Sometimes the most magical places you find are the ones you find on the way to other places.
Today we ran away from the weather, from thunderstorms and torrential rain, to Autun, a town with ancient, medieval and nineteenth century heretage, renowned for its beautiful cathedral and roman architecture, including an amphitheatre, ramparts, walls and gates dating back to the third century.
It was a lovely place and after visiting the cathedral and wandering its historic centre, we enjoyed a picnic in front of the amphitheatre, trying to imagine the scenes there two thousand years ago.
However, on the return journey we discovered a gem, a small town called Nolay, just off the main road and sandwiched between limestone cliffs and vineyards. Two minutes walk from the carpark, we were surrounded by medieval architecture and immersed in history, walking along cobbled streets hemmed in by half timbered buildings dating back to the 1500s. In the town square, again cobbled and surrounded by typical merchants' houses (some retaining their original coats of arms), stands the church of St Martin with it's 38metre high gothic spire, and the 'Halles', built over 600 years ago, a four sided chestnut framework rooved with limestone which will have been a market, meeting place, and place for ceremonies and festivals over the years.
As if all that isn't enough, it also had a bar that was open, so extra brownie points.
When we cycled to Clamecy, last week, we passed through a tiny village with the most amazing church,
and I have lost count of the many villages we have driven through on our quest to avoid the main roads. Stunning!
So if I were to give one piece of advice to anyone travelling through France, it would be to get off the main roads and explore. There are some absolute gems of places in the more rural areas, but take a sandwich because there is rarely anywhere to buy one.
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