 "Les bains" refers to the hot springs in the area, whose properties were first discovered by the Romans.In succeeding centuries, its baths were visited by Montaigne, Voltaire, the Dukes of Guise, the Dukes of Lorraine, Beaumarchais, Napoleon Bonaparte, Joséphine de Beauharnais, Napoléon III, Berlioz, Lamartine and Alfred de Musset.It is still a spa town with many buildings from the Second French Empire including the Church Saint Amé built with the financial support of Napoléon III.