Arbois: Holiday Apartments and Holiday Homes

Arbois is associated with Louis Pasteur, museums, wine traditions and historic buildings. Anyone considering Arbois as a travel destination may wish to rent a holiday apartment.

Culture

The Maison de Louis Pasteur is classified as a historic monument and has carried the “Maisons des Illustres” label since 2011. It is the only house owned by Louis Pasteur. At the same time, it preserves the scientist’s only fully intact laboratory, as well as original laboratory notebooks, flasks and glass carboys from his work on wine fermentation and pasteurisation.

The house has been preserved in the condition in which Louis Pasteur knew it and conveys the setting of his life and work. In 1991, the Maison de Louis Pasteur in Arbois was bequeathed to the Académie des sciences; both the bourgeois living environment of the 19th century and the setting of Louis Pasteur’s scientific work have been preserved. The Maison et laboratoire de Louis Pasteur offers self-guided visits with an explanatory information sheet in French, English, German, Dutch, Spanish, Russian and Italian.

Since 17 September 2003, the Musée Sarret de Grozon has officially been designated a “Musée de France” under the French Heritage Code. The Musée d’Art Sarret de Grozon opened in 1934, after the Sarret family bequeathed their town mansion, along with its furnishings, object collections and works of art, to the town of Arbois in 1902. Historic interiors have been preserved there; the museum also displays pastel portraits of Arbois residents made by Louis Pasteur as a young man. The collection also includes paintings, 18th-century silverware, faience, furniture and wood panelling.

The Église Saint-Just has a Romanesque nave from the 12th century, a Gothic vault from the 13th century and a remarkable Madonna and Child from the 14th century. La Tour Gloriette stands at the southeastern corner of the fortifications of Arbois, which were built in the second half of the 13th century. After the flood of 1503, the tower was rebuilt and restored in 1989 to accommodate temporary exhibitions.

Wine and Tradition

The Musée de la Vigne et du Vin du Jura is located in the centre of Arbois and occupies part of the Château Pécauld. The reconstructed vines in the outdoor area illustrate the former and present-day work of winegrowers from Franche-Comté, as well as the grape varieties cultivated in the region. The museum presents various wine-making methods, as well as the history and traditions of the winegrowing community.

For Le Biou, Arbois’s winegrowers bring white and red grapes to the Maison Vercel on Saturday and make the Biou on Saturday afternoon.

Nature and Townscape

The Balade en Arbois wine walk leads to the Tour de Curon, also known as Tour Canoz, and offers panoramic views over Arbois and its vineyard. The Cuisance winds its way between the lanes of Arbois’s old town; the best way to explore the old town is on foot.

You can find more local destination pages here: Gevry, Prenovel, Offlanges, Molamboz, Bonlieu, La Balme-D'épy, Saint-Laurent-En-Grandvaux, Mournans-Charbonny.

To the higher-level travel overview: Jura.