03 : In and Around Cormatin (1)

Cormatin itself has a very fine example of a château with extensive gardens, you can wander around and imagine yourself as one of the Ducs de Bourgogne!

Boudoir in the Château de Cormatin

Around Cormatin there are many fine examples of Romanesque villages where you can stroll along the cobbled streets, take in the village life at a kerb side café, enjoy the bustle of market day and absorb the peace and tranquillity of the exquisite Romanesque churches. A superb example of Romanesque architecture can be seen in Chapaize, and between Chapaize and Tournus, perched on top of a hill,
you will find the Mediaeval village of Brancion with its Romanesque church with frescos and its mediaeval castle dominating the surrounding area.

Buddhist monk working on a mandala - La Boulaye

Religion has seeped into the fabric of the region and the ecumenical Christian community of Taizé is just around the corner from La Tuilerie (just under 2 miles walking or 3 miles by car). Taizé attracts young people from around the world and is famous for its "Taizé Songs" (a modern version of Gregorian chants). The church services at Taizé are also worth a visit just to absorb the atmosphere that this unique place exudes.

Cluny, the "light of the world", where the largest church in Christendom was built is just 10 minutes away by car. A tour of this church is a must. Although there is virtually nothing left of the vast original abbey, the tour takes you through where the church stood and allows you to experience the grandeur and awe of the original magnificent monument built to the glory of God.

Grand National - Cluny

Cluny is not only famous for its religious roots, but also for its horses. One of the National Studs (Haras) was installed here in Napoleon’s time and stands on land that was part of the abbey. You can take a tour around the Haras, with at least one tour per day being given in English. There is a horse racing track where regular meetings are held, flat racing, harness trotting and steeple chasing all take place there. Last but not least there is the Equivallée, which is becoming one of the important horse show jumping venues in France.

Tournus on the Saône

The nearby town of Tournus is worth a visit with its abbey church and Hôtel Dieu, however, this ancient hospital is nothing like as spectacular as the one in Beaune.

If you are feeling a bit adventurous, why not visit the caves at Blanot or Azé and see the marvels of nature in the underground caverns. Blanot is not for the claustrophobic or for people with vertigo, but Azé is a relatively gentle stroll.

Click here for some more pictures of touristic highlights around Cormatin.

04 : Other Things to See In and Around Cormatin (2)

Apart from the many Romanesque churches, there is more to see in this part of Burgundy. Again this is only a little insight into what there is to see, for more information you can consult one of the many tourist guides of this area.

Cormatin itself has a lovely Renaissance château (1605) which is privately owned, but part of which can be seen during a guided tour. The gardens on the other hand are totally open to the public and are quite extensive and well worth a visit.

The town of Saint-Gengoux-le-National (a tongue twister for most foreigners!) has a very nice small medeival centre where there is a market every other week all year round and in the summer they have evening markets as well where local produce and local crafts are sold.

There is the beautiful medieval town of Brancion, perched on top of a hill which has recently been completely renovated. It features a fortified (non-inhabitable) castle and a covered market. From the open area in front of the church, you are afforded spectacular views over the Grosne valley.

For castles in a better state of repair, Berzé-le-Châtel and Pierreclos are worth a visit. The former can be visited via a guided tour which takes you around the outside of the castle explaining how the defences worked. One or two small rooms can be visited, but as the castle is lived in the majority cannot be seen. Having said that it is one of the most interesting tours I have taken. The visit to Pierreclos castle includes a wine tasting at the end and is also well worth the entry money.

Wine is of course inextricably linked with Bugundy. Cormatin is just in between the Mâconnais and the Côte Chalonaise. The Côte d’Or and the Beaujolais are also very close and there are a number of “wine routes” you can take which will bring you past the most prestigious wine growers where you can always pop in for a tasting. Very close to us there is a good winemaker in Bray and Viré and Azé turn out a well respected bottle.
Click here for a few pictures of touristic highlights in the area.

The gardens of the Château de Cormatin

A number of places like Cluny and Tournus have a Hôtel-Dieu, but the most spectacular (from 1443) can be found in Beaune (although not close to Cormatin certainly worth a day trip). These buildings were built as hospitals and run by nuns financed by wealthy benefactors. The roofs of the Hôtel-Dieu in Beaune, which can only be seen when you enter the main courtyard, are tiled with coloured glazed tiles and are a feast for your eyes. But it is not only the outside of these buildings that is worth a look, the various rooms have been restored to their original state complete with a little chapel, pharmacy, kitchen and the wards themselves. The hospital was still in use until 1971 when new hospital buildings were built. Finally there is a polyptych "The last judgement" by the Flemish artist Rogier van der Weyden, the small details of which can be viewed through a travelling magnifying glass if it is not too busy and if you ask the person in charge very nicely!

16a : Eating out in Cluny (1 of 5)

Cluny is without a shadow of a doubt the town around here offering the widest range of restaurants. We have tried (almost) all restaurants mentioned here at least once. There are a few places we prefer not to eat, and that is irrespective of the quality of the food; it is mainly due to the ambiance we do not like. We start off with low budget places.

Fast food

Le Bosphore

Le Bosphore in the Rue Prud’hon (centre) is an excellent kebab place, although different compared to their English name sakes. For less than € 6 one gets a very nice sandwich kebab, and for around € 9 one gets a plate with kebab (different varieties), French fries and lettuce. The sauces that come standard with the dish are sauce blanche and harissa, a North-African hot (spicy) sauce. The service is excellent and the personnel is very friendly.
There is something resembling a (French) fast food place in the main street, called Quebec Burger. This street changes name as number of times, hence I keep calling it main street. One can buy French fries here, or various types of burger sandwiches, at very reasonable prices. The portions are big, possibly the reason why this place is very popular with the ENSAM students. The restaurant plays rather noisy music, with heavy basses pounding away, reason why we do not go there anymore. However, the service is good.

Pizzerias

Le Loup Garou

The main street has two pizzerias, Le Loup Garou (at the beginning seen from the post Office) and La Petite Auberge (a tiny bit further).
As a pizzeria I prefer Le Loup Garou, because the pizzas there are very thin, well filled with a negligible empty edge. For less than € 10 one has a wonderful pizza here. Since I have discovered the pizza saumon, I have never ordered anything else anymore. They also sell various pasta dishes.
La Petite Auberge is also a pizzeria, with roughly the same assortment. Since I am rather choosy when it comes to pizzas I refused to order a pizza here after I tried it once. My better half, very keen on thin crusty edges on pizzas, disagrees with me on this and fully enjoys her pizzas whenever I indulge in their unbeatable plat du jour (see also under cheap restaurants in part 2).

Le Forum

Just outside Cluny’s centre, on the other side of the river Grosne, lies Le Forum, another Italian restaurant / pizzeria. We ate there once, and were quite happy with the food as well, but we prefer Le Loup Garou because of quality, ambiance and location.

16b : Eating out in Cluny (2 of 5)

Cheap, cosy restaurants
Cosy is a strange criterion for a restaurant, but we distinguish cosy and design restaurants. In our view design restaurants are slightly more expensive than “normal” places, and boast design furniture and decorations. We have tried several, and despite the food, which has the same quality as elsewhere, the “sterile” atmosphere puts us off.

La Petite Auberge

Our favourite : La petite Auberge , a small intimate place with a terrace on the main street. I have been eating a plat du jour there every Tuesday, for over a year, and I still cannot understand how the cook manages to bring something different on the table each time. An estimate: I have a plat du jour approx. 40 times a year. Of those 40 times I have seen a maximum of 5 à 6 dishes which I have had before. And these 5 à 6 are also different from each other! The food itself is excellent, Sue loves the pizzas here, the service is friendly and efficient, and for well under € 10 one has a plat du jour.

Chez Sissis / Café du Centre

Almost next door there is Le Bistrot , which we have tried some time ago. The menu is not very inspiring, and the general impression is that it is more a bar than a bistro. We stick to their neighbours.
Another typical French restaurant, with reading table and excellent French food is Café du Centre or Chez Sissis , just off the main street.
There are few others, which I will just mention. La Halte d’Abbaye is one of those, as is Le Cloître . They offer good food, bur are just a bit further away from the main street, near the abbey.

Design restaurants

Brasserie du Nord

Cluny has a handful of restaurants we do not frequent any more, basically because we do not like the un-French, a bit sterile, ambiance. However, some people are a bit more modern than we are, hence here they are. The main street has Le Comptoir and La Nation . The latter has a terrace, the first one has some chairs and tables cramped outside under an archway. Brasserie du Nord (near the abbey – with terrace) has the same sort of interior and food and the same owner as Brasserie La Nation.

16c : Eating out in Cluny (3 of 5)

Speciality restaurants
There is one restaurant well known around Cluny for its frog’s legs.

Le Rochefort

The place is called Le Rochefort , on the through road from Cluny direction Mâcon. I once ordered a plate of cuisses de grenouilles including desert for € 25, without desert it would have been € 21. The portion was so big, and eating the legs so time consuming, that I had finally eaten all the legs only after two hours. Fortunately Sue did not mind to take my desert, because I really felt stuffed. The frog’s legs were deep fried, garnished with parsley, and over-delicious.
On the same road, near the old railway station one finds bio-restaurant Le Pain sur le Table .

Le Pain sur le Table

We went in one day, but neither the clientele nor the dishes made us think “yes, let us try!”. It all looked a bit too healthy and too bio for my taste. However, vegetarians have a hard time in Burgundy, when it comes to finding something else but a green salad (which often has lardons = bacon in it anyway!). So maybe this is the place for them. We hope to get a review from one of those vegetarians who are not put off by the look of their food!
Le Potin Gourmand (just outside the centre, at the very “end” of the main street) offers apart from (sporadic) jazz concerts also mediaeval meals. I can vouch for the jazz music, but have not (yet) tried the mediaeval meals.

Expensive restaurants
Two restaurants, Hôtel de Bourgogne and Hostellerie d’Héloïse we have tried in the meantime (click on the links to read the separate blogs).

Auberge du Cheval Blanc

The only slightly more expensive restaurant we have frequented for a while was Auberge du Cheval Blanc, not quite in the centre of Cluny. The food there was always excellent, the ambiance nice. However, recently we resorted again to this place (our usual restaurant for special occasions has stopped to exist). They gutted the inside of the building, the service was not what it used to be, and although the food was good, it certainly does not rank like it did before.

16d : Eating out in Cluny (4 of 5)

Hôtel de Bourgogne

After long deliberations we finally decided to go for a real expensive meal. We had chosen Hôtel de Bourgogne, a beautiful building overlooking the square where also the Palais du Pape Gélase is located.
That sounded very promising, a dining room with a view, were it not, that the dining room was not located at the front of the hotel, but at the side of it, with a stunning view on the building site of the abbey which is being restored. Unfortunately our table was facing the window, hence I was overlooking the restoration works. Further, the street along the windows connected the town centre with a parking area, and the narrow pavement allowed pedestrians to have a good look at what the financially better off were having on their plates.
Of course one goes to a restaurant to eat, and not to criticise the location or surroundings. Still, I felt a bit like being on display here, something that does not bother me the slightest when I am having a meal on the terrace of a much cheaper restaurant in a busy street.

Palais du Pape Gélase

Anyway, here we were. Sue was strategically positioned overlooking the (in my eyes) old fashioned, almost English interior.
Neither of us ordered a menu, basically because a starter and main course contain more than sufficient food for us. Both of us ordered a foie gras with very special pieces of toast, I ordered a tournedos with mashed potatoes, spinach and chanterelles, while Sue had a piece of Bresse chicken in mushroom (morels) sauce, with carrot and asparagus and a few new potatoes.
As an amuse we got a tiny bowl with a bit of red cabbage with a creamy sauce.
The food was really excellent, as were the staff and the service.

The now finished renovations of part of Cluny III

We knew that this meal was going to set us back a few bob. I had spotted in the menu that the prices were nett, hence the additional VAT on the bill did not come as a surprise. Why the VAT was not included in the menu prices however is a mystery to me. All in all, we had spent approx. € 65 a head, including a bottle of wine and a cup of coffee.

16e : Eating out in Cluny (5 of 5)

Ever since in 2013 the chef of La Grange Finot in Bray, and later of La Régalade in Cluny, Serge Curtil had to close his doors we have been desperately looking for something similar, and so far without much success. Those restaurants both served excellent meals, the service was good and friendly, the price was very reasonable considering the quality of the food, in a word: Curtil's restaurants had been for years the places we went to in case we had something to celebrate.

Hostellerie d'Héloïse - Cluny

The name Hostellerie d'Héloïse had cropped up as a possible replacement of La Grange Finot, and we have made several attempts to reserve a table there. But every time we tried to book, the restaurant was either closed or fully booked, and we had more or less given up the idea of ever eating there.

Hostellerie d'Héloïse - Cluny

Until we wanted to celebrate my birthday. The weather forecast for that day was horrible, hence a nice day out sight-seeing was not an option. Remained a special dinner for two. Again the Hostellerie was mentioned, and this time we were luckier: we could make a reservation for a table for two that evening without any problem.

Escargots

We had never seen the restaurant from the inside, and when we walked in we realised why making a reservation was not as easy as we thought it should have been. The restaurant area is not big, and since the place is also a hotel, having a fully booked hotel quickly results in a fully booked restaurant. The restaurant offers a lovely view over the river Grosne, is simply but tastefully decorated and furnished and the service was friendly and adequate.

Pavé de Charollais

As far as I am concerned a child is easily pleased, and when I saw the "Menu the Terroir" I was sold straight away. An amuse-bouche, twelve escargots, a pavé de Charollais in a red wine sauce with gratin dauphinois, a cheese platter with a.o. three different Epoisses and as a bonus a lemon sorbet with vodka and coffee, well, what more can one wish?

Magret de Canard

My partner was a bit less extravagant (it not being her birthday), with asparagus as a starter, half a magret de canard as a main dish and the same cheese platter as I had (menu de marché d'Héloïse).

Rest in Peace!

The food was excellent and nicely laid out, the service was very good and friendly, and at the end of the day this meal including a glass of pastis as an apéro, wine and coffee set us back less than 50 € a head. Not something to do on a daily basis, but for special occasions we finally have found a place to eat!