture into the park. Suddenly, they see people dressed in period costumes and some of them point them in the direction of a house at the end of a path. Since that day, it is rumored that the ghost of Marie-Antoinette is walking in the tree-lined alleys of Versailles. These two women have experienced a journey through time: the buildings and paths they saw have not existed for years.

3. Catacombes de Paris

It's a classic but always appreciated through the ages: the catacombs of Paris will make you shiver. Opened in 1786, this old quarry has become the ossuary of Paris, hosting several Parisian cemeteries that are closing. Let's go for a little tour in the Parisian underground to discover the bones of different eras, with more than 6 million people buried in these 300 km of galleries. A shivering and amazing visit to do during the Halloween period!

4. Forêt de Brocéliance

On the outskirts of the town of Paimpont, on the borders of Ille et Vilaine, the forest of Broceliande stands, mysterious, containing myths and legends... In Brittany, there is an imaginary forest full of stories and legends... a forest where the spirit of the marvelous characters of the Arthurian legend still hovers, and which today hides many places linked to this legend. The Forest of Broceliande, whose real name is the forest of Paimpont, is in the footsteps of King Arthur, the Fairy Vivian, and Merlin the Enchanter.  In the forest of Broceliande, Merlin the Enchanter is buried... According to legend, Merlin, Master of the forest, met the fairy Viviane in these woods and they fell madly in love. Out of jealousy, Viviane cast a spell on him and condemned him to stay forever with her in the forest. The spirit of Merlin still hovers over these places, where only two stone slabs remain. Even if according to some, the Enchanter is still alive...

5. Alignement de Carnac

Religious cult, astronomical site or army of stones? The function of the alignments still remains a great mystery. Legends were not long in spreading to explain the origin of the alignments. Saint Cornély was pope in Rome. Persecuted by a Roman emperor, he left the city accompanied by two oxen that carried his luggage and served as his mount when he was tired. Pursued by Roman soldiers, he fled across Gaul to the lands of the setting sun. He reached the top of a hill. In front of him, the ocean that cuts off his path, behind him, the army of his pursuers. Then, he turns around and raising his hand towards the sky, he turns the Roman soldiers into stones. These aligned stones are soldiers transformed into stones by Saint Cornély; they move only once a year. On Christmas night, at midnight, they go to drink in the nearby streams, and woe to those who would meet their path: they would all be crushed. Under many of these stones there are hidden treasures, but all those who wanted to look for them died.

6. Gouffre de Padirac

Widely in the lead of the French requests for mysterious places in France, the chasm of Padirac, located in the heart of the Dordogne valley, in the Lot, is an impressive geological curiosity of 33 meters in diameter and 75 meters deep. Legend has it that Lucifer himself dug this chasm (in Occitan, Padirac means "the devil's step"). Caught by Saint-Martin, who was running away from him, the devil offered him a deal: "Saint of misfortune, you will not jump my ditch. But if you succeed, you will save those souls from hell! With a blow of his heel, he opened the well-known abyss in the earth. Saint Martin took up the challenge and crossed the abyss, while Lucifer was swallowed up in the hole and the souls he was carrying in his bag were spared.

7. Château de Veauce

It is in Veauce, the smallest village in the Allier, that Baron Tagori de la Tour arrives in 1971. This strange character settled in the castle and began to tell crazy stories about the appearance of specters in the house. A certain Lucie, a maid who died as a prisoner in the 16th century, was said to haunt the castle. Several specialists and journalists would have lived a paranormal experience, assisted to apparitions or heard strange noises...

8.The White Lady of Palavas-les-Flots 

The White Lady is a classic for fans of the genre... In 1981, four young people from the Montpellier area decide to take a hitchhiker. The woman dressed in white gets on board between the two passengers in the back. A few minutes later, the woman, who had been silent until then, shouted "watch out for the bend, watch out for the bend! The driver, surprised, slows down and passes the bend without any problem, only a few moments later the passengers realize that the White Lady has disappeared while all the doors were closed... The police found out later that the young people were not drunk and all had the same version of the facts...

9. Château de Fougeret

In a few years, this elegant residence in the south of the Vienne has acquired the reputation of "the most haunted castle in France", receiving countless mediums, ghost hunters and other film crews. Here time does not count, it was frozen centuries ago. People come from all over France and even from abroad to spend the night in the little girl's room, the bailiff's room or the portrait's room, in the hope of making contact with the deceased. You will be neither consumer nor spectator of your stay but actor, in this residence attached to a mysterious shadowy zone. Without television, without wifi, without comfort, obliged to fetch wood to make a fire, everything takes another dimension. Here, not sleeping or sleeping little is a matter of your sensitivity. On the program, mediumship, numerology, work on past lives, life paths, spiritualism, hypnosis, wandering in the castle at night... The rules of procedure alone are chilling... Guests must have the civil liability waiver to be filled out on the site.

10.château de Puymartin

The date of construction of the Château de Puymartin dates back to the 13th century, around 1269, and the legend will make you tremble. It recounts the life of Thérèse de Saint-Clar, who was imprisoned for fifteen years in the north tower of the castle, after having cheated on her husband. The latter killed his wife's lover. The door of the tower was walled up and two bars on her window prevented her from escaping. Her food was brought to her through a small trap door, she slept on a poor straw mattress and the chimney allowed her to keep warm and cook. When she died, she did not leave the room because her body was even walled in. Since then, legend has it that Therese would come back to haunt the castle at night around midnight, walking up and down the stairs, in her room and on the walkways.

-Jade