The YouTube channel “Abandoned World Explorer” found such a place.Abandoned for decades, the mansion you’re about to see below is home to vintage French cars.Or maybe I should say what’s left of them because they’re not whole anymore.
But before we move on to talking about them, this video explores a grand mansion that was abandoned a few decades ago and taken over by mother nature to the extent that you can barely see it through the trees.And lo and behold, the mansion was once owned by Napoleon, who ruled the French Empire from 1804 to 1814 and then for a few months in 1815.
The story goes that he also lived in this mansion, but only for a very short time. Because he was too busy conquering Europe, of course.
But this place also hides a terrible secret.Locals say that a person who lived here in the 1960s disappeared and was never found.Some say he was murdered and buried within these walls and believe the mansion is now haunted.
Well, our host didn’t find a ghost, but he did stumble across the remains of some classic French cars. Both areCitroen 2CVs, economy cars that the French company built from 1948 to 1990. And by “leftovers” I mean they are gone and one of them is missing everything from the chassis and wheels to the engine and interior.
Were those cars from the last person who lived here?Were they transported here for storage?This is something we will never know.But it’s a shame they ended up like this.Of course, the 2CV is far from rare and valuable, but no car, no matter how common, deserves such a fate.
Oh, and note that the second 2CV is a Fourgonette, which was Citroen’s take on the dashboard van.This car is almost complete except for the wheels, engine and one of the front bumpers.It’s also not as common as the regular 2CV, although none of them are really hard to find with over five million units built.The guys also discovered the tailgate of a first-generation Renault 5.
Given that this French hatchback was introduced in 1972, it could be a sign that this place was inhabited long after the mysterious disappearance of the 1960s.
You can check out the abandoned Citroens at the end of the video (go to the 55 minute mark), but you can also enjoy the entire footage because this place is interesting, to say the least.Yes, it has fallen into disrepair and has also been vandalized, but it’s still a cool time capsule if you’re into French architecture.