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Saulieu
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SAULIEU
, having suffered something of a decline with the depopulation of the Morvan, then the construction of the A6
autoroute
that took away the traffic from the old N6, is once more a relatively thriving market town, best known for its gastronomy: every year the town waits hungrily for its Charollais
festival
, on the third weekend of August - a super-gourmet festival featuring lots of meat and other local produce. Halfway between Paris and Lyon, it's a good place to stop for a meal - the D6 is lined with former coaching inns, and most of them have been turned into restaurants with very quiet rooms that face peaceful gardens at the back.
The old town - on the west side of the N6 - is pretty enough, perfect for an after- dinner stroll. Its main sight is the twelfth-century Basilique St-Andoche , noted for its lovely capitals, probably carved by a disciple of Gislebertus, the master sculptor of Autun. Next door, the MusA©e FranA§ois-Pompon (Mon & Wed-Sat 10am-12.30pm & 2-6pm, Sun 10.30am-noon & 2-5pm; 22F/a?¬3.35) is also surprisingly interesting, with good local folklore displays and a large collection of the works of the local nineteenth-century animal sculptor, FranA§ois Pompon. The tourist office (July & Aug Mon-Sat 9.30am-6pm; rest of year Mon-Sat 9.30am-noon & 2-6pm, Sun 10am-noon; tel 03.80.64.00.21) is on the N6 near the hospital, in the direction of Paris - there is a Pompon statue of a bull in the little garden almost opposite. The gare SNCF is straight up avenue de la Gare opposite the market place/car park.
You may want to
stay
the night if you've been tempted by the wine lists at some of the restaurants.
La Borne Imperiale
, 14-16 rue d'Argentine (tel 03.80.64.19.76; 160-220F/a?¬24-34; menus from 125F/a?¬19.05), is a roadside inn with a fantastic atmosphere, a lovely terrace and rooms which all have a view of the garden; it also has a restaurant specializing in
escargots
and, of course,
charollais
. Two other reasonable hotels to try are the old stone coaching inn
La Vieille Auberge
, 15 rue Grillot (tel 03.80.64.13.74; 220-300F/a?¬34-46; restaurant from 75F/a?¬11.43; closed Tues evening, Wed & Jan), and
Le Lion d'Or
, by the hospital at 7 rue CourtA©pA©e (tel 03.80.64.16.33, fax 03.80.64.14.64; 160-220F/a?¬24-34), whose restaurant food starts at 96F/a?¬14.63 (closed Mon, Sun evening & Jan 1-15). Higher up the price scale,
La CA?te d'Or
at 2 rue d'Argentine in the middle of town (tel 03.80.90.53.53, fax 03.80.64.08.92,
www.bernard-loiseau.com
; 400-500F/a?¬61-76), has an outrageously expensive, though exquisite, restaurant run by the famous creative chef Bernard L'Oiseau (menus 490-920F/a?¬74.70-140.24). There are also a couple of
gA®tes d'A©tape
(Easter-Nov) and a
campsite
(tel 03.80.64.00.21; April-Oct 20), 1km out along the Paris road. Other useful information
for tourists (each section contains more specific sub-sections): |
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France,
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