This 10 000ha forest on this private estate straddle the boundary between the Berry and Bourbonnais. Famed for its oak trees, it once supplied most of the French naval fleet, in accordance with Colbert’s wish to keep the best oaks for the Navy. Today they are prized by the barrel-making industry. Mushrooms (ceps, chanterelles, hedgehog funghi and rusullas) now grow abundantly beneath their foliage. Wildlife enthusiasts can catch glimpses of wild game or great-crested grebes on the Pirot lake.