Maurice Dufresne Museum

This large technological history museum was established by Maurice Dufresne, a blacksmith and later an engineering entrepreneur and a specialist in salvage. Dufresne saved objects he believed to be representative of the industrial world. The museum opened in 1992 and has welcomed over 600,000 visitors. It occupies a water-powered paper mill dating from around 1820, sited at a weir on the River l’Indre. The museum contains more than 3,000 objects from the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. They include a wide range of road vehicles such as bicycles, motorcycles, cars, steamrollers, a double-decker bus and an electric truck. There is also a Blériot monoplane from 1909, textile weaving machinery and displays of armoury, agricultural equipment and craftsmen’s tools. Many mechanical objects have been restored to working condition, including the waterwheel and machinery of the paper mill. Interpretation of the exhibits is provided in French, English and German with an optional audio tour. Facilities include a restaurant and shop.