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Canet en Roussillon and Saint-Genis des Fontaines (Occitaine), France April 2025 (Tour 11)

A major change of plan. From Chateauneuf du Rhone we were intending to drive down into Provence for a few days and then head for the islands of Corsica and Sardinia. However, the weather forecast for those areas is not good – rain and/or strong winds. Instead we are going to make our way to the southwest of France and then on into Spain. We’re on tour for the best part of three months and will therefore have plenty of time to catch up on Corsica and Sardinia later.

It was Vanya’s idea to book in at Yelloh’s Brasilia over the Easter Holiday and a good idea it was too. We usually book campsites one day at a time during our tours but at weekends we invariably book both the Friday and the Saturday because, so popular is motorhoming in France, it can prove very difficult to find empty spaces on a Saturday. Vanya suggested it could be the same over the Easter Holiday weekend and so reserved a space in Le Brasilia (located just outside Canet en Roussillon) for the Thursday, Friday, Saturday and Sunday nights. It was an inspired thought because the place proved to be packed all over the Easter break with French and German holidaymakers. Of course, Le Brasilia is also Vanya’s most favourite campsite of all those that we have visited during our tours and it came as no surprise when she later booked us in for the Monday night too. No problem. What’s not to like about the Le Brasilia?

Canet en Roussillon is not one of my favourite places but the weather forecast for the area was promising and it does serve as a great place from which to take day trips out. On this occasion we visited nearby Le Barcares, Elne, Saint-Marie La Mere and, of course, Saint-Genis des Fontaines; although the latter was business in that I wanted to buy some wine from my favourite wine producer in the area. I do it every time we are down there.

No more about either Le Brasilia or Canet en Roussillon (you can refer to earlier blogs for further information on those those places) but, since I have not done so before, I will make brief mention of Saint Genis-des Fontaines. Individual blogs on Le Bacares, Elnes and Saint-Marie La Mere can follow.

We have visited Saint-Genis des Fontaines at least four times before (probably five) and never mentioned anything other than that I favour one of the local wineries – Les Vignerons des Alberes.The most significant building in the village (after the winery) is the Abbey of the Saint Genis which dates back to the 8th century. There’s not a great deal left of the original abbey but the cloister is remarkably well preserved and the lintel above the front entrance, which I understand dates to the early 11th century, is supposedly one of the oldest traces of Romanesque art anywhere.

So, here are a few photos.

The restaurant with the amazing sign is on Avenue des Ecoles, almost opposite Les Vignerons des Alberes. It’s name is “Y en aura pas pour tout le Monde” which translates to “There won’t be enough for everyone” – there’s confidence.

That’s the entrance to the winery, Les Vignerons des Alberes. While we were in there, a Pays de Catalan Choir entered and started singing. I don’t know what that was about but as they they left, they were gifted a couple of boxes of wine. We saw them later in the village exiting a small grocery store with a couple of boxes of eggs.

As for this year’s wine I left with a few boxes of the usua; 5 x 3 litre boxes of Cotes du Roussillon Rouge (Vanya added in a couple of the much larger boxes of Chardonnay) and a couple of bottles each of two reds recommended by a local; the first is a Premium Cotes du Roussillon Rouge and the other being a Cotes Catalan Grenache. I’m looking forward to tasting those.

Chateauneuf du Rhone (Auvergne-Rhone-Alpes), France April 2025 (Tour 11)

A fair amount of driving south to the Rhone River saw us arrive at the tiny medieval town of Chateauneuf du Rhone (not to be confused with Chateau Neuf de Pape) in the Drome Department of the Auvergne-Rhone Alpes Region. It is just across the Rhone from Viviers in the neighbouring Ardeches Department and while we were only staying the one night I took time to briefly explore both villages.

The most noticeable feature about Chateauneuf du Rhone appeared to be it’s castle ruins and that was to be my first objective. Unfortunately, I chose a wrong route up to the castle (requiring a bit of a scramble); only to find an easy path at the top which contoured around the back of the hill all the way to my starting point. That was not the most promising start and, honestly, if it is the castle that you are interested in seeing, the short hike up the hill really isn’t worth the trouble. There’s simply not enough left of it to justify the effort.

Having said that, the views down the Rhone Valley weren’t bad and I could see that the neighbouring village of Viviers (and in particular it’s Cathedral of Saint Vincent) was within easy walking distance; probably no more than a couple of miles away over an impressive looking bridge (and, sad as it may sound, I do like bridges). That then became my next objective.

My bad luck that day continued. The weather closed in; the rain got heavier; I got wetter and; the Cathedral of Saint Vincent was closed when I arrived. Not the best introduction to somewhere new. I took shelter until the rain abated and then made my way back to Chateauneuf du Rhone to look for a restaurant or bar where we could eat that evening (pausing briefly to watch a couple of river cruise boats motor under the bridge).

*With few exceptions, I prefer River Cruises to Sea Cruises*

As for the village of Chateauneuf du Rhone, everything in the village seems almost as old as the castle ruins (it really is a medieval village) but, we found a friendly restaurant-bar for the evening that did an outstanding pizza and the accompanying Ardeche Viognier was as good as it gets – so much so, that Vanya promptly purchased 10 litres from a local supermarket.

I’ll end this brief entry (we are, after all, only passing through on our way south) with a few more photos of Chateauneuf du Rhone but, following an admittedly short stay in the village (and in cold, wet weather too), I didn’t see much in the place to make me want to return. From what little I saw in Viviers, I think it is worth revisiting (when the weather is a little kinder). There has to be a reason for the Rhone River cruises to unload their passengers there every day.

Charolles (Bourgogne-Franche-Comte), France April 2025 (Tour 11)

Drove south, deeper into Burgundy to an area of wooded meadows and rolling fields filled with white and cream coloured cows. We were in Charolles in the Saone et Loire, the most southerly of the Burgundy Departments and home to the iconic Charolais Cow. More about the cows later.

Charollais is a sizeable village of some 3,000 people known in the area as the Little Venice of the Charolais. It’s nowhere near the sea but it sits at the confluence of the Aronce and Semence Rivers and is almost entirely surrounded by water. Introduce a couple of canals, exercise a little imagination and, bob’s your uncle, you have a Little Venice. I’m being unfair; it is a pretty little place (despite the darkening sky and the rain that fell during my wander around the place).

It’s classified as a ‘Village d’Etape’ which, in case you don’t know, is a designated ‘Stopover Village’. Such villages make travel around France, especially if you are using the motorways, so much more interesting. They must be located within 5 kilometres of the motorway and offer a full range of services (hotel accomodation, restaurants, shops, pharmacy, garage and petrol station, etc). Equally important they must be villages of less than 5,000 people with a tourist information facility and some points of interest (be they historical buildings and/or hiking trails) and they must be concerned to maintain their character as a village. At the last count there were more than 40 Villages d’Etape across France but their numbers are growing. I think this is a tremendous initiative.

A little bit more about this particular Village d’Etape before I get back to the Charolais Cow. There are two buildings which stand out in Charolles and are visible from just about everywhere in the village; the remains of a feudal castle and the church. There’s not a great deal left of the castle complex which used to belong to Charles the Bold, Duke of Burgendy. There’s the Charles the Bold Tower which sits on a rise over the village but most of what remains of the castle has been transformed into the Hotel de Ville by the town councillors.

The most impressive building in the town is the virtually reconstructed red sandstone church, L’Eglise de Sacre Coeur, which had to be rebuilt during the 19th century. It is famous for it’s Blumenroeder Organ which was installed in 2015 – a “majestic organ which was designed to perform 17th century European music… (that) has aroused the admiration of organists and music lovers from many countries… through the richness and clarity of it’s sound”. I cannot comment on that – the church was closed – but the townspeople here are very proud of it.

Most of the town is focused around the church. There are one or two pretty places and there are a few good restaurants; which is to be expected in the birthplace of two of the all time great French Chefs, Albert and Michel Roux. They left for London in the 1960’s and opened the Le Gavroche Restaurant (the first UK restaurant to win first one Michelin Star and then two Michelin Stars and then 3 Michelin Stars and, if that wasn’t enough, they trained both Gordon Ramsey and Marco Pierre White).

As was mentioned already, Charolles is home of iconic white Charolais Cow which supposedly produces the best tasting beef in the world and which has it’s own PDO (Protected Designation of Origin). The village has a museum dedicated to the cow (the Maison du Charolais); the official tour of which ends with a tasting of the meat!?! I elected to try the beef in a restaurant later in the evening and had reserved a table for Vanya and I at La Bonne Franquette near the centre of the village.

That evening Vanya and I took Nala and Beanie to La Bonne Franquette and after a warm welcome from the proprietors I ate a wonderfully tender sirloin with a quite exquisite taste (without the earthy taste which can sometimes mar the flavour of the beef). This may be because Charolais cows are fed only on local grass throughout the year? I don’t know but I can confirm it is excellent beef.

The worsening weather prompted us to head south west (we’re chasing the sun again) to Chateauneuf du Rhone. Otherwise we’d have stayed to visit the Saint-Christophe en Brionnais cattle market. It is a weekly affair and, supposedly, a real event.

Auxerre (Bourgogne-Franche-Comte), France April 2025 (Tour 11)

I finally made it to Auxerre. This capital of the Yonne Department in the north west of Burgundy has long been on my list of places to visit in France but, for some reason, it just hasn’t happened… until now. Auxerre is a beautiful medieval city, not unlike Troyes with it’s many half timbered buildings and; it’s an easy place to walk with plenty of interest about it. Having now seen some of it, I think the city doesn’t have the profile it deserves and is too often overlooked by visitors to France in favour of lesser towns and cities. I really like the place and will definitely return when we are next down this way.

We parked the Van without any difficulty and within easy walking distance of the old town. The spires of the city’s Cathedral Saint Etienne d’Auxerre and the Abbey Saint-Germain drew us across the River Yonne to the old town by way of the Tournelle Bridge.

The easiest way to explore Auxerre and ensure that none of the city’s major attractions are missed is to follow a series of small bronze shields fixed into the pavement. These shields form the 5 kilometre long ‘Cadet Rousselle Route’ and they lead to the city’s numerous points of interest. Many of the shields are numbered (67 in total) and a brochure issued by the local tourist office (costing 1.50 Euros) provides background information on each of these numbered ‘points of interest’. Indeed, one numbered shield alongside a statue on Place Charles Surugue, serves to introduce Cadet Rousselle; an eccentric but very popular 18th century bailiff of the city after which the Cadet Rousselle Route was named.

The monument to Cadet Rousselle was created by the renowned French painter and sculptor Francois Brochet. He has at least two other monuments on show in Auxerre – the Restif de La Bretonne and Marie-Noel. Of the three, I favour the one to Cadet Rousselle. For my part, you can keep the other two.

We didn’t bother with the brochure but we chanced on the Route near two of the city’s more preeminent buildings, the Hotel de Ville and the 15th century Tour d’Horloge. Of these two buildings, the colourful clock tower (Tour d’Horloge) is by far the more spectacular . The clock itself has two hands but in this case one is the solar hand which travels around the dial every 24 hours and tells the solar time while the other is about 3/4 hour behind the solar hand and identifies the phases of the moon. Don’t ask me how that works. I gave up on Physics very early in my school life.

Close to the Hotel de Ville and the Tour de L’Horloge are the two other Francois Brochet monuments which I mentioned previously – Restif de La Bretonne and Marie-Noel. I know very little about the Restif de la Bretonne (except that he was a novelist around the time of the French Revolution) or Marie-Noel (except what I read about her in Auxerre Cathedral later in the day – she was a famous poet who was born, lived and died in Auxerre and was made an Officer of the Legion of Honour by that leading-edge Brexit Campaigner, General de Gaulle).

After musing over the aforementioned monuments for a while (they are unlike anything I have seen before) we followed the Cadet Rousselle Route to the 13th century Cathedral Saint-Etienne d’Auxerre (that’s Saint Stephen to those whose first language is English). It’s recognised as a masterpiece of Gothic Art (which I don’t deny) but it is the 15th and 16th century stained glass windows which most impressed me.

From the Cathedral it is a short walk to another must see ecclesiastical building in Auxerre (the Abbey of Saint-Germain) but follow the Rue Cochois and then the Rue d’Lyonne on the way to Abbey and pass through the Place Saint-Nicolas which has to be one of the most picturesque squares in the city. It has some wonderful photo opportunities which lend themselves to the lids of chocolate boxes and biscuit tins.

We didn’t go inside the Abbey Saint-Germain. One of the more interesting aspects of the abbey is it’s crypt and we were too late for that. So, from the abbey we retraced our steps to a small restaurant-bar near the cathedral where we could sit outside and people watch at the same time as we ate. It was time to eat if we were going to get some wine tasting in and we had promised ourselves earlier in the day that, if nothing else, we would compare the Chablis and Chitry wines.

As for lunch, I wasn’t going to make the same mistake as in Bar sur Seine a couple of days ago. No more Tete de Veau for me… not for a while anyway. It would be something a tad more boring…but safe.

One place I regret not seeing during this visit to Auxerre is the Palais des Comtes and, in particular, a room known as Salle Eckmuhl. I make no apology for being a fan of Napoleonic history and in 1882, the last daughter of Napoleon’s “Iron Marshall” (Louis-Nicolas Davout) established a room of Davout memorabilia in Auxerre’s Palace des Comtes. Davout was born in Annoux, 30 miles south east of Auxerre and, like Napoleon, attended the military academy in Brienne Le Chateau (see the earlier blog during this Tour). The ‘museum’, for want of a better word, is still there and for my part, I’m sure I would find the place enthralling. Next time then.

Vermenton & Chitry (Bourgogne-Franche-Comte), France April 2025 (Tour 11)

We finally made it to the north of Burgundy. I’d promised myself this for some time (Auxerre has long appealed) and… Vanya? Well, Vanya was heard to remark only last week that she has “always enjoyed drinking champagne in Champagne and that it could prove equally pleasant to drink chablis in Chablis”. I’ll not argue with that logic especially since Auxerre and Chablis are both in the Yonne Department of Bourgogne-Franche-Comte and only 15 miles apart.

The drive across from the Aube to Yonne was enjoyable and one to be repeated except; next time, we will overnight at two of the places we drove through – the village of Les Riceys (to sample some of the area’s famous ‘Rose des Riceys Champagne’, so beloved by the French King Louis XIV) and the Yonne town of Tonnere (birthplace of the Chevalier d’Eon; site of La Fosse Dionne and; very close to where Chaource Cheese is made). But that is for a future tour.

For the present, Vanya had found us a tiny, very welcoming campsite (Camping Les Coullemieres) on the outskirts of the small agricultural village of Vermenton; which is in easy reach of both Auxerre (15 miles to the north) and Chablis (13 miles to the north east). We expected a very quiet evening in Vermenton. It was, after all, a Sunday and (no offence) but, nothing ever seems to happen in France on a Sunday evening. We were in for a pleasant surprise.

I was returning from a quick exploration of the town and noticed that the Cafe de la Gare (down by the railway station) was serving drinks. It wasn’t long before Vanya and I, together with our two dogs (Nala and Beanie), were seated outside the front of the bar with a most friendly crowd of locals knocking back wine after wine. To give you some idea, two of the locals insisted on taking turns to give Nala gentle back massages and one of them insisted on buying us a drink as he left to go home. I should mention also that early during the evening, the landlady of the Cafe de la Gare introduced us to Chintry (red and white) which, she claimed, is a local wine considered every bit as good as Chablis. We stayed with the Chintry (which everyone was drinking) but resolved to put her claim to the test at the earliest opportunity.

The villages of Chablis and Chitry are situated just a little to the east of Auxerre and within 7 miles of each other. That settled it; after visiting Auxerre the next day, we headed east to compare the Chablis and Chitry wines. Initially we had it in mind to progress our comparison with one of the major wine producers in the area (at Les Caves Bailly Lapierre) but changed our minds at the last moment and found a smaller family run business (Domaine Elodie Chalmeau) which produces the Chablis and the Chitry (together with Aligote and Cremant de Bourgogne but that’s another story). After the tasting Vanya and I were agreed that the only difference between Chablis and Chintry is the price (not that there is much in it) and both were very enjoyable. When asked what the difference is between the two wines, one of the owners of Domaine Elodie Chalmeau (Christine) told us that grapes grown to the north of the D62 (which road passes through the centre of Chitry) are used to make Chablis while those produced south of the D62 are used to make Chitry and that most locals drink the Chitry. Funny how some people swear there’s a difference. For the record, we bought 3 bottles each of Chablis, Chitry and Cremant (but only Vanya is allowed the Cremant – she claims it is the best she’s ever tasted and the Aligote was too dry for me).

Wonderful wines! Next I’ll talk a little about Auxerre…

Essoyes (Grand Est), France April 2025 (Tour 11)

We visited the tiny village of Essoyes (pronounced Ess-wah) on a Sunday morning, out of season. It couldn’t have been quieter; which suited us down to the ground because I suspect it is a place that will be overrun with visitors during the summer months.

It is a charming little village in the centre of the Aube with less than 800 inhabitants. The village was ravaged by fire in 1763 and lost almost all of it’s many wooden houses with their thatched roofs. It was subsequently rebuilt with stone houses and tiled roofs but it remains a picturesque place. Obiter dicter: I swear that when I was a child we were taught that the plural of roof was rooves. I’m showing my age now.

Essoyes is famous as being a longtime home of the French Impressionist painter Pierre-Auguste Renoir. Aline Charigot, one of his lovers and the mother of his children, was born in Essoyes and she persuaded Renoir to buy a house in the village. They lived there between 1896 until 1919 when Renoir died (although they usually spent winters in Provence because of his rheumatoid arthritis) and he was buried in the local church (as were Aline and their three children when they died).

Essoyes is justifiably proud of Renoir and has created a ‘Renoir Route’ around the village which captures moments from his life. It leads to his grave in the local cemetery and, amongst other things passes his home and the local church.

NOTE: I’m having to give up on this particular blog. WordPress have issued a faulty update to one of the “Plugins” which keeps locking the site. We’re off to Burgundy next but I’ll finish with a copy of my favourite painting of Renoir’s; the ‘Luncheon of the Boating Party’. Incidently, the young lady in the foreground holding the dog is Aline Charigot.

Bar sur Seine (Grand Est), France April 2025 (Tour 11)

We fancied a day out from Dienville and drove 30 minutes south to the small town of Bar sur Seine (population of about 3,000 people) because (a) it was market day there and we both enjoy French markets and; (b) there are a few well regarded champagne houses in the town and Vanya wanted to “try and buy” some champagne to take home to the UK. We were late getting away from Dienville and didn’t therefore get to see much of Bar sur Seine but the market alone warrants a return trip.

I was so engrossed with the market that I failed to pay any attention to my photos. For such a small town the market is huge and the variety of goods, services and produce on sale eclipse anything I have seen before. Here are a few photos anyway but I’m not pleased with them.

To talk a little about the market – There were plenty of stalls selling the usual food, drinks, flowers and furniture (including beds and mattresses) which are to be found at any farmer’s market across France but the variety of live animals on sale surprised us; as did the range and quantity of tractors and other farm vehicles. There were also some really interesting stalls that you would normally associate with a flea market – for example, one selling the metal circular caps which top champagne bottles and another dealing in World War I uniforms and equipment but it was the fellow selling house roofs and another selling an enormous range of sheds and garages that most amazed us. You really could buy just about anything at this market.

We limited ourselves to buying ice cream and Corsican Cheese. Actually, the cheese tasted tasted so good that we bought lots of it – twice as much as our fridge could accommodate. In hindsight, that was a really silly purchase given that (a) we may well stop off in Corsica later during this tour and (b) Chaource Cheese (one of my favourites) is produced just down the road from Bar sur Seine. Good job that we both enjoy cheese.

Another interesting aspect to the Bar sur Seine market, although it came as no surprise, was the large number of stalls offering glasses of champagne. It seemed everyone was drinking champagne – even the on duty fire brigade officers lol.

We reveled in the market for a while and then sought out a local bar for something to eat. We couldn’t have Vanya sampling champagne on an empty stomach. Unfortunately that is exactly what happened. On market day the menu in most bars is limited to the Plat du Jour and Vanya wasn’t interested in trying any of the local dishes that were on offer. I should have followed her lead but, instead, ordered a Tete de Veau (without properly understanding what it was). It proved to be the flesh from the head of a baby cow served in a mustard and vinegar slop. Enough said except that I ate almost all of it (the slop was actually very tasty) – crazy or what?!? Vanya would be tasting the champagne on her own.

Late that afternoon we arrived at the classy Domaine Devaux Champagne House on the edge of the town. I walked the dogs while Vanya attended a brief tasting session and the champagne couldn’t have been too bad because she bought two bottles.

I did learn a couple of interesting facts while at the Domaine. It seems that during the early part of the last century, the champagne houses in the north of the region (the Marne) objected to the champagne houses in the south (the Aube) using the champagne designation (notwithstanding that Troyes was considered the champagne capital and that the better grapes were grown in the south). The disagreement escalated; there were riots which saw vineyards burned, wine cellars destroyed, houses ransacked and people killed. Some 40,000 French soldiers were needed to end the rioting. Only in Champagne!

Essoyes, home and final resting place of Pierre-Auguste Renoir tomorrow.

Dienville (Grand Est), France April 2025 (Tour 11)

Vanya chose Dienville in the Aube Department of Grand Est because, she said, she wanted to stay at Camping Le Columbier (which site has a very good write up) but, there are two champagne producing areas; one in the north around Reims, Epernay and the Valle de la Marne and another to the south-east of Troyes (the Aube) which, we have been told, produces the better grapes. As we approached Dienville, I couldn’t help but think it was perhaps the Aube champagne which was luring her to this area. No matter, it is an area that is new to the both of us and, of more interest to me, steeped in Napoleonic history.

In the blog on Brienne Le Chateau I mentioned the Battle of Brienne. On 29 January 1814, while at war against the 6th Coalition, Napoleon attacked the Prussian army at Brienne and very nearly captured the Prussian General, Gebhard Leberecht Von Blucher. Three days later, having been reinforced by Austrian troops, Blucher attacked Napoleon at La Rothiere (2 kilometres east of Dienville) and forced the French Army to retreat. It could have been a great deal worse for Napoleon had one of his Generals (Etienne Gerard) not held the bridge at Dienville against Blucher’s Austrian allies. But that’s enough of Napoleon.

Camping Le Columbier is fine – a very pretty, quiet little campsite near the centre of Dienville. Dienville itself is a village with just 700 inhabitants. There’s a bar, a baker and a chemist in the village centre but not a lot else. The village grocery store closed down but there’s a small farmer’s market every Sunday morning and a Vietnames food wagon visits the village centre every Friday evening. The owner of the wagon is actually from Laos but what the hell – his Vietnamese chicken is great!

The village’s church, L’Eglise Saint Quentin, is a bit of a gem for such a small village. It has some very impressive arches and beautiful stained glass windows. It also appeared to be surprisingly well attended. Well, it was on the Sunday morning we were there.

Another impressive feature of the village is the Market Hall building which is located directly behind the church and opposite the Hotel de Ville.

On the other side of the River Aube to the village is Port Dienville. It’s a large boating lake and leisure park at the edge of the Aube Reservoir (now known as Lac d’Amance). The reservoir was created in 1990 to regulate the flow of the Aube and Seine Rivers and the port area now comprises a burgeoning marina with a few bars and restaurants, a water sport facility and a beach area. It was fairly empty while we were there and appeared a bit of a white elephant. I hope I am proven wrong in this regard because it is a pretty area and could bring great prosperity to the village.

Okay, so there’s not a great deal more I would say about Dienville but there’s absolutely nothing wrong with the village and the campsite is perfectly placed from which to explore the Aube Department. We were planning on visiting Bar sur Seine (surprise, surprise – Vanya has identified a champagne house there that she would like to visit) and I would like to visit nearby Essoyes (where the artist Renoir lived out his final years).

Brienne Le Chateau (Grand Est), France April 2025 (Tour 11)

The drive south from Soissons to our next overnight stop at Dienville took us through Champagne (via Reims, Chalons en Champagne and the small town of Brienne Le Chateau in the Aube Department of Grand Est). We’ve decided to take our time this year, avoiding all toll roads and stopping whenever we feel like it.

I like to think we stopped at Brienne Le Chateau because of my interest in all things Napoleonic but it is more likely that we stopped so that Vanya could get to drink her first champagne of this tour. She wasn’t too happy with my driving straight past Reims and Chalons en Champagne (but, come on, she’s imbibed champagne in both those places during earlier visits).

Brienne Le Chateau is where in 1779, at the age of 9, Napoleon Bonaparte first attended military school. He lived there for 5 years until, in 1784, he transferred to the Ecole Militaire in Paris. Much later, in 1814, Brienne was also the scene of one of his last battles. The town simply had to be worth a visit and I wasn’t disappointed.

Much of the old military school was destroyed during the French Revolution but in 1969 a small museum, dedicated to Napoleon’s rise through the ranks, was established in what remains of the building. It is tiny but it’s a fascinating place to visit (full of interesting records and memorabilia) and a few of his battles (including Austerlitz, Borodino and of course Brienne) can be followed on computers in the museum. My visit to the museum was enhanced by a group of Napoleonic enthusiasts role playing outside the museum. He is wholly revered in this part of France and it is small wonder that for a time, between 1849 and 1880, Brienne Le Chateau was renamed Brienne Napoleon.

There’s not a great deal to see and do in Brienne but the museum is an absolute must and the Chateau Brienne (where Napoleon stayed during 1814) is perhaps also worth a visit. Take time out, too, to look at the Hotel de Ville (the Town Hall). It is quite unlike any others I have seen in France in that it doesn’t display the usual “Liberty, Equality, Fraternity” strap line across the front of the building. Instead it displays a face of the Emperor Napoleon Bonaparte (and, if that isn’t enough, there’s a statue of Napoleon as a boy outside the front of the building). Vive L’Empereur!

On to Dienville.

Soissons (Hauts de France), France April 2025 (Tour 11)

We travelled little more than 60 miles today to Soissons; still in the Hauts de France Region but in the Aisne Department. This area was once part of Picardy. Soissons sits on the River Aisne and is one of the oldest towns in France. It was the scene of much fighting between various Gallic tribes and the Romans under Julius Caesar. Indeed, there’s an Asterix Theme Park just down the road from Soissons where “Asterix and Obelix (continue to) fight the dastardly Romans”.

Sadly, this part of France and Soissons in particular has witnessed a great deal of war and suffering over the ages, most especially during World War I. Soldiers from Great Britain and the Commonwealth, France and Germany were entrenched in and around the town for much of the First World War and some major battles (the three Battles of the Aisne) were fought in the immediate area. The ‘First Battle of the Aisne’ was an allied counter offensive immediately following the Battle of the Marne in 1914 which saw the start of trench warfare. The ‘Second’ in 1917 was a more bloody affair with France and Germany suffering respectively 271,000 and 163,000 casualties in just 12 days of battle. The ‘Third’ was the German ‘Spring Offensive of 1918’ (also known as the Kaiserschlacht) which was finally repulsed after some 5 weeks heavy fighting but not before the British lost 236,000 men, the French lost 92,000 and Germany lost 348,000. There are numerous French, German & British cemeteries and memorials throughout Aisne and at least two monuments in Soissons itself (the first of which is a plaque in the cathedral honouring more than one million British dead from the First World War who are buried in France and the second being the Monument des Anglais which lists the names of 3,387 British & Commonwealth soldiers killed in Soissons while repelling the German Spring Offensive and who have no known grave.

But, enough of war and on to Soissons itself. There’s enough to see in the town to keep most people happy for a day or two. I was intent on visiting most of the major sights, especially Soissons Cathedral and the Abbaye de Saint Jean des Vignes but; I’d also read about the street art of a certain Christian Guemy (aka C215) and was keen to track some of his works down.

I started in the town’s tourist office. A lovely lady provided me with a map identifying all the must see buildings in Soissons. She was unable find a map of Guemy’s street art and suggested I wait for her colleague to return but, after enduring a five minute monologue on haricot beans (it seems Soissons is famous for it’s extra large white haricot beans) I decided to leave and find the paintings without a map – a treasure hunt of sorts.

With the town’s Cathedral of Saint-Gervais & Saint-Protais backing on to Place de Fernand Marquigny, where the tourist office is located; my next port of call was always going to be Soissons Cathedral and it is well worth a visit. It dates back to the 12th century and, except for one tower being missing, it is almost an exact copy of Notre Dame Cathedral in Paris. It is possible to climb to the top of the cathedral’s tower for views over Soissons but, this once, I didn’t bother. The cathedral contains a number of quite exceptional paintings; one of which, “The Adoration of the Shepherds”, is recognised at least in part as being the work of Pierre Paul Rubens and that kept me occupied for a while…

Looking every bit a cathedral itself and within easy walking distance of Soissons Cathedral (actually, almost everything within Soissons is within easy walking distance of the cathedral) are the ruins of the 11th century Abbaye de Saint-Jean des Vignes. This once magnificent abbey was ransacked by the Huguenots in 1567 and turned into a stable but it was the French Revolution which saw the abbey forever closed…

My favourite photo of the Abbey of St John of the Vines is one I took from the Place de la Republique with it’s monument to the dead of the Franco-Prussian War (the Monument aux Morts de 1870) in the foreground…

I checked out other “must see” buildings in Soissons, including L’Abbaye Saint Leger, L’Hotel de Ville, L’Eglise Saint-Pierre and the Monument des Anglais (which was closed off), but my primary interest after visiting the Cathedral and the Abbey of Saint-John was the street artwork of Christian Guemy.

Christian Guemy has been described as France’s answer to Banksy and there are examples of his work all over the world – London, Paris, Barcelona, Rome, New York, etc and even Aberdeen, Brighton and Morocco. He uses stencils and his primary interests are cats and portraits (more often than not of people that society appears to have forgotten e.g. the homeless, beggars, the aged, etc) but; in Soissons it has been directed more towards individuals with some form of connection to the town. I suspect he accepted a commission from the local council and/or tourist office.

His work is not always easy to find. Some of his creations will fill the side of a building and are easily spotted but others are small and hidden away in the most unusual places. Those I photographed below are just some of 25 he has left dotted around Soissons. I found a dozen or so.

Vanya and I walked back into town during the evening to a small creperie (Le Corsaire) I had stumbled across on Rue de la Banniere. It was tiny but the welcome was warm and friendly (especially towards Nala and Beanie) and we enjoyed it immensely. I ordered the ‘Corsaire Special’ Galette as an entree and followed it with the best ever crepe for dessert (caramelised apples with cinnamon ice cream and flambeed with a dark rum). I really cannot recall what Vanya ordered probably because I’d knocked back a jug of delicious but seriously strong Bretagne Cider.

Caramelised apples with cinnamon icecream and flambeed rum – wonderful

The stroll back through town to our Van took us past the cathedral and a couple more Guemy creations (Vanya was picking them out quicker than I ever did) and, hand on heart, I can say we both very much appreciated Soissons at night. Peaceful and typically French.