Following
the Saône river
The slight slope and the regularity of its flow make the
Saône river a gentle and easy route to follow. It
flows lazily past fortified towns and hillsides covered
with the famous Côte Chalonnaise, Mâconnais
and Beaujolais vineyards.
The Saône valley, being the only large natural route
from the north to the south of western Europe since the
Bronze Age 2000 years BC, has been an important axis for
the trading of amber, tin and salt. During the Roman era
and in the 13th and 14th centuries, the Châlon-sur-Saône
trade fair had an international reputation. The cloth
manufacturers of Dijon rubbed shoulders with those from
Flanders and Italian merchants.
A superb walk along the banks of the river takes one from
Pontallier-sur-Saône to Seurre, whilst passing through
Saint-Jean-de-Losne, the capital of boatmen, and Verdun-sur-Doubs,
fishermen's paradise situated on the confluence of the
Saône and Doubs rivers and home to 'pôchouse'
a fresh water fish soup, not forgetting the stopovers
in the heart of the vineyards: Chalon-sur-Saône,
Tournus and Mâcon.
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Colette
country
Puisaye
is a region where nature reigns, although not spectacular
it is gentle and ever present. "And if you arrived
in my country, one summer's day, at the bottom of a garden
I know, a garden black with greenery and flowerless, if
you watched, in the distance, a round mountain turn blue
where the pebbles, butterflies and thistles are tainted
with the same dusty mauve-azure, you would forget me and
sit where you are to never move again for the rest of
your life!", wrote Colette in 'The Vine Tendrils'
.
She was born on the 28th of January 1873 in Saint-Saveur-en-Puisaye
where she spent the next nineteen years of her life. In
the street which bears her name, on the façade
of a large house with steps leading up to it, a light
red marble medallion bears the simple inscription "Colette
was born here".
Although the novelist spent all her adult life in Paris,
she remained attached to her country of birth which she
called "the museum of youth". In "Claudine's
House", which came out in 1922, and "Sido",
which was published in 1930, she evoked more particularly
her town of birth and her much-loved mother.
The little town has dedicated a museum to her that is
laid out in the castle's pavilion. There, one can learn
about her life and her works. After a beautiful stairway
on which every step bears the title of one of her works,
the visit finishes with a fake library, a reading place
in which 1500 fake books hold the quotations of the author.
Must-sees in the surrounding areas: Moustier-en-Puisaye,
Treigny, Ratilly castle, the medieval building site in
Guédélon, a fortified castle currently in
construction using 13th century methods, the Bourdon lake
and the pretty little town of Saint-Fargeau.
Colette
in Saint-Sauveur-en-Puisaye
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Chalon-sur-Saône,
the birthplace of photography
Just next to Chalon-sur-Saône, in Saint-Loup de
Varenne, a physician managed to capture an image that
copied reality exactly for the first time. This man was
called Joseph Nicéphore Niepce. It was 1822. Only
one of Niepce's works still remains. It is a view from
the window of his house. The image is evanescent. One
almost has to guess what it is, but then it is the oldest!
The
town of Chalon decided to pay homage to the great inventor
by opening a Nicéphore Niepce museum. A wide collection
of images and old materials allows one to follow the discovery
and evolution of photography. One can see the first daguerreotypes
invented by Niepce and Daguerre, who decided to join forces
in 1829.
The presentation lets one follow the amazing progress
of the image: albums belonging to Fox Talbot, the inventor
in 1844 of callotypy, a process on paper; photochromies
by Louis Ducos du Hauron, the first colour photographs
dating from 1668, light projections from magic lanterns,
stereoscopic 3-D views…right up to the modern day.
Temporary exhibitions show contemporary photography all
year long.
The town of Chalon with its Association des Gens d'Images
which, every year, presents a renowned prize to young
photographers, has become a sort of French capital of
photography.
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