4th June. Back in St Jean de Losne for a few days to celebrate Jojo’s 40th birthday with a party,
the theme was Rock’n’Roll and the cake was a strawberry coloured guitar!
As usual Patricia was making herself useful
6th. Marian & Pete arrive from UK for a short break. Due to the rail strike they couldn’t get through to St Jean on the train and I had to drive to Maçon to pick them up. We did some tourist things in the area over the next couple of days and managed to visit Abbay Citeaux, Nuit St George, Beaune and watch the massive commercial barge “Posiden” go through the big lock at Seurre. On their second day we went to Dijon.
10th. Left St Jean-de-Losne for Seurre where the Aire is next to the River Saone and very pleasant. Enjoyed a couple of days walking round a town that I normally only drive through. One of the interesting discoveries was the Jacquemart Clock on the facade of the school, claimed to be the only remaining one still working.
Seurre is also the site of the first of the really BIG locks going south from St Jean-de-Losne. The big cargo boats that come up to the silo at St Jean can’t go any further as north of the town the locks are too small at just! 38 x 5m. The one at Seurre is about 120, long x 12m wide.
13th Drove on to Pierre-le-Bresse today and visited the Chateau which is also a Museum. The Aire is really good being just opposite the Chateau and offering all the service including electricity and all for free! So how is this for my view?
It was market day and a walk round town revealed some pleasing architecture, an interesting dove cote and an brick built church.
Back to the Chateau without Cassidy in the afternoon for a proper look around. It was heavily damaged in the Revolution and is in various stages of restoration inside. In some rooms where there are permanent exhibitions they have made no attempt to restore the rooms to their former state but finished them off in a modern fashion, obviously much more cost effective.
The most beautifully restored room is the Tea Room housed in the base of one of the towers.
The base of one of the other towersz houses the Chapell, the best remaining example of the original decor.
For me though the charm lay in the exterior with its towers, moat and beautifully restored and pointed brickwork.
The view was even better at night when the flood lights were turned on.
17th. Picked Sandi Fowkes up from Dole station and we drove straight to Salin-les-Bains where we got tickets for the noon day tour of the salt mines. The salt was pumped up from underground in salt laden water, initially by horse driven bucket pumps and later by water wheel driven hydraulic pump. It was separated off from the water which was then carried to the river via canals. The salt was then taken up to the evaporation pans and finally dried out ready for packaging and sale. However at some point they ran out of wood to fire the evaporation, so, no problem, we just install a pipeline of hollowed out tree trunks to a nearby forest where we , at no expense spared, build a purpose built site for the evapouration. Hence “The Royal Salt Works” ast Acr-et-Senans. After the tour we drove on there and settled into the pleasant Aire.
Sandi went to the Royal Salt Works where I have already been and Cassidy and I went out and dodged the showers, and then prepared dinner.
18th. Left for the Source of the Lison and took a wrong turn which was not all bad as it took us through Cléron and past a lovely Chateau on the banks of the Loue.
At the Lison the sight of the river coming out of its underground Source at the cave mouth was spectacular due to the large amount of water caused by all the rain we have been having.
From there we drove into the village and out to the Aire which was right next to La Taillanderie (an old hydraulically driven factory for the fabrication of sythes and other sharp edged tools. We were the only van in the delightful Aire with six plots divided by hedges and with a stream running past. We did the tour of La Taillanderie and when we came out there were eighteen campers! A camper Club had arrived!
19th June. My 73rd birthday. Sandi put flowers on the table, with card, chocolate and macadamia nut butter. After breakfast we drove through to Dôle river front via the services at the aquapark where we topped up with water etc. Parked up we took a walk in the sun!!! round town then Sandi treated me to a lovely lunch on a terrace overlooking the water. Then it was time to walk to the station and say goodbye after a lovely visit. Back at the van I checked my e-mails and had some lovely and some surprising birthday greetings. Those of you who know me well will know that a greeting from Son Paul was really special!
20th. Baloon launch from the Aire parking at Dôle
UP, UP AND AWAY……….
21st. Had a pleasant day wandering round Dôle and environs
There was a music festival in Dôle this evening and after having a good wander around ther various stages and listening to some quite good music, I decided that if I wanted a good nights sleep I should de-camp to the other Dôle Aire.
22nd. This evening two baloons flew over the Aire.
23rd. Have been hanging round Dôle to see if the English Language version of the Camping Car manual would arrive in Lons. Since it hasn’t I moved on to Clairveau-les-Lacs. Set in a dramatic valley the church has an exceptionally beautiful tower.
There are scant remains of the C12 Chateau, just a tower and a chapel but there is also a fine UNESCO museum of Neolithic Lakeside dwellers. Know as “Pile-dwellers” as their houses were built on stilts. It is thanks to a covering of water and silt that any remains of this 6000 year old civilisation have been preserved.
24th. Woke up this morning to the horrifying news that Britain is to quit the EU. I suppose it is not surprising that a populous whom successive governments have treated like mushrooms (ie: kept in the dark and fed shit, through their progressive dumbing down of the education system) would vote thus. In my view a far to important question to have been left to the “democratic” vote! AND predictably the currency and stock markets have tanked.
25th, Left this morning with the intention of staying at Cousance for the night. Took a back road which was spectacular and featured this C12 fortified Château at Rosay that demanded a stop. The saying on the sun dial is ” Life passes like this shadow”. There are commanding views across the valley.
Cousance turned out to be a pleasant town with houses of pastel shades on the main street but there was no signal at the Aire so after a walk and a look around we moved on to Louhans.
One of the things Louhans is famous for is the Monday Market and this is not surprising given the history of the town and it second largest claim to fame, it 15th century arcades.
26th Peter Searl arrived by train from St Jean the morning and we took a meander round town on the way to his hotel. The church is very fine with splendid coloured tiles on the steeple and roofs.
We had dinner at a delightful Bistro with an intimate little terrace that had us on chatting terms with the other tables in no time!
27th Monday. Market Day. We enjoyed a good wander about and both of us found some useful things. Peter leaves early tomorrow morning. It was a good visit.
29th Moved on to Gengoux-de-Scisse today. A lovely drive over a mountain range into a valley of vineyards with little villages dotted about the sole purposes of which are to tend the vines and make Chardonay wine. This village also sported a huge old wooded wine press and a cute Lavoir.
30th On to Cluny this morning for a quick “taster” to see if I think it is worth a longer visit and what I do about parking the camping car as there is no Aire. Certainly worth coming back to and the camping car parking is good, shady and right in the centre. Here is a quick sample of the delights of this town with an Abbay, parts of which date from the original year of its foundation in 910AD.
After lunch under the trees and the Abbay walls I drove on to the other Gengoux, Gengoux-le-National and a regular Aire with services, internet reception but no shade!
The Aire and adjacent recreation area is built over the railways lines and yards. The old rail line replaced by the cycle track, the Voie Verte. The station house itself is now a cycle rental shop.
Down in the town which was on an important trading route even in Roman times, there are vestiges of the Medieval walled city. The Donjon still stands and next to it a large lavoir.
The narrow cobbled streets are very attractive with many corbelled stair-turrets, typical of the C14th.
Perhaps the most outstanding feature of the town is the church with its twin towers. The transept and bell tower date back to its construction in 1120 the rest of the church having been damaged by the Protestants in the wars of Religion. In 1566 it was rebuilt and a clock tower was added with a connecting wooden bridge. The pointed steeple was added in 1867.
capetocarpe 