Crèvecoeur-En-Auge brings together trails through the marshland and a Château whose history is explored through different themes. The Chemin au Roy winds through the landscape around the Château de Crèvecœur; the Musée Schlumberger focuses on the inventions of two brothers. There are also insights into rural life and technological innovation. When planning your visit, you can choose what interests you most: a walk outdoors, historical culture or the development of technology.
Landscape and trails around the Château
The Chemin au Roy is a walking trail through the landscape around the Château. Plants grow along the damp ditches, and trees shape the marshland. A 45-minute route passes streams and ponds, plants, an unusual tree, hedgerows and a Norman farmhouse. The longer loop adds a beautiful manor house and an exceptional panoramic view of the Château de Crèvecœur.
The trail also has a historical role: before the national road was built in the 19th century, the Chemin au Roy was the main entrance to the Château. This gives the trail two distinct aspects: its former function as an access route and the landscape that is now the focus of the walking route described here.
Another clearly described option is the easy circular walk “Au détour du château”. It is five kilometres long, takes about an hour and passes the Manoir de l’Epinay. By comparison, the 45-minute route along the Chemin au Roy features different specific waypoints and landscape features. Check the route details before setting off or travelling there.
Château, museum and history
The Château de Crèvecœur is an almost perfectly preserved example of a small seigneurie. The Château is home to the Musée Schlumberger, which brings together the inventions of brothers Conrad and Marcel Schlumberger. Its immersive, playful experience combines scientific and human perspectives and spans from the 1900s to the present day.
An engineer provides the thread running through the museum experience: visitors follow him from recruitment to assignments in the field, while technological innovations are presented interactively. The exhibition “Ma vie d’ingénieur” uses reconstructed settings, museum objects, interactive tablets and holograms. Its theme is technological innovation in oil exploration. The two experiences offer distinct perspectives: the museum experience follows a career, while the exhibition also foregrounds its technical themes and how they are presented.
The exhibition “La vie rurale” explores a different subject. It is housed in a restored farm building dating from the 15th and 16th centuries and focuses on rural life, farm work, rural housing, animal husbandry and cereal cultivation. Its subject matter therefore ranges from everyday life in the countryside to the technological history of the Musée Schlumberger.
A seasonal experience
The adventure trail “Le tournage maudit” features a backpack containing 15 objects and sensory puzzles. The activities invite visitors to explore nature and the Middle Ages. As this offering may be seasonal, check in advance whether the trail is available during your visit.
Plan your visit
The Château de Crèvecœur can be reached via the A13, exit La Haie Tondue No. 29a, and via the D613, formerly the RN13. As practical access information may change, check the details before setting off. When choosing between the walks, you can compare their approximate duration and the waypoints mentioned: a 45-minute route along the Chemin au Roy, or the approximately one-hour, five-kilometre circular walk “Au détour du château”, which passes the Manoir de l’Epinay.
Discover more destinations: Cauvicourt, Loucelles, Vierville-Sur-Mer, Fontaine-Henry, Vieux-Fumé, Fatouville-Grestain, Asnières-En-Bessin, Lessard-Et-Le-Chêne.
Return to the regional travel guide: Calvados.
