France – Macon (En)

Mâcon in Burgundy is a beautiful city surrounded by vineyards and châteaux. Located in a renowned wine region, Mâcon was a river port during Gallo-Roman times as the river Saône passes through the city. Today, the river is home to a 15-hectare marina with 150 berths for small boats and yachts.

We stayed at Camping Municipal (46.3307, 4.8445 lat, long) which is 7 minutes in motorbike from the city centre and 15 minutes walking following the Saona River. The camping is really good, with big plots and shade, facilities modern and clean, a restaurant and a swimming pool. In front of the camping, there is a Lidl supermarket and a little further a big shopping centre. 27,10 euros per day including electricity, a little expensive but it is high season.

We went to the city on our motorbike and we parked outside the St Vincent Cathedral which has the typical neoclassical architectural style of its time. It was formerly the seat of the Bishop of Macon. The South Tower is very distinctive, and it is topped by a belvedere that serves as a symbol of Macon. The cathedral is located in front of a square surrounded by official buildings.

We left the motorbike there and went walking through the old town to see La Maison de Bois, a centuries-old house, that features a wooden facade with unusual statues of monkeys and masked characters. Today is a restaurant in a square surrounded by more bars and restaurants.

Then we went to see Saint Laurent Bridge, which is a medieval stone bridge with amazing views. And is the perfect place to take a walk across the Saône River and appreciate Burgundy’s long history. It is located on the promenade where there is a great variety of restaurants and where we took a picture with the name of the city.

We decided to have lunch in one of the restaurants in the promenade and we shared a plate of John Dory with a coconut sauce and a plate of chicken with ham and cheese in a gorgonzola sauce, both with a bowl of pasta with oil and herbs.

After lunch, we went to see St Pierre Church, for me more beautiful than the Cathedral. Dating from the 19th century, the Église Saint-Pierre is a Romanesque church with twin steeples. And we finished our visit to the city seeing the Ursulines Museum, a former 17th-century convent, where there are exhibitions on art, archaeological excavations and local urban history.

And from here after celebrating Ben’s birthday…

We decided to go to Nuits-Saint-Georges, a very cute and animated town with a centuries-old history of winemaking, which you can see in the next post!