Offbeat: Chomo's Préludien Art Village in the Fontainebleau Forest

An unusual art village hides in the Fontainebleau forest, in Achères-la-Forêt (77). A bottle church, a shelter topped with car hoods: curious, we set off to explore this place, open on select weekends from April to October.

When you mention the forest of Fontainebleau, you think of boulders, climbers, and Sunday strolls. Rarely of a church made of bottles. And yet, in Achères-la-Forêt, in Seine-et-Marne, lies the Village d'Art Préludien, the lifelong work of Roger Chomeaux, known as Chomo. We went to discover it, and we tell you about this unusually original interlude.

It should be noted that this art brut site has been safeguarded since 2015 by the Association des Amis de Chomo, which co-owns the premises. It opens to the public for a few weekends each year, from spring through the early colors of autumn.

Fancy stepping through the door of a village like no other? In this article, we tell the story of Chomo, what you can discover on site, and how to plan your visit.

Who was Chomo, the hermit artist of the Fontainebleau forest?

To understand this village, you first have to understand the man. Roger Chomeaux was born January 28, 1907, in Berlaimont, in the North, into a modest family. Contrary to what one might assume from looking at his works, he was not a self-taught artist. He studied at Valenciennes' academic schools, then shone at the École des beaux-arts de Paris, where he won several prizes. Like Picasso, Paul Klee, or Dubuffet, he began with a solid classical training.

Married and father of four, he creates canvases for the Delarive house as a designer-artist, while his wife runs a small yarn shop. A fairly comfortable life, until war comes to disrupt it. He returns deeply shaken from a year of captivity in Poland and knocks in vain on the doors of Parisian galleries.

During his absence, his wife bought a small plot of land in Achères-la-Forêt. It is there that he becomes a beekeeper and discovers what he calls the “burnt woods,” those blocks of timber singed by flame that he transforms into sculptures. In May 1960, after a lone exhibition at the Jean Camion gallery on Rue des Beaux-Arts, he makes a radical decision: he will never return to the city again.

For nearly forty years, until his death on June 19, 1999, he lived as a hermit in the forest, in utter poverty, scrabbling together a living with a string of odd jobs. Claiming to be inspired by the Invisible, he dreamed of toppling bronze by using every scrap material at his disposal.

A little anecdote that struck us about the man: Chomo welcomed visitors by inviting them to dream with him, and he enjoyed giving them new names. Amélie Danchin, a former president of the association, recalls on the Friends of Chomo site that she was dubbed the Evening Star in 1977. One can easily picture the scene, with the scent of wood and the buzz of the beehives.

What to See at the Préludien Art Village?

From the moment you set foot on the site, it’s clear you’re not in a traditional museum. The path winds toward the village entrance, and a few artworks punctuate the route along the way.

No display cases, no neatly aligned wall placards, but three architecture-sculptures tucked among the trees, built to shelter his works. Plaster, wire mesh, bottles and driftwood: everything others discarded becomes material for creation here. The LaM in Villeneuve-d'Ascq, a benchmark of outsider art in France, even lists the site among the country’s singular houses and gardens.

One of our favorites is undoubtedly the Church of the Poor and its colorfully bottle-made rose window. When the sun shines through it, it resembles a reclaimed stained-glass panel—more kaleidoscope than Gothic cathedral. A simple detail, but one that gives the place its entire poetry.

The Sanctuary of the Burnt Woods gathers, for its part, the burnt-wood sculptures that cemented the artist’s reputation. The third stop, the Refuge, clad in car hoods and restored in recent years, evokes a metal turtle shell stranded among the ferns. Spanning a little over a hectare, every corner holds a new surprise.

You won't want to miss the Lace Chapel either.

You can also climb a bit higher to catch projections that trace the artist’s work and life, before ending up in front of a blue-hued stone block.

In the 1970s and 1980s, these peculiar structures sparked numerous reports, and Chomo’s world earned an international reputation among outsider-art enthusiasts. He’s often compared to Salvador Dalí or to the Postman Cheval and his Palais idéal. Two stubborn builders who spent decades bringing a world to life with their own hands.

How to visit the village of Chomo?

The site generally opens on the first and third weekends of the month, from April to October, and also for the European Heritage Days. The calendar and opening hours for each season are published on the association's website. Admission costs €6, with a reduced rate of €3 for job seekers, welfare beneficiaries, youths aged 6–18, and people with disabilities. Free for children under 6, and we recommend buying your tickets in advance on the association's HelloAsso ticketing page.

The village sits on the Paris-Forêt road, just outside Achères-la-Forêt on the D63, on the way to Milly-la-Forêt and Le Vaudoué. Heads-up: parking around the site can be tight, especially after forest fire incidents. The association promotes carpooling and on-demand transport, and outlines the current access conditions on its Practical Information page.

Groups of more than 15 people can book a guided tour by appointment year-round. And if you’re visiting with children, the association offers a small activity booklet, “On the Trail of the Secrets of the Village of Chomo,” which turns discovery into a true scavenger hunt.

Why visit the village of Chomo?

Because there isn't much else like it in the Île-de-France region. The village de Chomo speaks to fans of unconventional art, the curious about extraordinary stories, and families who enjoy outings that break the mold. People come as much for the atmosphere as for the works, and leave with the sense that they’ve discovered not only a place but a man.

The site is fragile and outdoors, so remember to wear footwear suitable for forest terrain and dress for the day’s weather. Outside the season, which runs from April to October, you’ll have to wait for the return of pleasant days.

If outsider art has sparked a desire to dive deeper, two spots keep the experience going. In Paris, at the foot of Montmartre hill, the Halle Saint-Pierre dedicates its exhibitions to outsider art, naïve art, and the singular. A wonderful way to recapture in the city the free-spirited vibe of Chomo.

And sticking with the forest theme, head to Milly-la-Forêt in the Essonne department, just a few kilometers from Achères. There, another giant born of repurposing awaits hikers in the woods: Cyclop by Jean Tinguely. This monumental sculpture towering over 22 meters was conceived with Niki de Saint Phalle and a band of fellow artists starting in 1969.

Built without permits and from recycled materials, the Cyclop didn’t open to the public until 1994, twenty-five years after the project began. Its metal head clad in mirrors and its moving mechanisms give it a quirky, machine-age cousin vibe to Chomo’s huts. It’s best explored on guided tours, mainly on weekends from spring through autumn. All the details are on the Cyclop’s official site.

Final word: after this visit, what stays with you is that you don’t have to wander far from Paris to encounter extraordinary destinies. Between Chomo’s bottles and Tinguely’s gears, the edge of the Fontainebleau forest tells a different story of art— freer, more stubborn. Our tip: do both in the same weekend, starting in Achères-la-Forêt and ending with the Cyclop’s golden eye.