BICYCLE
MUSEUM - SOUTHERN BURGUNDY
Musée du Vélo and the Voie Verte Cycling Route
Whether
you’re a fan of the "Yellow Jersey", on your own bicycle
“Tour de France” or just on a wandering search through the
southern Burgundy region on a wine tasting trip or seeking a French Chateau
to visit, on the road between the Abbey of Cluny and Tournus just outside
of Cormatin in the southern Burgundy wine road area you’ll come
across the Musée du Vélo,
a truly unique private
museum with
a fascinating collection of bicycles (some motorized)
with 150 models in a former
18th century farm barn on two floors retracing the history of the cycle
from its invention in 1818 as a “velocipede” to the first
bicycle with a chain drive in 1880. Three seaters, three wheelers, tandem,
delivery, taxi, milkman and military bicycles. Also on display are posters,
plates of bicycle art and history, photographs of Tour de France
French bicycle racing heroes, license
plates, placards, and other curios. In
the summer the museum is open from 10 to 6:30 but closed for the obligatory
French lunch between 12
and 2. The rest of the year it opens at 2pm.
Voie Verte Cycling Route
Cormatin
and the Velo Museum are located along the “Voie Verte”,
a recreational route over 100 kilometers through southern Burgundy
from
Charney-les-Macon through Cormatin to Givry popular for cycling tours,
hiking or roller blading through wine vineyards and past Romanesque
churches
and chateaus in the rolling French countryside. The pathway offers 25
loop circuits through the local countryside. Between Cluny and Charney-les-Macon
the bike path runs through a former abandoned railway tunnel, the "Bois
Clair", the longest tunnel in Europe on a recreational pathway
with no cars. It takes 6 to 8 minutes to get through on a bicycle and
20 minutes
on foot. Between Cluny and Givry, the path winds through the hilly Lamartine
Valley. Located near the Velo Museum and Voie Verte is the medieval ruin
of Castle Brancion (see Medieval
Chateau Brancion) and the elegant Chateau Cormatin.
Where to stay for a cycling tour of Voie Verte paths see Tournus and
Cluny. © Bargain
Travel Europe
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Web Info
Musée du Velo
South
Burgundy Voie Verte
French
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See Also:
ROMANCE CASTLES OF BURGUNDY WINE REGION
MAGNY-COURS
RACE TRACK
CHURCHES ON PERCHES - CASTELLANE
