Sights in Burgundy & The Rhône
-
Vieux Lyon's Traboules
The most celebrated of Vieux Lyon's traboules include those linking 27 rue St-Jean with 6 rue des Trois Maries; 54 rue St-Jean with 27 rue du Bœuf (push the intercom button to buzz open the door); 10 quai Romain Rolland with 2 place du Gouvernement; 17 quai Romain Rolland with 9 rue des Trois Maries; and 31 rue du Bœuf with 14 rue de la Bombarde. Although a couple of Vieux Lyon's traboules date from Roman times, most were constructed by canuts (silk weavers) in the 19th century to facilitate the transport of silk in inclement weather. Resistance fighters found them equally handy during WWII. Guided tours available.
reviewed
-
A
Musée des Beaux-Arts
This stunning and eminently manageable museum showcases France's finest collection of sculptures and paintings outside Paris from antiquity on. Highlights include works by Rodin, Rubens, Rembrandt, Monet, Matisse and Picasso. Pick up a free audio guide and be sure to stop for a drink or meal on the delightful stone terrace off its café-restaurant and take time out in its tranquil cloister garden.
reviewed
-
B
Basilique Notre Dame de Fourvière
Crowning the hill – with stunning city panoramas from its terrace – the 66m-long, 19m-wide and 27m-high basilica is lined with intricate mosaics and a superb example of late-19th-century French ecclesiastical architecture. One-hour discovery visits take in the main features of the basilica and crypt; rooftop tours climax on the stone-sculpted roof.
reviewed
-
C
Cathédrale St-Jean
This partly Romanesque cathedral, seat of Lyon’s 133rd bishop, was built between the late 11th and early 16th centuries. The portals of its Flamboyant Gothic facade, completed in 1480, are decorated with 280 square stone medallions. Don’t miss the astronomical clock in the north transept chiming at noon, 2pm, 3pm and 4pm daily.
reviewed
-
D
Musée des Beaux-Arts
Housed in the eastern wing of the Palais des Ducs, these sprawling galleries make up one of the most outstanding museums in France. The rooms themselves are works of art and a special chance to be inside this monumental building.
The star is the wood-panelled Salle des Gardes (Guards' Room), once warmed by a gargantuan Gothic fireplace. It houses the ornate, carved late-medieval sepulchres of dukes John the Fearless and Philip the Bold (by Jean de Marville, Claus Sluter and Claus de Werve), as well as three impossibly intricate gilded Gothic retables from the 1300s. Rogier Van der Weyden's portrait of Philip the Good hangs here as well.
The modern and contemporary art…
reviewed
-
E
Hôtel-Dieu des Hospices de Beaune
Built in 1443 by Nicolas Rolin, the chancellor to Philippe-le-Bon, and used as a hospital until 1971, this magnificent Gothic hospital building is famously topped by stunning turrets and pitched rooftops covered in multicoloured tiles. Fascinating interior highlights include the barrel-vaulted Grande Salle (look for the dragons and peasant heads up on the roof beams); the mural-covered St-Hughes Room; an 18th-century pharmacy where the nuns made their own medicaments and which is lined with flasks once filled with volatile oils, unguents, elixirs and powders such as beurre d'antimoine (antimony butter) and poudre de cloportes (woodlouse powder); the huge kitchens, with…
reviewed
-
F
Palais des Ducs et des États de Bourgogne
Once home to Burgundy's powerful dukes, this monumental palace is the focal point of old Dijon. Given a neoclassical facade in the 17th and 18th centuries while serving as the seat of the States-General (Parliament) of Burgundy, it overlooks place de la Libération, a magnificent semicircular public square designed by Jules Hardouin-Mansart (one of the architects of Versailles) in 1686.
The western wing is occupied by Dijon's Hôtel de Ville (City Hall). Inside the arch that's across the street from 92 rue de la Liberté is Escalier Gabriel (1730s), a grand marble stairway with gilded railings that's named after its architect.
The eastern wing houses the outstanding Musée…
reviewed
-
Chantier Médiéval de Guédelon
Chantier Médiéval de Guédelon is 45km southwest of Auxerre and 7km southwest of St-Sauveur-en-Puisaye. A team of skilled artisans, aided by archaeologists, has been hard at work building a fortified castle here since 1997 using only 13th-century techniques. No electricity or power tools here: stone is quarried on site using iron hand tools forged by a team of blacksmiths, who also produce vital items like door hinges. Clay for tiles is fired for three days using locally cut wood and the mortar, made on site with lime, is transported in freshly woven wicker baskets. A very worthwhile guided tour, sometimes in English, costs €2 per person. Wear closed shoes, as the site…
reviewed
-
G
Musée des Confluences
The incredible Musée des Confluences, a spacey science- and society-focused museum is as much stunning piece of contemporary architecture as museum. It is housed in a futuristic steel-and-glass transparent crystal topped by a floating 'cloud'. Inside, three of the 10 vast exhibition areas grapple with eternal questions like 'Where do we come from?', 'Where are we going?' and 'Who are we and what are we doing?'.
Remaining spaces home in on hot issues of the future - cloning, genetically modified organisms, global warming and so on. Two auditoriums, a café, restaurants, shop and riverside garden complete the ambitious cultural ensemble, the creation of world-famous…
reviewed
-
H
Place des Terreaux
The centrepiece of the Presqu'île's beautiful central square is a 19th-century fountain made of 21 tonnes of lead and sculpted by Frédéric-Auguste Bartholdi (of Statue of Liberty fame). The four horses pulling the chariot symbolise rivers galloping seawards. The Hôtel de Ville (Town Hall) fronting the square was built in 1655 but given its present ornate facade in 1702. When Daniel Buren's polka-dot 'forest' of 69 granite fountains (embedded in the ground across much of the square) are on, join the kids in a mad dash as the water dances up, down, disappears for a second and gushes back again.
reviewed
Advertisement
-
Abbaye de Pontigny
Abbaye de Pontigny, founded in 1114, rises from the lush mustard fields 25km north of Auxerre. The spectacular abbatiale (abbey church) is one of the last surviving examples of Cistercian architecture in Burgundy. The simplicity and purity of its white-stone construction reflect the austerity of the Cistercian order. On summer days sunshine filtering through the high windows creates an amazing sense of peace and tranquillity. Discovering Pontigny (€2.50), on sale in the gift shop, points out fascinating architectural details.
reviewed
-
I
Musée Lumière
Cinema's glorious beginnings are showcased at the art nouveau home of Antoine Lumière, who moved to Lyon with sons Auguste and Louis in 1870. The brothers shot the first reels of the world's first motion picture, La Sortie des Usines Lumières (Exit of the Lumières Factories) here in one of their father's photographic factories in the grounds on 19 March 1895. Today the former factory houses the Hangar du Premier Film cinema. It's located 3km to the southeast of place Bellecour along cours Gambetta.
reviewed
-
Croix Rousse's Traboules
Step into the underworld of Croix Rousse's traboules at 9 place Colbert, crossing cours des Voraces - renowned for its monumental staircase that zigzags up seven floors - and emerging at 29 rue Imbert Colomès. Other well-known traboules in this fashionable quarter include those linking 1 place Colbert with 10 montée St-Sébastien and 9 place Colbert with 14bis montée St-Sébastien; and the plethora of passages on rue des Capucins: at Nos 3, 6, 13, 22 and 23.
reviewed
-
J
Musées Gadagne
Housed in a 16th-century mansion built for two rich Florentine bankers, this newly reopened museum incorporates an excellent local history museum covering the city’s layout as its silk-weaving, cinema and transportation evolved, and an international puppet museum paying homage to Lyon’s iconic puppet, Guignol. On the 4th floor, a café adjoins tranquil, terraced gardens, here since the 14th century and laid out two centuries later.
reviewed
-
K
Cathédrale St-Bénigne
Situated above the tomb of St Benignus (who is believed to have brought Christianity to Burgundy in the 2nd century), this Gothic-style church with multicoloured roof tiles was built around 1300 as an abbey church. Some of Burgundy's great figures are buried here. The crypt is all that remains of an 11th-century Romanesque basilica and is a maze of arched tunnels, carved capitals and inlaid floors. Guided tours are available.
reviewed
-
Château de Sully
This Renaissance-style château , on the outskirts of the village of Sully (15km northeast of Autun along the D973), has a beautifully furnished interior and a lovely English-style garden. It was the birthplace of Marshall MacMahon, Duke of Magenta and president of France from 1873 to 1879, whose ancestors fled Ireland several centuries ago and whose descendents still occupy the property.
reviewed
-
L
Fourvière
Over two millennia ago, the Romans built the city of Lugdunum on the slopes of Fourvière. Today, Lyon's 'hill of prayer' - topped by a basilica and the Tour Métallique - affords spectacular views of the city and its two rivers. Footpaths wind uphill but the funicular departing from place Édouard Commette is the least taxing way up; use a metro ticket or buy a return funicular ticket.
reviewed
-
Musée de l'Automobile Henri Malartre
Motoring enthusiasts can drool over 120 vintage cars (not to mention Hitler's Mercedes and Jean-Paul II's Renault Espace!), 50-odd motorbikes, bicycles and modes of Lyonnais public transport over the centuries at the chateau-museum Musée de l'Automobile Henri Malartre, 11km north of central Lyon along the Saône-side D433. Take bus 40 or 70 to the 'Rochetaillée' stop.
reviewed
-
M
Opéra de Lyon
Lyon's neoclassical 1831-built opera house was modernised in 1993 by renowned French architect Jean Nouvel, who added the striking semi-cylindrical glass-domed roof. On its northern side, boarders and bladers buzz around the fountains of place Louis Pradel, surveyed by the Homme de la Liberté (Man of Freedom) on roller skates, sculpted from scrap metal by Marseille-born César.
reviewed
-
Puits de Moïse
This famous grouping of six Old Testament figures, carved from 1395 to 1405 by court sculptor Claus Sluter and his nephew Claus de Werve, has been open to individual visitors since summer 2010, or can be seen on a guided tour with the tourist office. It is on the grounds of a psychiatric hospital 1.2km west of the train station; by bus take Line 3 toward Fontaine d'Ouche.
reviewed
Advertisement
-
N
Parc de la Tête d'Or
Spanning 117 hectares, France's largest urban park was landscaped in the 1860s. It's graced by a lake, botanic garden with greenhouses, rose garden and zoo, with lions, tigers, bears, giraffes and more. In summer hire boats, ride ponies, take a twirl on a fairground ride or watch a puppet show. Buses 41 and 47 link it with metro Part-Dieu.
reviewed
-
Château d'Ancy-le-Franc
The Italian Renaissance makes a cameo appearance at Château d'Ancy-le-Franc , built in the 1540s by the celebrated Italian architect Serlio. The richly painted interior, like the 32m-mural in the Pharsale Gallery, is mainly the work of Italian artists brought to Fontainebleau by François I. Tours are in French with written English translations.
The château is located 19km southeast of Tonnerre.
reviewed
-
O
Musée Archéologique
Truly surprising Celtic, Roman and Merovingian artefacts are displayed here, including a particularly fine 1st-century-AD bronze of the Celtic goddess Sequana standing on a dual-prowed boat. Upstairs, the early Gothic hall (12th and 13th centuries), with its ogival arches held aloft by two rows of columns, once served as the dormitory of a Benedictine abbey.
reviewed
-
Musée Colette
Colette, author of La Maison de Claudine and Gigi, lived till the age of 18 in the tiny town of St-Sauveur-en-Puisaye, 40km southwest of Auxerre. The Musée Colette, in the village château, displays letters, manuscripts, two furnished rooms from her apartment in Paris’ Palais Royal and photos featuring her iconic hairdo.
reviewed
-
P
Boutique du Musée
Nearby, the Musée des Beaux-Arts showcases France's finest collection of sculptures and paintings, outside Paris, from every period of European art. Its cloister garden is a great picnic venue. Pick up stylish, art-driven jewellery pieces and other souvenirs in its upmarket Boutique du Musée .
reviewed