The Allee des Geants is made up of old trees that have undergone pleaching, which in the Montagne Bourbonnaise is a traditional technique that consists of braiding tree branches together and letting them grow in a chosen direction (for example, vertically, horizontally or inclined). In this way, it was possible to delimit an alley, a path or even a piece of land... and in some cases, even to obtain a defensive role. These alleys had another advantage, they protected travellers from the sun in summer and from snowdrifts in winter.These old beech trees, one of which is shaped like a seahorse or a big-hearted dragon, bring a mysterious, magical and fairy-tale aspect to this fabulous place where stones, mosses, twisted trees of more than four centuries old combined with the sun's rays bring out imaginary creatures. Saint-Nicolas-des-Biefs, Allier, France