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TOURNUS
ABBEY ON THE SAONE
Wine and Architecture in Southern Burgundy
The
most identifiable feature of Tournus, the small city on the Saone River
halfway between Macon and Chalon-sur-Saone
is its magnificent Abbey and Eglise of St.
Philibert with its powerful but elegant façade and tower standing
strong over this village in the heart of the Southern Burgundy
wine growing region. The Abbey at Tournus is the oldest of Burgundy’s
major Romanesque churches and
one of the best preserved. Abbey Cluny a few kilometers away,
was significantly more important in the early 
Christian world, but is now
mostly a city size ruin (see Abbey
Cluny).
Tournus, though more compact, has remained for the most part substantially
unchanged in overall form since first erected in
the 10th
and
reconstructed
in the
12th Century with some additions over time, a beautiful example of the pre-Gothic
period with
its alternating color arches and pink toned stonework creating
a warm glow of light in its high windowed nave, one of the best examples
of the style
in central France. The attached cloisters of the monastery, refectory, chapel
room and cellar give
the living
feeling
of
sandaled, hooded monks
going about their prayers. In fact,
it was only in 2002 that during some restoration work that a medieval mosaic
from
the
12th
Century
depicting
a
zodialogical
calendar representing man’s labor in connection with God’s time
was discovered, one of very few from this period discovered still in place.
And further restoration work is on-going.
Tournus
is far more than its famous Abbey. The morning sun rises across the Saone
River casting an artist’s
light on the old town which stands on the north- south road
through the Burgundy wine country, following the calm river tributary
of the mighty Rhone. Tournus is a popular stop for river and canal cruising
through southern
Bourgogne,
as
the Saone
gently
flows
past one fortified city after another. Tournus is home to 17 restuarants
with local character, several of gourmet quality, featuring wines from
the surrounding Saone & Loire department. Tournus can make an ideal base
for wine tasting touring around the southern Burgundy region, home of the
Beujolais and Chardonnay varietals. Several chateaux dot the green hill landscape
among the vines (see Chateau
de Cormatin and Brancion).
The Voie Verte cycling path can be pedaled from here (see Velo
Museum).
Hotel Accomodations in Tournus
The
Hotel de Grueze is located directly across
from the Abbey and next to the Museum of Jean-Baptiste Grueze. Several
of the rooms typifying
old world France elegance have views of the lighted Abbey Tower at night
with a beautifully situated garden restaurant. The Hotel
de Grueze is a
short walk from the Gare Tournus rail station (the nearest TGV stop is either
Chalon-sur-Saone to the north or Macon to the south) and the A6 motorway
from Lyon to Dijon directly passes Tournus if traveling by car.
The
Le Rempart Hotel is located on the main road N6 two blocks
from the Abbey. Originally a guard house from the 15th Century built into
the walls
of the old city, the hotel has been completed renovated with a mix of past
glory and modern style elegance, a Chateaux and Hotels de France listed
property with a gourmet restaurant of French cuisine. Le Rempart review TripAdvisor
The Hotel
Le Sauvage is
a good bargain hotel stay between the Abbey and the center of the village,
also on the
major
route
N6. A very nice 3-star inn with restaurant, not
quite the upper-scale elegance of
the Rempart and Grueze hotels, but conveniently located if traveling by car
with warm friendly service and a nice in-house restaurant, or easy walk
to the
old city. © Bargain
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Tournus
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See Also:
CHÂTEAU DE CHÂTEAUNEUF-EN-AUXOIS
DIJON - BURGUNDY WINE, MUSTARD N' GARGOYLES
French Cathedral and Wine Touring
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