In Avon, just a stone’s throw from Fontainebleau in Seine-et-Marne (77), the Couvent des Carmes holds more surprises than you’d expect for a door you’re brave enough to push. Behind this listed historic monument since 1926 lies a calm garden for retreatants and a free memorial dedicated to Père Jacques de Jésus, a notable figure of the Resistance during the Occupation. A discreet place with a deeply human history, open year-round and freely accessible during the Heritage Days.
The history of this place goes back well before the Carmes. La Charité d'Avon is the former hospital of the Château de Fontainebleau, founded in 1662 by Queen Anne of Austria. At the behest of his mother, Louis XIV purchases a plot with a water mill to establish a hospital run by the Brothers of Saint John of God.
The hospital thrives, in particular, thanks to the generosity of Louis XVI and Marie-Antoinette, before it fell on hard times during the Revolution and was dissolved by the Directoire in 1796. In 1920, the Discalced Carmelites, returning from exile in Belgium, established a convent there. The park’s architecture, linked to that of the nearby Château de Fontainebleau, gives the whole complex a classic, well‑groomed silhouette, evident from the gate facing Avon’s royal church.
You wouldn’t necessarily expect it, but the jardin du couvent des Carmes d’Avon is one of those places where the city suddenly feels a world away. The bassins, the garden floors, and the retaining walls have been listed as historic monuments since 1994, and their architecture remains directly linked to that of the Fontainebleau estate.
At the heart of the convent courtyard sits the Père Jacques de Jésus Memorial, and it is completely free. This memorial traces the major milestones in Père Jacques's life and offers a sense of the intellectual, moral, and spiritual foundations that guided his actions. It is open to everyone, every day from 9:00 a.m. to 5:45 p.m. Guided tours can also be arranged on request, particularly for school groups. The Journées du Patrimoine provide an ideal occasion to visit: each year on this occasion the convent hosts open doors with free access to the memorial and garden, a guided tour of the site, and a screening of the documentary Par la Croix vers la lumière.
It is the story of this place that gives it its full depth. Lucien Louis Bunel, born January 29, 1900, in Barentin near Rouen, joined the Carmelites in 1931 under the name Father Jacques de Jésus. He was appointed in 1934 as director of the Sainte-Thérèse de l'Enfant-Jésus college at the Avon convent, which had just opened. During the Occupation, he did much more than run a school: in March 1943, he welcomed and hid three Jewish children as boarders at the Petit Collège.
On January 15, 1944, the Gestapo raids the convent. The three children Jacques-France Halpern, Maurice Schlosser and Hans-Helmut Michel are taken away with Father Jacques. Deported, the children are killed upon arrival at Auschwitz. As for Father Jacques, he was transferred from camp to camp, from Compiègne to Mauthausen, where he galvanized the courage of his fellow detainees until he could endure no more. Freed in May 1945, he did not survive the privations and died on June 2, 1945. His body rests in the small convent cemetery in Avon. He was named Righteous Among the Nations, the distinction awarded by the State of Israel to non-Jews who risked their lives to save Jews during the Shoah.
This human tragedy might not have hit as hard without a certain pupil from the Petit Collège des Carmes. Louis Malle, a student there, recalls the arrest he witnessed in 1987 in his film Au revoir les enfants. The filmmaker was 11 years old at the time. The film went on to win the Golden Lion at Venice and the César for Best Film the same year, and remains today one of the most poignant depictions of childhood under occupation. Visiting this place after watching the film is to walk in the real footsteps of these children and this man, through the same corridors and the same courtyard. An experience that leaves a lasting impression.
We recommend this visit to those who like to combine historic heritage, memory and quiet. If you’re exploring the Gardens of Fontainebleau, consider taking a tour of the Memorial. Here’s a cultural getaway from Paris, about an hour by the RER D to Fontainebleau-Avon station. The Centre spirituel des Carmes d'Avon sits at 1 Rue Père Jacques in Avon. To learn more about Père Jacques’s life, the site jacquesdejesus.com is an excellent resource, just as the Archives départementales de Seine-et-Marne which preserve many period documents.
To extend your exploration of the heritage of Seine-et-Marne in the Pays de Fontainebleau, we recommend two superb stops to dive into history. Just a few minutes away, the Chapelle basse Saint-Saturnin at the Château de Fontainebleau is a little-known jewel that few visitors bother to seek out, yet it is saturated with a striking medieval atmosphere. In a different register, head to Barbizon to discover the Museum and Studio of Jean-François Millet, where you step into the daily life of the painter of The Angelus in the village that inspired an entire generation of artists. Two visits that pair easily with a stop at the Couvent des Carmes for a memorable day of heritage in the Pays de Fontainebleau.
Dates and Opening Time
Next days
Thursday:
from 08:30 a.m. to 08:30 p.m.
Friday:
from 08:30 a.m. to 08:30 p.m.
Saturday:
from 08:30 a.m. to 08:30 p.m.
Sunday:
from 08:30 a.m. to 08:30 p.m.
Monday:
from 08:30 a.m. to 08:30 p.m.
Tuesday:
from 08:30 a.m. to 08:30 p.m.
Wednesday:
from 08:30 a.m. to 08:30 p.m.
Location
Avon Carmelite Convent
1 Rue Père Jacques
77210 Avon
Prices
Free
Official website
www.centrespirituel-avon.org
