Transportation from Alencon, FR 🇫🇷 to Les Museales, Tourouvre,

Google indicates there is a bus
https://nomad.normandie.fr/welcome-normandy-transport-network-nomad

As October 25th is a Sunday, there will be no bus service.

If you are traveling on a different date:

From Alençon train station take bus line L417 (green) to Mortagne-au-Perche, then line L414 (orange) towards L'Aigle. There is a bus stop in Tourouvre near the church, 300 meters from Les Muséales.

Bus schedules vary according to school terms, as that is their primary usage. Since the All Saints' holidays run from October 17 to November 3, there will be limited service.

IMO you should pre-book a taxi, as there is no guarantee you will find one available at the Alençon train station.
Don't be surprised if you see photos of ambulances on rural taxi websites, their primary business is medical transport.

Promise me you'll eat at Au Petit Vatel in Alençon. It is a gem.

Alexander, I'm sorry to tell you that Au petit Vatel has closed,

🇫🇷 Thank you all so much!
I didn’t know it was a holiday week!
And that local buses don’t run on Sundays.
🙏 How do I pre-book à taxi from Alencon train station to Les Museales in Tourouvre?

Merci, karen

Is Les Museales your hotel? Perhaps if you contacted them they could offer some advice about getting a taxi or other transport.

Search for "taxi" on Google Maps with the view centered on Alençon, or simply search for "taxi Alençon." That will give you this kind of result:

https://maps.app.goo.gl/H4M2DxaoVSSuwjMy7

For your information, here are the official rates for the Orne department:

Base fare (pickup): €2.00

Sunday rate: €3.34 per kilometer (if the driver drops you off without waiting for you).

Wait-and-return rate: If the taxi waits for you while you visit the museum and then drives you back to Alençon, it is €1.67 per kilometer.

Wait time: €25.90 per hour.

The distance between Alençon and Les Muséales is about 50 km (around 31 miles). Therefore, you should expect to pay about €200 for a round-trip with the same driver waiting for you for one hour while you visit the museum.

Don't count on finding any Uber drivers; there isn't enough business in rural areas for that kind of job to be profitable.

I visited Les Muséales in April. Tourouvre is a pretty small place. On Google it looks like there are several restaurants but my impression was that only one was an actual sit-down place to have lunch while the museum was closed and it was raining. That was the Perche Hotel restaurant which I liked, but it was very busy.
I rented a car as the buses are so infrequent and I wanted to tour the area more freely. You probably can’t rent in Alençon on a Sunday but if you can handle a Sat. to Mon. rental , it might be cheaper than the taxi. I rented in Nogent-le-Rotrou and my recollection is I paid about €150 for 2 days.
I enjoyed my visit to Les Muséales but I’d say it’s only worth it if you have a burning interest in the topic of one of the museums.

I wish I could encourage you to visit this museum, which is two museums in one, plus changing exhibitions. The museum of commerce is a lot of fun and the other half, about the Percheron pioneers who settled Quebec, is very interesting. As to the expos, we've enjoyed rural schools in the old days, the birth of the department store, French women in the 1950s, and bandes dessinees.

Tourouvre's church has stained glass commemorating the pioneers. But for us the main draw of Tourouvre is La baguette d'or, the best bakery in the area.

This whole area is worth exploring, but if you only have an afternoon and no transport, I suggest you wait. But for your next trip, maybe slot in a week in the Perche. It's low key but beautiful.

Thank you all for your replies!!

I am going to Tourouvre for the big celebration of Les Museales - esp. about the people who left Le Perche area in the 1600's to go to "Nouvelle France" - now Quebec! And to honor the founding fathers of the French families in Quebec!

I'll be in Tourouvre a week, then need to get to L'Aigle for a Sat. SNCF Train to Gare Paris Montparnasse.

**Many thanks to the person who suggested looking for Taxis on Google Maps! I've never done that!
I found a couple that seem pretty highly rated. I hope their phone # work on WhatsApp and will try them. (I'm on the West Coast - PDT)

If Sunday taxis are out - I guess I could stay in Alencon Sun. night and hope to get a taxi or bus Monday morning 26 Oct.
Again- thanks so much to all of you. This is my first time using the Forum, and I've learned a lot from you!

If Sunday taxis are out...

Taxis do operate on Sundays, it is the buses that do not run on Sundays.

The taxi fares I mentioned earlier apply to Sundays and public holidays. On weekdays, the cost will be roughly half that amount. You should confirm this with any taxi companies you manage to contact.
If WhatsApp doesn't work out, try contacting companies that have a website via email or their contact form instead.

According to the current bus schedules from the Alençon station to Mortagne-au-Perche, there is only one bus (L417) in the morning at 7:09 AM, arriveing in Mortagne-au-Perche at 8:02 AM where you would catch the L414 bus at 8:25 AM to finally arrive in Tourouvre at 8:47 AM.

If you are good at deciphering timetables, here are the schedules for the relevant bus lines (I had to study them closely myself):

L417

https://nomad.normandie.fr/sites/default/files/2025-11/417.pdf

L414

https://nomad.normandie.fr/sites/default/files/2025-08/414.pdf

Of course, all of this would be much simpler if you rented a car, which is really the standard approach when traveling in rural France.

Thanks JoLui!
I'll review the Bus schedules & download up to date schedules closer to the Oct. date for changes.
I bet you'd be able to find & schedule a taxi in a snap! A lot of new info for me!

I want to take a taxi or public transit, because I'm just staying in Tourouvre for the week, and won't need a car. Lots for me to do & people to meet there that week!
Merci!

Can you arrive at the L'aigle train station on your first day, rather than Alencon? It's closer to Tourouvre and presumably taxis would be cheaper. Since you will be in Tourouvre for a week, by the end you'll probably have new friends who'd be happy to drive you to your L'aigle train.

Would you be willing to say more about your plans? Because I'm missing something. You say there is lots to do in Tourouvre? I am surprised. But maybe there are a lot of events scheduled around this week or weekend that Les museales hasn't put on its website yet. And maybe you have personal connections who can be your guide to the Perche, but if not, having your own rental car would help. Tourouvre is a small town (pop. 1500) with no other towns within walking distance.

People in the area are friendly and you'll surely find a lot of people willing to advise or help out, but if you don't get out of Tourouvre and see more of the Perche, you're missing a lot.

Maybe I'm way off base here; if so I apologize.

Thank you.
I’m flying to Nantes to spend a few days there before the week in Tourouvre, then train from Nantes to Le Mans -Alencon. So it’s just the last little bit from Alencon to Tourouvre.
* There is a special celebration at Les Museales re Canadians.
* Merci!

Have you found a place to stay for the week you'll be spending in Tourouvre? You should contact them (the hotel or accommodation owners) regarding these kinds of logistical questions. As locals, they will know how to help you when it comes to taxis, buses, or any other ways to get around.

Tourist offices can also provide you with information:

Alençon:

https://www.alencontourisme.com/en/prepare/the-tourist-office/contact-us/

Mortagne-au-Perche:

https://tourisme-mortagne-au-perche.fr/infos-pratiques/

You could also try the museum itself, they have a contact form on their website:
https://www.musealesdetourouvre.fr/contact/

That sounds great! I take it you are one of the descendants, so you'll meet lots of "cousins."

Tourouvre has a very helpful tourist office that includes the nearby village of Longny, but each has its own staff. When we had to find a new place to stay last fall, we emailed Mme Demeules (of the Tourouvre office) in advance and she called around to check things out for us. We've run into her showing Canadian visitors around town so I'm sure she'll be part of your visit.

https://www.tourismehautsduperche.fr/

Mortagne's tourist office covers a narrow area that doesn't include Tourouvre. It's still worth checking their website for what to see in Mortagne.

I hope you'll come back to the forum and write a trip report. As you can tell we like this area a lot and if we weren't heading back to the US in early October we'd come to Alencon and pick you up ourselves.

Dear Crumbs,
Thanks for your encouraging post!
Yes, I am a descendant, and it’s a big event, which is why I’m going!

I just sent an email to Mme Demeules on the Tourouvre Tourist Office website email. BUT do you have a personal OR more direct email for her?

Merci!
Karen

I don't know Madame Demeule (there is no "s" at the end of her name), but in France, professional life and private life are kept very separate. Contacting her personally for an initial approach might be considered inappropriate.

Wait a little while for her to respond.

In the meantime, there is an article about her in the local press:

https://actu.fr/normandie/longny-les-villages_61230/a-tourouvre-et-a-longny-au-perche-fabienne-et-salome-font-decouvrir-les-hauts-du-perche-aux-visiteurs_62996546.html

This online newspaper can be interesting if you want to keep up with local life, such as the school cafeteria menu, car accidents, or finding out where to taste the "Boudin Noir de Mortagne", which is the most iconic specialty of this region:

https://actu.fr/le-perche/

Karen, I wrote to her at the OT and she responded from that email address.

Fabienne Demeule
Office de Tourisme des Hauts du Perche
Tel : 02.33.73.83.25
Mail : [email protected]

Good catch about the spelling, JoLui.

Thanks all-
No word back from the tourist office in Tourouvre re my taxi search,
BUT the good news is I’ve booked a taxi with ALLOCAB.COM from Gare Alencon to Tourouvre for a Sunday in October, and have a back up Taxi Co. that uses email.
The ALLOCAB website is user friendly, which I really appreciated.
Thanks again for all your input.
Karen

I hope you don't run into any trouble with Allocab, it's a third-party Parisian company that simply acts as an intermediary between taxi companies or private hire drivers (VTC) and customers. It is heavily criticized on French forums and by consumer protection groups by both drivers and customers alike. There have even been lawsuits filed against the company.

Reviews on the French version of TripAdvisor are also disastrous:

https://www.tripadvisor.fr/Attraction_Review-g187147-d32829160-Reviews-Allocab_com-Paris_Ile_de_France.html

It is your choice, and while having an English-language booking option is certainly convenient, I would personally take a genuine local taxi from the list provided in the Google Maps link from my previous reply.

Oh no!
I already booked!
I wonder if I can cancel???
Thanks JoLui