A stop on the Route Historique des Châteaux d'Auvergne discovery trail, the Château de La Batisse near the village of Chanonat is an elegant 15th- to 18th-century, southern-French-style manor house flanked by round towers and surrounded by formal gardens by the school of French landscape architect Le Nôtre. The guided tour of the interior highlights beautiful 16th-, 17th- and 18th-century furniture, as well as frescoes and tapestries.
The gardens are on France's official "Remarkable Gardens" list and their water fountains, rock-work grottoes, plant maze, rose garden and waterfalls make them a lovely place to wander around.
