At the Camping les Deux Rivières, after we had got over our “little difficulty” with the fridge door, we settled down in a huge pitch on the bank of one of the two rivers after which the site is named.
An early recommendation for lunch was at Chez Cécile in La Grande Verrière. An old photograph of the building showed that the village used to be well populated and that everyone in town wore a hat!
It turns out that the proprietaire is not Cécile. That’s her mother. Now retired. The food was just what we needed and the coffee exceeded expectations. We like large volume coffees. We always order a strong coffee but get a piché of hot water on the side. Usually this amounts to a half-full tiny jug (which needs re-filling several times) – sometimes a very inconvenient glass of hot water. The barman here is a bit of a jester and brought a kettle full of hot water! As I say – exceeding expectations!
After lunch we went for a sneak preview of Autun in order to scope the place out and locate suitable places to park tomorrow. The roads in town start off reasonably negotiable, but get progressively narrower, twistier and more “quaint” as we climb into the old town. The cathedral is perched near the very highest point of the city. We even found a precariously short and narrow parking spot close by. This was after a false start into a route with no exit, followed by a 21 point turn in front of an audience of coffee drinking smokers outside a small bar behind the cathedral.
The following day was market day – so our previously scouted parking zones were full, or just plain cordonned off! Safest bet was to park at the very edge of town next to the River Arroux and walk in. On our walk we passed numerous parking spaces but they were more suited to Smart cars and 2CVs.
We have decided that we aren’t built for visiting markets. We always seem to arrive in town as the vendors are shouting bargains to clear as much stuff as possible to prevent them having to pack it up and take it home. They are particularly keen to move on all their surplus soft fruit. It has, of course, been sitting on their stall for the last 5 or 6 hours. A large bowl of apricots for €2.50. An absolute bargain! But not much use unless one has the equipment (and the inclination) to make several kilos of jam! We don’t and we don’t! So we didn’t!
On this occasion, the majority of stalls were still operational – largely in the massive central square in front of the Mairie.
The gates outside the Lycée Bonepart are impressively impressive! I’m just not quite sure whether they are to keep tourists out or students in!
The compulsory war memorial …
… and the Cathédral Saint-Lazare d’Autun …
… with it’s massive stained glass windows …
… and it’s northern tympanum…
When is a tympanum not part of your ear? When it’s the vertical, semi-circular space between a lintel and the arch above. Everyone knows this, of course. This particular tympanum (depicting the last judgement) was created in about 1030-1035. It’s signed “Gislebertus hoc fecit” (Gislebertus made this). Now the lesson moves from French to Latin. We are getting a rounded education! With a bit of history thrown in!
In 1766, the canons in charge at the time considered the carving of the tympanum to be “mediocre and ugly” so they had it plastered over! It remained hidden for 71 years until a curious canon started to chip away at the plaster. I can’t help thinking that his action wasn’t a random act of vandalism. He must have had a clue that there was a Romanesque masterpiece hidden there!
The arch is bordered on the outside by a series of about thirty circular medallions, with alternate scenes of season and astrological signs. Signs of the zodiac are rarely seen on Christian buildings – although possibly more so on the continent than in the UK.
The fountain of the cathedral is a grand affair. Built in 1540, it was relocated about 100 metres up the hill to its current location beside the cathedral a couple of hundred years later. It has been restored and partly re-built twice since then. The structure is topped by a pelican, piercing its flank to feed its young with its own blood, a traditional figure of Christ’s sacrifice.
It was also the site of my 21 point turn yesterday.
Now we come to a lesson in efficiency …
Rounding this corner at 12.32 I was met by a truck coming up the street. I stepped back, but he didn’t appear. He had stopped in the road and his mate had jumped out and was lobbing some tarmac into a pothole.
That was at 12.32 as timed on my phone’s camera. The cars behind him waited patiently. By 12.33, the truck had driven over the repair a couple of times, matey boy had jumped back aboard and he was off leaving following traffic to roller the mend solid! Brilliant. They had enough tarmac on board to fix literally dozens of holes. I’m not sure the scheme would work on the M1 but it could help in small towns at home!
Another day we headed about 25 kms westward on the D978 to Château-Chinon which we soon discover has no chateau and not many dining options. But it does have a magnificent museum. It’s a museum in two parts. Fashion and clothes of the ages in one half …
and, in the other, a display of the official gifts given to François Mitterrand during his presidency of France from 1981 to 1995.
Apparentky, only a small percentage of the gifts are on display. There just isn’t room! After his presidency of two consecutive terms of seven years, the rules were changed. The maximum time that can be served now is two periods of five years.
Mitterrand was also the mayor of Château-Chinon from 1959 to 1981. However, allegedly, he never lived in town. The nearest he got to residency was a plot of land he had bought in the countryside “nearby”. Maybe he kept a caravan there!
Outside, in the garden was a lovely oak tree. This had been gifted to the President by Queen Elizabeth in October 1984.
The bonus for us was that, exceptionally, the museum was free to visit that day. Not only that, but our (free) tickets gave us discounted access to about 100 other museums and attractions. Although, to be fair, we haven’t come across another attraction that would give us that benefit!
A short hop and a skip to the north, we passed a fish farm. We had been told they do meals. The Ferme Piscicol, Moulin La Petite Verrière. Looks good for a trout lunch. We will go tomorrow!
It’s a little odd to see the trout swimming in the pools outside while eat a couple of their erstwhile companions. But we can cope!
Trout and almonds. Delicious.
When we had arrived on site, we were greeted by a German lady. “Hello, you two! How are you?” The blank look on my face elicited a more detailed explanation. “We camped next door to you in the Gers two years ago! For 10 days!” My excuse is that she was out of context – but memory returned slowly! Corina and Andreas!
Well that about wraps up this stage. We had a few lovely swims in the pool which Mark and Rita (?) keep spotless. And pushed off a short distance to the East. To Chagny. There’s still lots to see in this area.
Fridge emptied of anything heavy or bright red and squashy. Door taped up, and we were off, negotiating a very narrow exit as we left the site…
I am enjoying the historical, geographical and civic updates