{"id":7776,"date":"2026-06-24T12:23:23","date_gmt":"2026-06-24T12:23:23","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/tappstravels.co.uk\/?p=7776"},"modified":"2026-06-24T12:23:23","modified_gmt":"2026-06-24T12:23:23","slug":"10-autun","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/tappstravels.co.uk\/?p=7776","title":{"rendered":"10. AUTUN"},"content":{"rendered":"

At the Camping les Deux Rivi\u00e8res, 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.<\/p>\n

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An early recommendation for lunch was at Chez C\u00e9cile in La Grande Verri\u00e8re.\u00a0 An old photograph of the building showed that the village used to be well populated and that everyone in town wore a hat!<\/p>\n

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It turns out that the proprietaire is not C\u00e9cile.\u00a0 That’s her mother.\u00a0 Now retired.\u00a0 The food was just what we needed and the coffee exceeded expectations.\u00a0 We like large volume coffees.\u00a0 We always order a strong coffee but get a pich\u00e9 of hot water on the side.\u00a0 Usually this amounts to a half-full tiny jug (which needs re-filling several times) – sometimes a very inconvenient glass of hot water.\u00a0 The barman here is a bit of a jester and brought a kettle full of hot water!\u00a0 As I say – exceeding expectations!<\/p>\n

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After lunch we went for a sneak preview of Autun in order to scope the place out and locate suitable places to park tomorrow.\u00a0 The roads in town start off reasonably negotiable, but get progressively narrower, twistier and more “quaint” as we climb into the old town.\u00a0 The cathedral is perched near the very highest point of the city.\u00a0 We even found a precariously short and narrow parking spot close by.\u00a0 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.<\/p>\n

The following day was market day – so our previously scouted parking zones were full, or just plain cordonned off!\u00a0 Safest bet was to park at the very edge of town next to the River Arroux and walk in.\u00a0 On our walk we passed numerous parking spaces but they were more suited to Smart cars and 2CVs.<\/p>\n

We have decided that we aren’t built for visiting markets.\u00a0 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.\u00a0 They are particularly keen to move on all their surplus soft fruit.\u00a0 It has, of course, been sitting on their stall for the last 5 or 6 hours.\u00a0 A large bowl of apricots for \u20ac2.50.\u00a0 An absolute bargain!\u00a0 But\u00a0 not much use unless one has the equipment (and the inclination) to make several kilos of jam!\u00a0 We don’t and we don’t!\u00a0 So we didn’t!<\/p>\n

On this occasion, the majority of stalls were still operational – largely in the massive central square in front of the Mairie.<\/p>\n

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The gates outside the Lyc\u00e9e Bonepart are impressively impressive!\u00a0 I’m just not quite sure whether they are to keep tourists out or students in!<\/p>\n

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The compulsory war memorial …<\/p>\n

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… and the Cath\u00e9dral Saint-Lazare d’Autun …<\/p>\n

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… with it’s massive stained glass windows …<\/p>\n

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… and it’s northern tympanum…<\/p>\n

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When is a tympanum not part of your ear?\u00a0 When it’s the vertical, semi-circular space between a lintel and the arch above.\u00a0 Everyone knows this, of course.\u00a0 This particular tympanum (depicting the last judgement) was created in about 1030-1035.\u00a0 It’s signed “Gislebertus hoc fecit”<\/em> (Gislebertus made this).\u00a0 Now the lesson moves from French to Latin.\u00a0 We are getting a rounded education! With a bit of history thrown in!<\/p>\n

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!\u00a0 It remained hidden for 71 years until a curious canon started to chip away at the plaster.\u00a0 I can’t help thinking that his action wasn’t a random act of vandalism.\u00a0 He must have had a clue that there was a Romanesque masterpiece hidden there!<\/p>\n

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The arch is bordered on the outside by a series of about thirty circular medallions, with alternate scenes of season and astrological signs.\u00a0 Signs of the zodiac are rarely seen on Christian buildings – although possibly more so on the continent than in the UK.<\/p>\n

The fountain of the cathedral is a grand affair.\u00a0 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.\u00a0 It has been restored and partly re-built twice since then.\u00a0 The structure\u00a0is topped by a pelican, piercing its flank to feed its young with its own blood, a traditional figure of Christ’s sacrifice.<\/p>\n

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It was also the site of my 21 point turn yesterday.<\/p>\n

Now we come to a lesson in efficiency …<\/p>\n

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Rounding this corner at 12.32 I was met by a truck coming up the street.\u00a0 I stepped back, but he didn’t appear.\u00a0 He had stopped in the road and his mate had jumped out and was lobbing some tarmac into a pothole.<\/p>\n

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That was at 12.32 as timed on my phone’s camera.\u00a0 The cars behind him waited patiently.\u00a0 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!\u00a0 Brilliant.\u00a0 They had enough tarmac on board to fix literally dozens of holes.\u00a0 I’m not sure the scheme would work on the M1 but it could help in small towns at home!<\/p>\n

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Another day we headed about 25 kms westward on the D978 to Ch\u00e2teau-Chinon which we soon discover has no chateau and not many dining options.\u00a0 But it does have a magnificent museum.\u00a0 It’s a museum in two parts.\u00a0 Fashion and clothes of the ages in one half …<\/p>\n

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and, in the other, a display of the official gifts given to Fran\u00e7ois Mitterrand during his presidency of France from 1981 to 1995.<\/p>\n

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Apparentky, only a small percentage of the gifts are on display.\u00a0 \u00a0There just isn’t room!\u00a0 After his presidency of two consecutive terms of seven years, the rules were changed.\u00a0 The maximum time that can be served now is two periods of five years.<\/p>\n

Mitterrand was also the mayor of Ch\u00e2teau-Chinon from 1959 to 1981.\u00a0 However, allegedly, he never lived in town.\u00a0 The nearest he got to residency was a plot of land he had bought in the countryside “nearby”.\u00a0 Maybe he kept a caravan there!<\/p>\n

Outside, in the garden was a lovely oak tree.\u00a0 This had been gifted to the President by Queen Elizabeth in October 1984.<\/p>\n

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The bonus for us was that, exceptionally, the museum was free to visit that day.\u00a0 Not only that, but our (free) tickets gave us discounted access to about 100 other museums and attractions.\u00a0 Although, to be fair, we haven’t come across another attraction that would give us that benefit!<\/p>\n

A short hop and a skip to the north, we passed a fish farm.\u00a0 We had been told they do meals.\u00a0 The Ferme Piscicol, Moulin La Petite Verri\u00e8re.\u00a0 Looks good for a trout lunch.\u00a0 We will go tomorrow!<\/p>\n

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It’s a little odd to see the trout swimming in the pools outside while eat a couple of their erstwhile companions.\u00a0 But we can cope!<\/p>\n

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Trout and almonds.\u00a0 Delicious.<\/p>\n

When we had arrived on site, we were greeted by a German lady.\u00a0 “Hello, you two!\u00a0 How are you?”\u00a0 The blank look on my face elicited a more detailed explanation.\u00a0 “We camped next door to you in the Gers two years ago!\u00a0 For 10 days!”\u00a0 My excuse is that she was out of context – but memory returned slowly!\u00a0 Corina and Andreas!<\/p>\n

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Well that about wraps up this stage.\u00a0 We had a few lovely swims in the pool which Mark and Rita (?) keep spotless.\u00a0 And pushed off a short distance to the East.\u00a0 To Chagny.\u00a0 There’s still lots to see in this area.<\/p>\n

Fridge emptied of anything heavy or bright red and squashy.\u00a0 Door taped up, and we were off, negotiating a very narrow exit as we left the site…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

At the Camping les Deux Rivi\u00e8res, 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.… <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[66],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-7776","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-france-2026"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/tappstravels.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7776","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/tappstravels.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/tappstravels.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tappstravels.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tappstravels.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=7776"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/tappstravels.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7776\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":7806,"href":"https:\/\/tappstravels.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7776\/revisions\/7806"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/tappstravels.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=7776"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tappstravels.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=7776"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tappstravels.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=7776"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}