French Weather

Early September is a good time to travel in France. But the weather can change later in the month. We had good weather all but 3 days of the trip. Most mornings in Paris and Burgundy there was a high fog or overcast that didn’t burn off until noon. Perversely, it was cloudy every time we went to a city or town, thwarting my photographic efforts. By the 16th of the month it was definately chilly at night, high 50’s on the Fahrenheit scale. By afternoon it would be in the high 70’s or 80’s. The trees looked like very early fall.

The day we left the boat, Sept 16th, it was definitely fall, spitting rain, windy and chilly. It continued that way the next day as we left Chablis and started driving to Provence. But as we crested the Massif Central range and started dropping down into the Rhone Valley the weather was decidedly different. It was 15 degrees warmer by the time we got to Provence. Our first day in Provence we had thunderstorms and rain squalls but the remainder of the time it was warm and partly cloudy. When we traveled back to Paris we arrived back in the same overcast morning conditions with the chilly nights. We know exactly why all those impressionist painters headed South.

The French Train System

There are at least 3 levels of French trains: the suburban trains, the regional trains, and the big daddy bullet train, the TGV. We rode a regional train from Paris to Migennes, and then again from Chatel Censoir back to Auxerre where we picked up a car to drive to Provence. All of the trains were clean, modern, and on time. The ticketing process is fully automatic if you wish. In the larger stations and on the trains there are ticket vending machines that take most credit cards. The only weak links in the system are a few of the personnel. There was someone that spoke English in all the larger stations. But the two stationmasters in Chatel Censoir were not good advertisement for the system. They didn’t sell tickets and the one on duty when we left for Auxerre throw us out of the waiting room into the wind and rain right at 12 noon when they locked up and went home for lunch.

The TGV is the bullet train. It took us 5 1/2 hours to drive from Chablis to Avignon in Provence, including a stop for lunch. It took us under 3 hours to go from Avignon to Paris, a distance of 100 miles greater, for a total of 415 miles. But the trains aren’t cheap. The TGV ticket cost 80€ each, or about $110, $220 for the both of us. It would cost far less to keep our car for two more days and returned it in Paris.

Cravant and Clamecy

Picture 1: The oldest house in the medieval town of Cravant, built in 1328.

Picture 2: The west bank of the Yonne, approaching the town of Clamecy.

Picture 3: I was intrigued with the variety of chimney pots in Clamecy.

Picture 4: The architecture in Clamecy was more varied and decorative.

Picture 5: I guess the delivery men couldn't handle the stairs; or lunch time arrived in the middle of the flight.

There were four more small towns on our river/canal journey. Two are worth noting. Cravant was the oldest of the town. It is a medieval town with its original portal still standing. The oldest building we noticed was built in 1328, the half-timbered house pictured above. We stopped here because it was supposed to have a Saturday produce market. Other than its age the town is know only because it was near a major battle in 1423. The town’s population in 1999 was 824. I don’t think it is that large today.

Clamecy has a population of more than 4,800. It is built on both sides of the Nivernais Canal where it again joins the Yonne and Beauvron Rivers. The area was settled in the early 600s but it became an enfranchised town in 1213. Amazingly all or parts of some of the earliest buildings are still intact, although many are looking a little tipsy. Like all the other towns, it is built on a hillside. Here is where the practice of cutting timber, rafting it up, and floating it downriver to Paris was started in the 16th C. and continued until 1923. This certainly helped the town prosper. Even today it looks brighter and more upscale. It is also the center for an artist community.

This is as far upriver as we went. We spent a night here and headed back to Coulanges-sur-Yonne for another night. Coulanges is the location of one of those great French country inns I mentioned previously. The next day it was on the Chatel Censoir where we turned in the boat.

The Caves of Bailly-LaPierre

A short distance upriver from Auxerre we made a stop at the Caves of Bailly-Lapierre, right on the Yonne River. A cave (pronounced cahve) is a wine cellar and may or may not be in a cave. But it is where you go to taste wine. This cooperative cave was in a former limestone quarry carved into the side of a hill like a cave system. It housed 7 million bottles of wine, most of it sparkling wine known as Crémant of Burgundy made from Pinot Noir grapes. We toured the caves, viewed a series of sculptures, marveled at the layers of moss on those 7 million bottles, and sampled a few wines. Sorry folks, no pictures allowed. However, they do have a website. http://www.bailly-lapierre.fr/ with some good pictures.

Auxerre

Picture 1: Inside Cathedrale St. Etienne looking forward
Picture 2: Approaching Auxerre in the late afternoon
Picture 3: L'horlage, or clock tower, in the old town.
Picture 4: Auxerre at night
Picture 5: Cathedrale St. Etienne outside
Picture 6: The cathedral inside, showing center of the basilica, or center arch
Picture 7: Side street in Auxerre
Picture 8: Main street in Auxerre

Auxerre was our third stop on the river/canal. We spent 2 nights here. It has a population of about 35,000. It's major attractions are the Cathedral St. Etienne, an active church, and the Abbey of St. Germaine, now a museum. In the approach photo above the abbey is the large building in the lower left, along with the tower of St. John, part of the abbey. The cathedral is the higher building to the left. In the night view both are lit but seen from the opposite end of town where we tied up to the shore.

We tied up on the south end of town near the bridge of Paul Bert. When I say we tied up I mean we drove two metal stakes into the bank with a 2 lb hammer in front of and behind the boat and tied our lines to them. There was a marina across the river but we would have rafted up to another boat that may have been rafted up to yet another boat. By tying up on the town side (West) we didn't have electricity or water, which we didn't need, and we had the sea wall to ourselves just meters from town.

Auxerre has been settled since Celtic times. An archelogical dig in the Abbey of St. Germaine shows the Romans built atop Celtic sites and the Frence built atop Roman sites. We saw that in several other places throughout France. The abbey was originally a basilica above the tomb of St. Germaine, a 5th centry bishop, who is credited with making Auxerre an important religious center. He is still buried in the crypts below along with other 1,000 year old crypts. Forget what I said about St. Nicholas before. He is important because he is the patron saint of travelers and mariners and the forestiers, or log cutters that floated their wood downstream to Paris mostly lived in this area.

The Cathedral was first built in 900 A.D. but burned several times in the first 150 years. Apparently every thing worked out after that and this huge Gothic cathedral dominates the skyline. It did suffer damage from the Hugenots in the 1200s. There is a 70 minute sound and light show here from June thru Sept but since it started at 9:30 us old folks couldn't make it.

There are two large museums in town, one of which was closed to set up a new exhibit. The other Mike and I didn't go to but Goerge and Carolyn did. What I found the most interesting was how buildings orginally built 1200 years ago where still being utilized for all sorts of enterprises, including computer stores. We tear down buildings because they are dangerous after 50 years. Maybe if we built them of stone instead they would last longer.

The most colorful tourist site is the clock tower, or Tour de L'Horloge. It is in the old town and was built in 1483 as part of the fortifications. The clock faces came along in the 17th century. There is a sun hand show the time of day, a moon hand that takes 29.5 days to rotate. Most of the old cities we visited had a Place de L'Horloge. Handy in the medieval ages, since watches hadn't been invented yet.

Only two more medieval cities to go before we move on the Provence.

The church at Gurgy

This was the view I had as we ate dinner in the town of Gurgy, midway between Joigny and Auxerre. I think there is a painting here.

Medieval Towns - Joigny

Picture 1: Half timbered house seen through arch in Joigny. Many of the houses in the medieval French towns reminded me of medieval houses in southern Germany I saw years ago. Picture 2: Our descent back from the top of the hill to the river.
Picture 3: View of the cathedral through the other side of the arch
Picture 4: First view of the town is the Hotel de Ville.

Joigny is the first of 4 medieval towns we visited on the Yonne River. We spent our first night across the river in a marina and wandered the city that afternoon. It is built on a steep hillside with 2 churches and a cathedral on top of the hill. It was rebuilt in the 16th century after much of it was destroyed by fire.

It has a population of 12,000. It's narrow cobbled streets and a number of timber-framed 15th and 16th century buildings and churches and the gate of St. Jean, a remnant of the original fortified City Wall (AD 998) make it look very medieval. It will also wear your knees out as you climb to the top of the hill to visit the cathedral.