{"id":7867,"date":"2026-07-14T10:29:27","date_gmt":"2026-07-14T10:29:27","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/tappstravels.co.uk\/?p=7867"},"modified":"2026-07-14T10:29:27","modified_gmt":"2026-07-14T10:29:27","slug":"13-saint-point","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/tappstravels.co.uk\/?p=7867","title":{"rendered":"13. SAINT-POINT."},"content":{"rendered":"

We are heading more or less due east towards Saint-Point.\u00a0 Madamme sat-nav took us (correctly) to Pont-de-Vaux, then across the Sa\u00f4ne.\u00a0 Simple enough, just one road really.\u00a0 Then she took us onto the road from Fleurville to Cluny.\u00a0 She did this while the onboard navigator was otherwise distracted.\u00a0 The road to Cluny is almost continous bends and hills.\u00a0 Not the best plan.\u00a0 Better to go south past M\u00e2con then turn sharp right on the excellent road (the A71) which takes us to within a few kilometres of our target.\u00a0 So, a quick pause, a new risk assessment, an about turn and back to Fleurville to correct my mistake of total reliance on the on-board computer!\u00a0 An easy drive – apart from negotiating of the traffic-rich environment of the outskirts of M\u00e2con!<\/p>\n

After arriving at Camping Saint-Point and trying to optimise shading (difficult) on an interestingly slopey pitch …<\/p>\n

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… we elected to get back in the car and go on a tour of local villages to get our bearings (and to keep cool!).<\/p>\n

In Milley-Lamartine, a tiny hamlet in the hills, we find the smallest church we have seen on this trip.\u00a0 L’\u00c9glise-Saint-Jaques Le Majeur.<\/p>\n

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Truly tiny – and if this is “Le Majeur”, I’d like to see Le Minor!<\/p>\n

Cluny is one of the main attractions of the area.\u00a0 Home to Cluny Abbey which, if you remember, was listed as the “parent” of\u00a0 the Priory\/Abbey in La-Charit\u00e9-sur-Loire.<\/p>\n

The Tour des Fromages (originally called the Tower of Beans!) has 120 steps to a spectacular outlook – allegedly.\u00a0 It was too hot to check the view!<\/p>\n

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Cluny Abbey is next door.<\/p>\n

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The Paschal Lamb is the centerpiece of the fifth bay of the narthex of the Abbey and has been adopted as the symbol on the in-pavement markers of the town trail.<\/p>\n

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The Abbey comes complete with its famous cloisters.<\/p>\n

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The street winding through the town was pretty “\u00e9troit” in places!\u00a0 Narrow AND hot! …<\/p>\n

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… with some amazing relics of ancient architecture …<\/p>\n

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Cluny was also notable for providing us with the one and only worst meal of the trip!\u00a0 At the Cheval Blanc.\u00a0 Highly un-recommended.<\/p>\n

We went for an air-conditioned drive in the hilly country north-east of Cluny and discovered the small settlement of Donzy-le-Pertuis perched on steeply sloping ground just off the “main” road.\u00a0 A lot of the buildings seemed to be from an era predating civilisation.\u00a0 And they were charming!<\/p>\n

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And, as you can see, we have a threatening storm developing behind the \u00c9glise-Saint-Julien!\u00a0 Hope we left the roof hatches closed!<\/p>\n

This place was a definite contender for the sleepiest settlement in France.\u00a0 Although, to be fair, we have accumulated a long list of such contenders.<\/p>\n

As we had driven south towards M\u00e2con a few days previously, we had seen a rather interesting port with lots of river craft moored.\u00a0 One of us was enthusiastic to relocate this marina and investigate on foot.\u00a0 We found ourselves back at Fleurville having traversed (without the caravan) the road from Cluny, that I had started to drive with caravan a few days earlier.\u00a0 I’m sure that we would have made the “crossing of the hills”, but it would have been an “interesting” challenge.<\/p>\n

Anyway, we drove up and down the banks of the Sa\u00f4ne to all the places we thought might have been the location of the boating hub.\u00a0 We even visited some parts of the river that, in all honesty, we knew were not the right place.\u00a0 \u00a0In the end we gave up and parked on the riverside road adjacent to the narrow bridge with limited headroom that we had crossed to get to and from the last campsite – the imaginatively named Pont de Fleurville.<\/p>\n

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While sitting there with the a\/c going full blast, we decided that what we were looking for was probably at Pont-de-Vaux on the canal that meets the Sa\u00f4ne immediately next to the bridge in front of us.\u00a0 We can’t be bothered.\u00a0 It’s too hot and we need to get home!\u00a0 In time for a visit to the small restaurant, the “O Berges du Lac” (really!).\u00a0 For a beer at sunset with a commanding view of the lake as well as the last rays of the setting sun.\u00a0 It was open last night, but not tonight!\u00a0 So instead it’s a gentle stroll on the bank of the lake as the sun sets above three enthusiastic swimmers.\u00a0 Luckily, I just happened to have a couple of cans of beer in the rucksack!<\/p>\n

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The weather forecast is getting worse.\u00a0 The six days of “over 35\u00b0” predicted earlier has morphed into a fortnight “vague de chaleur” culminating in a couple of days at 47\u00b0.\u00a0 We didn’t see anything like that in our trip to Australia earlier in the year.\u00a0 I’m not easily rattled by hot weather, but this is getting seriously serious!\u00a0 We decide to go to the only part of France which might escape temperatures in excess of 40\u00b0 …\u00a0 Normandy and Brittany.\u00a0 We are off to the “Camping Fruits de Passau” a little north of Montlu\u00e7on.<\/p>\n

The trip started interestingly with the access road onto the A71 closed.\u00a0 Ferm\u00e9e.\u00a0 Barricaded.\u00a0 We NEED the A71.\u00a0 The marked deviation took us 15 km the WRONG way back towards Montlu\u00e7on!\u00a0 So after nearly an hour driving we were passing the end of the road to Saint-Point!\u00a0 Not helpful.<\/p>\n

On the A71 we pass a couple of toll sections with no toll booths, just overhead cameras with ANPR (Automatic Number Plate Recognition).\u00a0 In France this is known as LAPI (Lecture Automatique de Plaques d’Immatriculation).\u00a0 Either way this means another on-line learning exercise (and payment) to be completed within 72 hours!\u00a0 Neither our car’s sat nav (2019), nor our map (2006!) had any knowledge of these payage sections.\u00a0 Perhaps we need to update our navigational assets!<\/p>\n

The A71 merges with the A79 just southwest of Montlu\u00e7on.\u00a0 The last exit from the autoroute before we get hit with more tolls is “exceptionally closed” to traffic.\u00a0 Although we had no escape option, the route to the outskirts of the city and subsequent ring road was probably much easier on the autoroute.\u00a0 So smile and pay.<\/p>\n

About 10 – 15 kms short of our destination we passed a road-side restaurant with lots of parking.\u00a0 The place looked to be called the Relais des Tightasses!\u00a0 Just our sort of place!\u00a0 About turn at the next roundabout, conveniently located less than 500 m up the road, and we were just in time for a late lunch.\u00a0 “Not cooking in the caravan tonight, Barry!”\u00a0 It was actually called the Relais des Tartasses, but why let the truth get in the way of a good story!<\/p>\n

The final approach to the camping was on tiny country roads just wide enough for a caravan and the occasional tractor – but not at the same time.<\/p>\n

Lovely swimming pool on a huge site but sadly with only one properly shaded pitch.\u00a0 An occupied shady pitch.\u00a0 Perishing Dutchman!\u00a0 We just collapsed in a heap after sorting out the caravan for a night’s stop and we only came to as the sun set behind us.<\/p>\n

As the sun rose at 6 am the next morning …<\/p>\n

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… we were off!\u00a0 “Turn right out of the site, second right, next left and right at the main road.\u00a0 Don’t take any gravel track – you’ll be fine at this time of day.\u00a0 There’s almost no traffic here!”<\/p>\n

We were almost out of the network of tiny, single track lanes south of the tiny settlement of Saint-D\u00e9sir\u00e9 when we came face to face with a tractor at a cross roads.\u00a0 Luckily he wanted to turn left.\u00a0 We met one car which kindly drove into a field to let us pass.\u00a0 Finally, just as we turned onto the main road we met a gas delivery lorry.\u00a0 We escaped, but it would have been VERY interesting had we got to that junction twenty seconds later!\u00a0 No traffic in the early hours???<\/p>\n

We had an overnight stay in the municipal camping at Sabl\u00e9-sur-Sarthe.\u00a0 Not our sort of establishment,\u00a0 but they had space and a nice, clean swimming pool with no children!<\/p>\n

One sunset …<\/p>\n

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… and one sunrise later, we were back on the road again on the last stage of our exodus from central eastern France.\u00a0 The shortest stage.<\/p>\n

By late afternoon we were ensconced on an big grassy area with a lovely open aspect.\u00a0 We discovered that we had been “upgraded” to a fully serviced pitch.\u00a0 No carrying water about the place!\u00a0 The caravan is plumbed into the mains!<\/p>\n

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We are in Normandy, just south of Granville.\u00a0 At Camping Lez Eaux.\u00a0 In one of the least hot parts of France.\u00a0 At last!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

We are heading more or less due east towards Saint-Point.\u00a0 Madamme sat-nav took us (correctly) to Pont-de-Vaux, then across the Sa\u00f4ne.\u00a0 Simple enough, just one road really.\u00a0 Then she took us onto the road from Fleurville to Cluny.\u00a0 She did… <\/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-7867","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\/7867","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=7867"}],"version-history":[{"count":9,"href":"https:\/\/tappstravels.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7867\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":7900,"href":"https:\/\/tappstravels.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7867\/revisions\/7900"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/tappstravels.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=7867"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tappstravels.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=7867"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tappstravels.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=7867"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}