The past is a foreign country, as even people know who have not read “The Go-Between” (or seen the movie).
But whereas the opening statement of L.P. Hartley’s novel refers to past habits and customs (“they do things differently there”), one can just as easily apply the phrase to the looks and the structures of the old world.
Take a historical map from any period between the Middle Ages and the 19th century, and you will find mysterious entities such as the Monastic State of the Teutonic Knights, the Khanate of the Crimea and the intriguingly named Kingdom of the Two Sicilies (what happened to the other one?).
Historically more relevant than any of these was the Duchy of Burgundy, a major player in European power games throughout the Middle Ages.
With its fertile soils, its wealth and its rulers’ royal blood, the Duchy had grown into a serious rival to the French throne itself when the ambitious Duke Charles le Temeraire miscalculated badly and overplayed his hand.
Charles was killed in battle in 1477, following which the Duchy was unceremoniously dissolved, its territories annexed by France.
Experiencing the Discreet Charms of La France Profonde in the Burgundy Borderlands
For more than 500 years now, Burgundy has survived as a relatively unglamorous province, wedged into a distant corner of the French nation somewhere between Paris and Lyon.
If you are looking for la France Profonde, you have come to the right place. Rural France does not get much more rural than in the Burgundy borderlands.
We ourselves stumbled upon southern Burgundy borderlands not so much looking for a piece of the deep French countryside but rather for a region where to make a stopover on our way home to the south of the country, preferably one where he had not been before.
This is how we came to stay for a couple of days in the town of Macon.
Why Macon out of the other towns in the region? It was the name recognition, probably: if you have read the name Macon before, you did so most probably on the label of a wine bottle. I was therefore a little disappointed when, even on the last miles before our arrival in Macon, we spotted neither hills nor vineyards along the way (they are all lying further inland, apparently).
And if your idea of a town in the middle of a wine-growing area owes anything to the German wine villages along the Moselle or the Rhine, you will be equally disappointed by the lack of wine bars that are filled with local folk music and tipsy Americans.
Still, there are some nice bars and restaurants together with a small town’s version of urban atmosphere along the river and around the central Square Saint Pierre.
During the key periods of its history, Macon was a border town, much fought for and frequently destroyed.
Consequently, the town’s list of historical buildings is quite short and does not go much further beyond the old cathedral called Vieux Saint Vincent …
… and the 18th century Ursuline convent, now the municipal museum whose modern art collection has leaked into the forecourt for some surreal effects.
Yes, you spotted it: it’s the bench. It is not an ordinary park bench at all but a Work Of Art, and it is so big that you would need a ladder if you wanted to get up and sit on it.
Other than the modern art in front of the town museum, Macon appears almost untouched by the ravages of recent times.
Sometimes it feels that time has by-passed Macon entirely – perhaps not by 500 years, but, well …
Popular day-trip destinations from Macon include the Abbey of Cluny (of which little is still standing following its near-total destruction in the French Revolution) and the Rock of Solutré in the heart of Macon’s wine-growing region.
It is said that ex-President Francois Mitterrand walked to the top of the Rock ritually once a year, but it is difficult to reach if you do not have a car.
We decided to visit the neighbouring town of Bourg-en-Bresse instead, Macon’s historical rival as Bourg is not part of the Burgundy region itself but historically linked to the Duchy of Savoy, another one of those entities that once played big roles on the stage of history and whose names are nowadays associated with wine or cheese if they are associated with anything at all.
Bourg-en-Bresse turned out a bit of a find, not only being more lively …
… and more charming than its neighbour …
… but also possessing more of the half-timber-framed houses that you would expect to find in Burgundy and eastern France …
… and more and more eye-catching examples for the glazed Burgundy roof tiles, the most spectacular visual landmark of the region.
The roof in the picture above belongs to the Royal Monastery of Brou, which was established by Margaret of Austria, a daughter of the Habsburg Emperor Maximilian. The 16th century convent is located a brief walk away from the town centre.
The walk itself is uncharming, but you can stroll through the park that surrounds the well-preserved convent building and recharge your spiritual batteries by making a contemplative pause in the convent garden.
Bourg-en-Bresse belongs to the Rhone-Alpes region (the Savoie in modern-day France has shrunk to the scale of a single, remote department in the Alps) and is one of this region’s departmental capitals.
The department is called Ain and – thanks to the fact that French administrative departments are ordered alphabetically – tops the nation-wide list. Imagine that: wherever you go in Bourg-en-Bresse, you are walking in the no. 1 department in all of France. Number one – in all of France!
And if this prospect stirs your blood, my fellow anoraks, here is another piece of information that may interest you: the border between the two departments runs in the middle of the River Saone which flows right by the old town of Macon.
So if you are in Macon (department 71, Saone-et-Loire) and want to tick off another department (and region!), you can achieve this by just walking across the bridge to the small town of Saint-Laurent-sur-Saone.
If that alone is not worth the trip!
Get to know the Burgundy Borderlands with a short visit to Macon and Bourg-en-Bresse!
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