Saône et Loire

The furthermost department of Burgundy, with Chalon sur Saone as its main city, and Macon as its capital. Loved because of its Rivers and canals and the many cycle routes along them. A wide variety of landscpapes: The fertile Bresse plain to the east, the wine hills in the middle, and rolling country side with charollais cows to the west.

The whole of Burgundy has its roots in religion, but none more so than Cluny which was so dominant in Christianity in Europe in the 12thC. Beautiful Romanesque churches pepper the landscape, there are abbeys and monasteries and fine ecclesiastical architecture – as for example at the cathedral in Autun. In this department there’s Burgundy’s finest château at Cormatin, and the charming if little known town of Tournus on the river Saône to explore.

Mâcon in the far south is the main town of this department, with a thriving wine trade at its heart. The wines of the Chalonnaise are not so ‘precious’ as those of the Côte de Beaune and Côte de Nuits, but they are, never-the-less, excellent. In the surrounding countryside the white Charolais cattle graze peacefully.

Chalon-sur-Saône it is a prosperous and busy town with light industry and all services at hand.