NEWS & IDEAS FOR YOUR STAY
WEEKEND VAL DE LOIRE

52 kms from the Logis Domaine des Dryades, is the beautiful Argentomagus Archaeological Museum. It proposes to the visitors to cross the ages of Palaeolithic and bronze to arrive until the time when Argentomagus was an important Gallo-Roman city located on the current communes of Saint Marcel and Argenton-sur-Creuse. Outside the museum, you can see the excavation field that is still active and, a few hundred meters away, you can also visit the ancient theater. The museum is located at Les Mersans, in the commune of Saint Marcel, and is open from September 1st to June 30th, every day except Tuesday, from 9:30 am to 12 pm and from 2 pm to 6 pm. The archaeological site can be visited every day without interruption. Website : www.argentomagus.fr Founded in 1150, the Abbey of Noirlac is the only abbey in Berry that can be seen in its entirety. You will be able to visit its Latin cross church, its conventual buildings and its cloister dating from the 13th and 14th centuries. Located at 62 kms from the Logis Hôtel Les Dryades, this Cistercian abbey is open from February 1st to March 31st from 2pm to 5pm. For the past twenty years, the Abbey of Noirlac has hosted a vocal art festival in July. Website : www.abbayedenoirlac.com

At 6 kms from the Domaine des Dryades, is the small town of Sainte-Sévère-sur-Indre and the Maison Jour de Fête. Sainte-Sévère was, in 1947, the main shooting place of Jacques Tati's movie, "Jour de Fête". You can discover Sainte-Sévère sur Indre and the different filming locations with the help of a map that you can download from the website http://cdt18.tourinsoft.com/UPLOAD/depliant-Ste-Severe.pdf or by downloading the GPTO/(36) Ste Sévère route application with your smartphone. In 2009, the Maison Jour de Fête was opened on the central square, near the 17th century market hall and the fortified gate. The visit is done in the form of a show in Scenovision which mixes projections of images, reconstituted decorations and animated decorations. www.maisonjourdefete.com If you are in the mood for nature and fresh air, we advise you to go to the Parc des Parelles which is only 7 kms from the Domaine des Dryades. Classified as a sensitive natural area, the Parc des Parelles is a 24-hectare park dotted with granite boulders and crossed by streams. A picnic area is available on the site. The park is located at Le Petit Pommier, in Crevant and can be visited every day. The entrance fee is 2 Euros for adults and 1 Euro for children under 12.

"I have always loved this country, this nature, this silence..." said the writer George Sand when talking about the Indre and the Berrichonne countryside. Located 11 kms from the Domaine des Dryades, the Domaine de Nohant, George Sand's main residence, is a very interesting place to visit. You will be pleased to visit this house built at the end of the 18th century and in which George Sand lived and received famous artists such as Balzac, Chopin, Delacroix, Flaubert and many others. Near the House of George Sand, there is a beautiful park full of hundred-year-old trees, some of which are classified as Remarkable Trees. In addition to the classic visits that you can make in the house which is open every day from 10 am to 12:30 pm and from 2 pm to 5 pm, you will be able to take part, on January 28 from 3 pm, in a commented visit entitled "Nohant Autrement" (price: 8€). For more information, you can contact 02 54 31 06 04. On Wednesday, February 1st, the House of George Sand will host a reading of three short stories by Michel Grosgurin. Entitled "Sweet and sour and other flavors", this reading will take place at 8:30 pm at the Grenier Littéraire du Domaine de George Sand. You must reserve your place at 02 54 31 06 04.

.... After almost two decades at the head of the Dryades, Antonio Amengual, Maurice Vedy and Mick Micheyl, then in their 80s, decided to separate themselves from the whole of the Dryades Estate due to their age. In September 2006, the three friends invited, as they do every year but for the last time, their friends to a gastronomic dinner at the Dryades followed by a gala offered by artist friends. In addition to journalists from the Lyon region, where Mick Micheyl was born and lived, there were Rika Zaraï; the singer Michel Monaco; Lulu and Fred, the Dalida and Edith Piaf impersonators in the Cabaret Michou troupe; the singer-songwriter Jean-Paul Cara; the actor who played Laverdure on the screen, Christian Marin; and the parents of the comedian and impersonator Laurent Gerra. All the artists present performed one last time on the Dryades stage that evening in September 2006. In November 2006, the Domaine des Dryades was finally sold by Antonio Amengual, Maurice Vedy and Mick Micheyl to a Spanish family group that still owns it today. Since its purchase, the hotel, spa and golf facilities have been regularly renovated and embellished, and new facilities such as the 9-hole compact course have been created. In recent years, the hotel has had the pleasure of welcoming tens of thousands of guests, including, it should be noted, some celebrities. Johnny Depp and Vanessa Paradis; the reality TV star, Nabila; Laëtitia Milot, the actress of the series "Plus Belle La Vie" and, very recently, the presenter, Stéphane Bern have stayed at Les Dryades. As for the three founders of Les Dryades, Maurice Vedy and Antonio Amengual settled a few blocks away from Les Dryades and, more precisely, in La Châtre. Very attached to the Domaine des Dryades, they returned regularly. They left in 2013 and 2016 respectively. Mick Micheyl, who celebrated his 94th birthday in 2016, retired to his native region of Lyon and resides at the retirement home in Montmerle sur Saône. We look forward to seeing you next week for a new episode on Les Dryades with a touch of humor !!!!

Opened in June 2001, the Parc Animalier des Monts de Guéret allows visitors to observe wolves in a protected wilderness environment. The different packs of wolves living in the park can be observed from specially equipped blinds. Located at 50 kms from the Logis Hôtel Les Dryades, the Parc Animalier des Monts de Guéret is precisely at the place called Puy de la Mazade, at Sainte Feyre. Website : www.loups-chabrieres.com 52 kms from the Logis Domaine des Dryades, is the beautiful Argentomagus Archaeological Museum. It proposes to the visitors to cross the ages of the Palaeolithic and the bronze to arrive until the time when Argentomagus was an important Gallo-Roman city located on the current communes of Saint Marcel and Argenton-sur-Creuse. Outside the museum, you can see the excavation field that is still active and, a few hundred meters away, you can also visit the ancient theater. The museum is located at Les Mersans, in the commune of Saint Marcel, and is open from September 1st to June 30th, every day except Tuesday, from 9:30 am to 12 pm and from 2 pm to 6 pm. The archaeological site can be visited every day without interruption. Website : www.argentomagus.fr Founded in 1150, the Abbey of Noirlac is the only abbey in Berry that can be seen in its entirety. You will be able to visit its Latin cross church, its conventual buildings and its cloister dating from the 13th and 14th centuries. Located at 62 kms from the Logis Hôtel Les Dryades, this Cistercian abbey is open from February 1st to March 31st from 2pm to 5pm. For the past twenty years, the Abbey of Noirlac has hosted a vocal art festival in July. Website : www.abbayedenoirlac.com

At 56 kms from the Domaine des Dryades, is the town of Issoudun. During a stroll through the streets of this charming little town, you can discover the Tour Blanche, an imposing belfry and fortifications. Built in 1195 at the request of Richard the Lionheart, the Tour Blanche is a beautiful keep that measures nearly 27 meters. In February, you will unfortunately only be able to admire this magnificent building from the outside, but you should know that from April onwards, the monument is open to the public and allows you to have a very beautiful view of the city of Issoudun and its surroundings. During your visit of Issoudun, you will have to visit the Museum of the Hospice Saint Roch. https://www.museeissoudun.tv/ Located on the banks of the river Théols, the museum is installed in a former Hôtel-Dieu. It houses a collection of pharmacy furniture from the 17th and 18th centuries, a lapidary collection dating from the 8th to the 15th centuries and two monumental sculptures representing the Tree of Jesse in its 15th century chapel. The museum reopened on February 1st. Its opening days and hours are Wednesday to Sunday, from 10am to 12pm and from 2pm to 6pm. About ten kilometers from Issoudun and about 60 kms from the Domaine des Dryades, don't miss the village of Saint Valentin! http://www.village-saint-valentin.com/ Even if the lovers' day has already passed a few days ago, no doubt you will enjoy walking hand in hand in the lovers' garden. Before taking this romantic stroll, we recommend you to have lunch in the French-Japanese restaurant on February 14. No need to tell you that you have to make a reservation before going to this restaurant with a very original cuisine which got a Michelin star! Finally, about 15 kilometers from Issoudun and about 70 kms from the Logis Hôtel Les Dryades, the vines that give birth to the good wine of Reuilly are cultivated. You will be able to visit one of the cellars which propose white, red and rosé Reuilly. Several wineries open their doors to visitors: - domaine Didier Martin located on Route d'Issoudun, in Reuilly (tel: 02 54 49 20 77) - domaine Guy Malbête, which also sells its products on the property and offers educational tours (16 Rue du Boulanger, 36260 Reuilly/ tel : 02 54 49 25 09) - domaine Chassiot, which also sells its wines on the property and offers tours (24 Route du Bas Berry, 36260 Reuilly/ tel : 02 54 49 20 70) - and many other wineries.

Born in 1922 in Lyon, she enters the Beaux Arts in 1939 until 1942, with all the diplomas: Painter and decorator, in her city. In 1950 she went to Paris and started singing: it worked. http://www.ina.fr/video/I07054630 In 1974 she returned to graphic art and left the boards. Since then, her steel engravings have travelled the world. She will not stop until the sky tells her to. From 1950 to 1973, she made all of France sing and much more. Since 1974, she entrusts steel, which she sands, brushes and engraves, her thoughts and creations for the greatest pleasure of our eyes. Courted star of the music hall for 25 years, she has sung about love, the joy of living but also sorrow and loneliness. For 25 years, she has been telling us the same feelings on steel. From Paris to Tokyo, from Dallas to Lyon, from Dakar to Shanghai, she walks her eyes over the thousand splendors of our earth. And her thousand sadnesses to melt them in stainless steel. At the same time, she shares her dazzling vision with the visitors of her countless exhibitions around the world. The Pictorial Art as sculptural, counts few feminine names. Mick Micheyl has invented a technique of Steel Engraving that makes it a unique art form, which she describes as follows "I draw with light, it is trapped by the small wounds I inflict on the Metal, with the abrasives of an electric sander. It is neither painting nor sculpture, it is my expression."

The month of March marks the reopening of the very pretty castles that Berry counts. We advise you to go to 60 kms from the Logis Hôtel Les Dryades to visit the Château de Meillant. The Castle of Meillant is a monumental construction in flamboyant gothic style from the end of the 15th century. You will also be able to see old cars, miniature reconstitutions of fortresses and medieval villages and magic tricks. The Château de Meillant is open from March 1st to 31st every day from 2pm to 6pm. The entrance fee for this monument located at 1 Rue Uzay, in Meillant is between 6 and 8,50€. Website : www.chateaudemeillant.fr The beautiful Château de Bouges, located about 80 kms from the Domaine des Dryades, has also just reopened. Nicknamed the "little Trianon", this 18th century castle is surrounded by a French garden classified as a Remarkable Garden and an 80 hectare English park. The stables, the saddlery and the horse-drawn carriage museum are also part of the sights to be visited within the walls of the Château de Bouges. During the month of March, the Château de Bouges is only open on Saturdays and Sundays from 10am to 12pm and from 2pm to 5pm. Website : www.chateau-bouges.fr If you don't want to go too far from the Logis Hôtel Les Dryades Golf & Spa, some interesting cultural and sports activities are organized near the Dryades this weekend: on Saturday, March 4th, a cabaret evening and a trad ball will take place, a few hundred meters from the Domaine des Dryades, in the small town of Pouligny Notre Dame. Animated by a very famous traditional music group in Berry, namely the Sonneurs de la Vallée Noire, the musical event will take place at the socio-cultural center from 8:30 pm. It is necessary to reserve at 02 54 30 24 95 or 02 54 30 51 97 (price : 5€ for the more than 12 years old); on Saturday, March 4 and Sunday, March 5, the Brandon Festival is organized in Tranzault (26 km from the Logis Hôtel Les Dryades). On Saturday evening, there will be an entrecote evening and, on Sunday, there will be a ball, pot-au-feu and fireworks. For reservations, please contact 06 70 80 75 81 ; on Sunday, March 5, the town of La Châtre, which is 10 km from the Domaine des Dryades, will host the 33rd Festival des Musiciens. The festival is free and will take place at 3pm in the Salle des Fêtes of La Châtre. For more information, you can contact 02 54 48 22 64 ; on the same Sunday, March 5, the most courageous will be able to participate in the walking tour organized in Fougerolles (22 kms from the Logis Hôtel Les Dryades). The departure for the 11, 15 and 19 kms circuits will be at 8 am from the village hall of Fougerolles.

This week, we invite you to discover the small town of La Châtre which is located 11 kilometers from the Domaine des Dryades and which is one of the 100 Most Beautiful Places in France. You will certainly appreciate the old town; the 15th century dungeon which became a prison and is now a museum; the Sainte Radegonde fountain; the old tanners' quarter; the half-timbered houses, .. We advise you to go there on Saturday morning to attend the market which is held on a square in the heart of the city. You will discover local producers selling vegetables, fruits and cheeses of the highest quality and freshness. If you're looking for Christmas gifts, don't hesitate to visit the Christmas Boutique on the same square where the market is held! Open from November 17 to December 24, from 10:00 am to 12:30 pm and from 2:30 pm to 7:00 pm, this ephemeral store offers local products and crafts. Then, discover the history of the city by walking through the 21 steps of the historical route and by taking the time to read the signs posted on the facades of the monuments or placed in front of the various sites! The Tourist Office of the George Sand region, located at 134 Rue Nationale, can provide you with a free leaflet indicating the route to be taken. The guided tour of La Châtre can also be done free of charge thanks to the Guidigo application which is available on Android and Apple; you can download the tour route there. The Tourist Office of the Pays de George Sand also offers guided tours on request. You can contact the Tourist Office at 02 54 48 22 64. If you like fresh air, you will enjoy walking on the paths along the Indre river. On Saturday November 25, if you go to the market, make a small detour to the magnificent Hôtel de Villaines, one of the oldest buildings in La Châtre! In addition to admiring this beautiful building, you will be able to participate for free in the plant barter organized by the association of Castra, Flore et Vertumne. The barter will take place from 9am to 1pm in the inner courtyard of the Hôtel de Villaines. In the same Hôtel de Villaines, you will also be able to attend, if you wish, at 11:30 a.m. a conference given by Thomas Chatton on the shrikes of Berry. This free conference will be held on the 4th floor. On Sunday, November 26, the city of La Châtre will host an Advent Concert. The vocal ensemble Aredia will give this concert at 3:30 pm at the Chapelle des Capucins. Finally, we wanted to remind you that you only have a few days left to see the exhibition "Distilled" of the artist, Sandra Binion, which is held at the House of George Sand in Nohant (12 kms from the Hotel Les Dryades Golf & Spa). This exhibition, which we have mentioned in our two previous blogs and which has as its theme the deep friendship between George Sand and Gustave Flaubert, ends on Sunday, November 26. It can be seen during the paid visits of the House of George Sand and can be seen in free visit on Saturday from 10 am to 12:30 pm.

Known for having presented the television news in the 60s and 70s and for having co-hosted the game show Intervilles with Guy Lux, Léon Zitrone came to stay at the Hotel Les Dryades Golf & Spa several times in the 80s. In the media, many described him as having a very bad temper. He did not deny this trait of his personality during one of his stays at Les Dryades when he threw down the camera of a young client who had approached him to take some pictures. François Calderaro, from Reims, came to the Dryades for a training course in the early 1990s with the Paris Saint Germain club. At the time, he was known for being the second highest scorer in the French Division 1 championship after Jean-Pierre Papin. What a surprise it was for Antonio Amengual, Maurice Vedy, Mick Micheyl and the clients of the Dryades when one of the best center forwards in the French League 1 took the microphone one evening and started to sing a song on the stage of the Dryades with a beautiful voice! The surprise was even greater when several of his PSG partners came on stage to sing the chorus and accompany him with some musical instruments. The Hotel Les Dryades Golf & Spa was and still is an exceptional place to organize weddings. In the 80's and 90's, many Parisian couples came to celebrate their union at the hotel but, as everyone knows, these events are often a source of stress and sometimes lead to crazy situations. A young Parisian couple, who had been planning their dream wedding for over a year and had had a magnificent wedding dress designed by a famous Parisian couturier, found themselves more than a little disconcerted on the day of their wedding. Getting ready in her room at the Dryades, the young bride was horrified to realize, a few hours before the ceremony, that she had forgotten one of the most important elements of her wedding celebration: her wedding dress. Maurice Vedy and Antonio Amengual, who were not short of resources and ideas, came to the rescue of the young bride by proposing that a helicopter land at Les Dryades and take her to her Parisian home where she could retrieve her dress. No sooner said than done... the young woman flew back and forth by helicopter from Paris to Berry, but when she arrived at the door of her apartment, she realized with horror that she had forgotten her keys. The door of the apartment did not resist for a long time to the repeated assaults of the shoulders and the feet and the young woman could, finally, recover her wedding dress which, let us say on the tone of the joke, waited for her quite wisely in the room of her apartment. With time running out, there was no other choice for the young woman than to go directly by helicopter to the Château de Culan where the ceremony was to take place. In the urgency of the situation, she had neither the time nor the opportunity to put on her beautiful wedding dress. She was finally forced to change behind one of the walls of the Château de Culan. This little incident did not spoil the wedding, but it did spice up the proceedings a bit and is, without a doubt, one of the most incredible anecdotes of the Dryads.

The first acquisition of Maurice Vedy, Antonio Amengual and Mick Micheyl in Pouligny Notre Dame in 1957 was the Manoir de Pouligny Notre Dame. Bought from the Baroness d'Arripe, the castle, also known as Le Manoir, was built in the early Middle Ages and, more precisely, in the 11th century. Its fortified entrance gates were accessed by means of a drawbridge and a fixed bridge. Long inhabited by nobles, it was the object of important renovations and reconstructions in the 12th and 17th centuries. The current construction dates from the 13th and 17th centuries. Like any very old building, the Castle or Manor House remains today a very mysterious place which is the object of many legends and stories. It is, in particular, supposed to have welcomed Queen Marie-Antoinette for a night. Underground passages are said to extend around the castle for several kilometers. In the book "Les Contes du Vieux Manoir", Jean Ribeyrol-Pecquerie evokes, in particular, the existence of underground passages between the church of Pouligny Notre Dame and the castle and raises the mystery in its terms: "It seems that there was a direct connection between the chapel, which became the parish church, and the castle. Part of this connection was a small open road. One left the holy place through the door on the right in the choir; on the outside there are still the remains of a sundial. The path leading to the castle ended at a washhouse from a fountain, the fountain of Sainte-Radegonde, and about halfway up the hill, one entered through an underground passage leading into the moat. In the castle, two exits were possible, one in the moat (...), the other in one of the cellars of the commons. If the exit through the moat is now walled up, the other one, the one in the cellars, must still exist because there is a rather deep excavation; is it the beginning of the underground passage or a sort of very deep ice house? (...) Another underground passage would exist between the castle and a problematic destination by passing through the new cemetery. A cattle belonging to the castle once had the painful experience of disappearing into a hole that no one knew about. The mystery about these underground passages that lead into the castle remains unresolved, since neither the former nor the current owners have dared to venture into the depths of the castle's cellars. It is rumored that the castle also contains a treasure in the form of a bell filled with gold. This belief would have been so strong in the 19th and 20th centuries that one of the priests of Pouligny Notre Dame would have gone out of his way to pass by the Château every day, praying to heaven that he would one day find the treasure. It is also said that the Manor of Pouligny Notre Dame would have inspired the writer George Sand whose residence was only about ten kilometers from Pouligny Notre Dame and, more precisely, in Nohant. In her novel "Mauprat", whose plot took place in the Marche and Berry regions and which she published in 1837, the castle of La Roche Mauprat may have turned out to be the Manor of Pouligny Notre Dame, but nothing is less certain. What is certain, however, is that there is a reference to Pouligny Notre Dame in the novel since one of the protagonists of the novel, Antoine de Mauprat, is described as having gone there and slept there. The presence of a virgin under a bell in the living room of the castle would attest, in any case, to a link, however tenuous, between George Sand and the Manor of Pouligny Notre Dame. Indeed, this virgin would have belonged to the Good Lady of Nohant and would have been offered by one of the members of George Sand's family to the owners of the Castle at the time. In addition to being the main residence of Maurice Vedy, Antonio Amengual and Mick Micheyl, the Manoir de Pouligny Notre Dame was also a magnificent exhibition space for the works of Mick Micheyl whose motto had become, by the mid-1970s, "I sand therefore I am". A graduate of the Beaux Arts in Lyon, she had never given up drawing and painting during her career as a singer and producer, but in 1974 she left the limelight to devote herself to creating stainless steel. To Le Point magazine, she explained this change of life in 2013 in these terms: "It was thanks to a friend who was sanding down an old car body in the sun that I had the revelation. I invented a technique and filed a patent. In 1974, I left the boards for steel. This famous technique consisted, with the help of an electric sander, to make appear on steel plates of the forms which refracted the light by suggesting volumes. For nearly three decades, she sold her works and received commissions from all over the world, including the Musée Masséna in Nice and the Presidency of Senegal. In addition to being exhibited in the outbuildings of the Manoir de Pouligny Notre Dame, her work was also shown at the Hotel Les Dryades and in numerous galleries around the world. She continued to create and exhibit her work for several years after leaving the Manoir de Pouligny Notre Dame and the Domaine des Dryades. The steel particles seriously injured her eyes and she was finally forced to give up her passion for steel in the late 2000s. You can still admire Mick Micheyl's work in the Hotel Spa Les Dryades, including several of his sculptures in the breakfast room on the 6th floor and a painting in the Bistrot des Dryades.

The first acquisition of Maurice Vedy, Antonio Amengual and Mick Micheyl in Pouligny Notre Dame in 1957 was the Manoir de Pouligny Notre Dame. Bought from the Baroness d'Arripe, the castle, also known as Le Manoir, was built in the early Middle Ages and, more precisely, in the 11th century. Its fortified entrance gates were accessed by means of a drawbridge and a fixed bridge. Long inhabited by nobles, it was the object of important renovations and reconstructions in the 12th and 17th centuries. The current construction dates from the 13th and 17th centuries. Like any very old building, the Castle or Manor House remains today a very mysterious place which is the object of many legends and stories. It is, in particular, supposed to have welcomed Queen Marie-Antoinette for a night. Underground passages are said to extend around the castle for several kilometers. In the book "Les Contes du Vieux Manoir", Jean Ribeyrol-Pecquerie evokes, in particular, the existence of underground passages between the church of Pouligny Notre Dame and the castle and raises the mystery in its terms: "It seems that there was a direct connection between the chapel, which became the parish church, and the castle. Part of this connection was a small open road. One left the holy place through the door on the right in the choir; on the outside there are still the remains of a sundial. The path leading to the castle ended at a washhouse from a fountain, the fountain of Sainte-Radegonde, and about halfway up the hill, one entered through an underground passage leading into the moat. In the castle, two exits were possible, one in the moat (...), the other in one of the cellars of the commons. If the exit through the moat is now walled up, the other one, the one in the cellars, must still exist because there is a rather deep excavation; is it the beginning of the underground or a sort of very deep ice house? (...) Another underground would exist between the castle and a problematic destination by passing through the new cemetery. A cattle belonging to the castle once had the painful experience of disappearing into a hole that no one knew about. The mystery about these underground passages that lead into the castle remains unresolved, since neither the former nor the current owners have dared to venture into the depths of the castle's cellars. It is rumored that the castle also contains a treasure in the form of a bell filled with gold. This belief would have been so strong in the 19th and 20th centuries that one of the priests of Pouligny Notre Dame would have gone out of his way to pass by the Château every day, praying to heaven that he would one day find the treasure. It is also said that the Manor of Pouligny Notre Dame would have inspired the writer George Sand whose residence was only about ten kilometers from Pouligny Notre Dame and, more precisely, in Nohant. In her novel "Mauprat", whose plot took place in the Marche and Berry regions and which she published in 1837, the castle of La Roche Mauprat may have turned out to be the Manor of Pouligny Notre Dame, but nothing is less certain. What is certain, however, is that there is a reference to Pouligny Notre Dame in the novel since one of the protagonists of the novel, Antoine de Mauprat, is described as having gone there and slept there. The presence of a virgin under a bell in the living room of the castle would attest, in any case, to a link, however tenuous, between George Sand and the Manor of Pouligny Notre Dame. Indeed, this virgin would have belonged to the Good Lady of Nohant and would have been offered by one of the members of George Sand's family to the owners of the Castle at the time. In addition to being the main residence of Maurice Vedy, Antonio Amengual and Mick Micheyl, the Manoir de Pouligny Notre Dame was also a magnificent exhibition space for the works of Mick Micheyl whose motto had become, by the mid-1970s, "I sand therefore I am". A graduate of the Beaux Arts in Lyon, she had never given up drawing and painting during her career as a singer and producer, but in 1974 she left the limelight to devote herself to creating stainless steel. To Le Point magazine, she explained this change of life in 2013 in these terms: "It was thanks to a friend who was sanding down an old car body in the sun that I had the revelation. I invented a technique and filed a patent. In 1974, I left the boards for steel. This famous technique consisted, with the help of an electric sander, to make appear on steel plates of the forms which refracted the light by suggesting volumes. For nearly three decades, she sold her works and received commissions from all over the world, including the Musée Masséna in Nice and the Presidency of Senegal. In addition to being exhibited in the outbuildings of the Manoir de Pouligny Notre Dame, her work was also shown at the Hotel Les Dryades and in numerous galleries around the world. She continued to create and exhibit her work for several years after leaving the Manoir de Pouligny Notre Dame and the Domaine des Dryades. The steel particles seriously injured her eyes and she was finally forced to give up her passion for steel in the late 2000s. You can still admire in the walls of the Hotel Les Dryades works of Mick Micheyl including several of his sculptures in the breakfast room on the 6th floor and a painting in the Bistrot des Dryades. We hope that you have enjoyed these few epidotes on the history of the Dryades domain and that you will continue to consult our blog regularly.

Known for having presented the television news in the 60s and 70s and for having co-hosted the game show Intervilles with Guy Lux, Léon Zitrone came to stay at the Hotel Les Dryades Golf & Spa several times in the 80s. In the media, many described him as having a very bad temper. He did not deny this trait of his personality during one of his stays at Les Dryades when he threw down the camera of a young client who had approached him to take some pictures. François Calderaro, from Reims, came to the Dryades for a training course in the early 1990s with the Paris Saint Germain club. At the time, he was known for being the second highest scorer in the French Division 1 championship after Jean-Pierre Papin. What a surprise it was for Antonio Amengual, Maurice Vedy, Mick Micheyl and the clients of the Dryades when one of the best center forwards in the French League 1 took the microphone one evening and started to sing a song on the stage of the Dryades with a beautiful voice! The surprise was even greater when several of his PSG partners came on stage to sing the chorus and accompany him with some musical instruments. The Hotel Les Dryades Golf & Spa was and still is an exceptional place to organize weddings. In the 80's and 90's, many Parisian couples came to celebrate their union at the hotel but, as everyone knows, these events are often a source of stress and sometimes lead to crazy situations. A young Parisian couple, who had been planning their dream wedding for over a year and had had a magnificent wedding dress designed by a famous Parisian couturier, found themselves more than a little disconcerted on the day of their wedding. Getting ready in her room at the Dryades, the young bride was horrified to realize, a few hours before the ceremony, that she had forgotten one of the most important elements of her wedding celebration: her wedding dress. Maurice Vedy and Antonio Amengual, who were not short of resources and ideas, came to the rescue of the young bride by proposing that a helicopter land at Les Dryades and take her to her Parisian home where she could retrieve her dress. No sooner said than done... the young woman flew back and forth by helicopter from Paris to Berry, but when she arrived at the door of her apartment, she realized with horror that she had forgotten her keys. The door of the apartment did not resist for a long time to the repeated assaults of the shoulders and the feet and the young woman could, finally, recover her wedding dress which, let us say on the tone of the joke, waited for her quite wisely in the room of her apartment. With time running out, there was no other choice for the young woman than to go directly by helicopter to the Château de Culan where the ceremony was to take place. In the urgency of the situation, she had neither the time nor the opportunity to put on her beautiful wedding dress. She was finally forced to change behind one of the walls of the Château de Culan. This little incident did not spoil the wedding, but it did spice up the proceedings a bit and is, without a doubt, one of the most incredible anecdotes of the Dryads. See you next week..

... The inauguration was done with great pomp. Mick Micheyl, Antonio Amengual and Maurice Vedy invited all their artist friends and the numerous Parisian journalists they knew for almost two days. The success was very quickly at the appointment. In the 80's and 90's, singers such as Annie Cordy, Rika Zaraï, Claude Nougaro, Jean-Jacques Debout, the Etienne sisters, Jean-Jacques Goldman, Fabienne Thibeault, Hugues Aufray, Jean-Paul Cara and Carlos came to stay at the Dryades. Having come to relax for a few days at the hotel, these artists did not fail to perform in front of the Dryades' guests, usually at dinner time. Michou and his troupe were also regulars at the Dryades for many years. Each time they visited the Dryades, the transformist artists of Cabaret Michou brightened up and spiced up the evenings of the Dryades' clients. During these two decades, it was not uncommon for a client to have the incredible opportunity, during a stay or a meal at Les Dryades, to get up close and personal with prestigious artists and to attend unprecedented performances that were held at the foot of their table. The walls of the Domaine des Dryades also housed the comedian Sim, the presenters Léon Zitrone and Pierrette Bresse, Princess Caroline of Monaco and her companion, Vincent Lindon, the saxophonist Benny Waters, Roland Ribet, the impresario of Dalida, Charles Aznavour and Julio Iglesias, and the actor, Gérard Depardieu. It should be noted that it was at the Dryades that Laurent Gerra took his first steps as a comedian and impersonator. Godmother in the trade of Laurent Gerra, Mick Micheyl made him come on the stage of Dryades for a representation which gathered nearly 200 people. During nearly a year, Laurent Gerra regularly performed at the Dryades with Virginie Lemoine. Journalists also came in great numbers, attracted by the place and the numerous artists present at the Dryades and especially invited graciously and very astutely by Antonio Amengual and Maurice Vedy to stay a few days at the Dryades. Leading sportsmen and women, both French and foreign, also came to the Dryades for training sessions. Paris Saint Germain, Olympique Lyonnais, Atletico Bilbao, the Limoges basketball team and the French golf team came to the Dryades in the 1990s. In addition, high-level competitions have been held on the Dryades Golf Course, including the Trophée Madame Figaro. Since the 90's and still today, teams participating in the Tour de France and the Rallye des Princesses regularly stay at the Hotel Les Dryades. See you soon for the rest of the story on the Domaine des Dryades !!!!

It is while receiving these singers of the yé-yé years in their Manor of Pouligny Notre Dame that Mick Micheyl, Antonio Amengual and Maurice Vedy realized the real power of attraction of this haven of peace and greenery where they lived. One of the major preoccupations of their artist friends was undoubtedly the fact of being able to remain in good health and physical shape, so the three friends came up with a crazy idea: why not build a clinic in the middle of this green setting that was Pouligny Notre Dame, offering weight loss cures to these city artists in search of calm and discretion? To carry out this enterprise, they were able to count on the support and advice of Dr. Apfelbaum, one of the most renowned dieticians of the time. The Clinique du Manoir en Berry opened its doors in 1978 and was a great success from the very beginning. The artist friends of Mick Micheyl, Antonio Amengual and Maurice Vedy, including the famous scriptwriter, novelist and journalist Joseph Kessel, came in great numbers. The problem of accommodating the families of the clinic's patients soon arose. At the beginning of the 1980's, several acquaintances of the trio came up with the idea that, since the land in front of the Clinique du Manoir en Berry was free, it would be a good idea to build a small hotel with about ten rooms and to add a swimming pool. The land where the current golf compact is located was chosen as the site. While Mick Micheyl, Antonio Amengual and Maurice Vedy were presenting the hotel project to one of their English friends, the latter, a golf enthusiast, suggested that this green area would be ideal for a small 9-hole golf course. It was then decided to widen the range of sporting activities by dedicating part of the building to aquatic activities and the Spa. As the project grew, it became essential to use the numerous contacts and relationships of each person and to find investors interested in this somewhat daring and risky adventure in the heart of Berry. About forty local and Parisian shareholders decided to embark on the adventure and a request for a building permit was submitted. Discussions about the new project were still going on between the trio and their artist friends who came to stay at the health center or to visit them at the Manoir, and new modifications were made while the building permit was already being processed. One of their friends suggested that, given the number of rooms envisaged and the sports and leisure facilities planned, it would be interesting to welcome not only individual clients but also business clients. Seminar rooms would, under these conditions, be provided. Another friend who had fallen in love with the site of Pouligny Notre Dame told them that, since one of the key assets of this future hotel was to be surrounded by preserved nature, it was necessary to play on this asset and to make each client want to come back by offering him a magnificent view of the surrounding green landscapes. What better way to do this than to add a sixth floor to the building and turn it into a breakfast room with a 360° view? These new features were finally integrated into a modified building permit. The small 10-room hotel with swimming pool that Mick Micheyl, Antonio Amengual and Maurice Vedy had conceived in the early 1980s was never built and in 1987 a hotel with 80 rooms and 5 suites, restaurants, seminar rooms, a spa and an 18-hole golf course was opened. The Hotel Les Dryades was the first four-star hotel in the Indre department to be equipped with a Spa and an 18-hole golf course. Maurice Vedy and Antonio Amengual were aware of the need to revitalize Pouligny Notre Dame for the future development of the Hotel Les Dryades. They donated land to the municipality so that a soccer field and tennis courts could be built. They also encouraged the municipality to build a village hall, with the aim of using it as an auditorium.. See you soon for episode 3 of the Dryads story! See episode 1.

In the 1950s, Maurice Vedy and Antonio Amengual owned a hair salon in Paris and had as a client the artist, Mick Micheyl. The three of them became fast friends. In the late 1950s, Maurice Vedy, who loved horses and horseback riding, wanted to buy a property where he could indulge his passion. He looked in the real estate ads for a property located in the countryside. He visited a number of properties with Antonio Amengual and Mick Micheyl and finally fell under the spell of a ruined manor house sold by the Baroness D'Arripe in Pouligny Notre Dame. The proximity of Nohant, the home of the writer George Sand, to Pouligny Notre Dame also played an important role in the decision to purchase this stately home in the heart of the Black Valley. Born on the island of Mallorca, Antonio Amengual had heard, since his childhood, of an important historical event in the life of the island: the arrival of the famous composer, Frederic Chopin, and his companion of the time, George Sand, in Valldemosa in 1838-1839, a period during which Chopin had composed some of his most famous pieces for piano. Antonio Amengual was very involved in the organization of the Valldemosa Regional Festivities, and in his younger years he went to Paris to collect the death certificate of George Sand, to whom it had been decided to pay tribute at one of the annual Valldemosa Festivities. He was, of course, also interested in the life of George Sand and Frédéric Chopin in France and, in particular, in their main place of residence, Nohant and its surroundings, of which the famous writer had written so much in his country novels. "I have always loved this country, this nature, this silence, ..." said the writer George Sand when talking about the Indre and the Berrichonne countryside. In addition to being located in an exceptional and preserved green area, the Manor of Pouligny Notre Dame and the Black Valley appeared, finally, in the eyes of Antonio Amengual and also of his two friends as a place of exception with a rich cultural and historical heritage and, however, so unknown. Aware of the numerous assets that this small corner of Berry had, they made the choice in 1957 to acquire the Manor of Pouligny Notre Dame. Once the Manor was purchased, Maurice Vedy and Antonio Amengual undertook several tasks: to renovate the Manor in its entirety, to reconstitute the original Domain by buying back little by little the plots of land surrounding the Manor and to give back to the farm attached to the Manor its former glory by making it a large-scale bovine exploitation. The two or three cows acquired following the purchase of the Manor became in a few years legion since the exploitation counted in a few years nearly 200 heads of cattle. Their courage and perseverance in this agricultural enterprise were rewarded by the "poireau" or Agricultural Merit which was awarded to them by Jacques Chirac. Throughout the reconstruction of the Manoir de Pouligny Notre Dame, Maurice Vedy and Antonio Amengual also pursued an artistic career with their friend, Mick Micheyl. After achieving success in the 1950s with the song "Le Gamin de Paris" and in the 1960s as a revue leader at the Casino de Paris, Mick Micheyl began a world tour with a troupe of artists. Antonio Amengual and Maurice Vedy, who was hired as stage manager, accompanied Mick Micheyl in this adventure. As Mick Micheyl embarked on a new career as a television producer in the late 1960s, the three friends decided to take up permanent residence at the Manoir de Pouligny Notre Dame. In love with this part of the Berry countryside, they wanted to share their passion for music and entertainment with the people of the region. Having made acquaintances with the greatest names in French song, Mick Micheyl, Antonio Amengual and Maurice Vedy succeeded in convincing the most popular artists of the 60s and 70s to come and sing on stages set up in the middle of the fields. Pouligny Notre Dame and the surrounding villages had the chance to welcome Michèle Torr, Joe Dassin in 1974, Nicoletta, Antoine and many others.... See you next week for episode 2 of the Dryades story !!!!

The Domaine de Nohant, a place not to be missed during your stay at the Logis Hôtel Les Dryades Golf & Spa "I have always loved this country, this nature, this silence, ..." said the writer George Sand when talking about the Indre and the Berrichonne countryside. Located 11 kms from the Logis Hôtel Les Dryades, the Domaine de Nohant, George Sand's main residence, is a very interesting place to visit. You will be pleased to visit this house built at the end of the 18th century and in which George Sand lived and received famous artists such as Balzac, Chopin, Delacroix, Flaubert and many others. Near the House of George Sand, there is a beautiful park full of hundred-year-old trees, some of which are classified as Remarkable Trees.

Founded in 1150, the Abbey of Noirlac is the only abbey in Berry that can be seen in its entirety. You will be able to visit its Latin cross church, its conventual buildings and its cloister dating from the 13th and 14th centuries. Located at 62 kms from the Logis Hôtel Les Dryades, this Cistercian abbey is open from February 1st to March 31st from 2pm to 5pm. For the past twenty years, the Abbey of Noirlac has hosted a vocal art festival in July. Website : www.abbayedenoirlac.com