Urban Exploration - The Blue Baths

We received photos from a traveler and compiled them into a historical summary.

This thermal station doesn't follow the typical logic of such establishments. We are out in the open countryside here; there is no casino, nor any display of grandiloquent splendor. These baths are quite small and modest.

The facilities were created in the mid-19th century, though—as is often the case—one can trace the use of these springs back to the Gallo-Roman period. The peak of activity occurred at the very end of the 19th century, with a luxury hotel catering to a very wealthy clientele. World War I disrupted operations, as it did in every other field, but activity resumed shortly thereafter.

In the 1920s, the mineral water was first commercialized; the establishment pushed on, for better or worse, through a few modernizations. However, a fire at the hotel in the 1980s signaled its bankruptcy. It was then that the baths fell into total abandonment.

A string of similar investors followed, including a stint involving Qatari interests and yet another bankruptcy. In 2020, a new effort to market the water began. The project even aims to relaunch the thermal station itself.

Surveillance and Defacement
The building is under heavy surveillance; the owner no longer tolerates any trespassing. One can understand why: the pool has been horribly tagged, and always by the same person. This defacement is absolutely scandalous—it's disgusting. The village is also under watch; the evening before, the Mayor clearly asked me what I was doing there.

The building is suffering from severe decay, especially the roof, which leads de facto to water infiltration. Repairs are becoming urgent, though they would require a solid commercial outlet. That is no easy feat, given how fragile the health of thermal stations is these days.