Driving through France

August 2026

La Madeleine at Vezelay

I’m driving up through France after six weeks in Provence, taking in some of the richesse du patrimoine francaise (the French are good at these superlatives). My strategy is to break the journey in a civilised way by spending two nights on the way. And to include visits, as indicated, to see some of the glories of French culture, specifically Tournus and Vézelay.

15 August

But first, the timing. As is only too well-known, we have seen a long heatwave, a canicule to the French. But the local folklore got it right. This says that the weather, canicule or not, changes on 15 August, the Feast of the Assumption of the Virgin Mary (the ferragosto in Italy). I was my usual sceptical self when I first heard this tale. But amazingly it’s normally true! Last year it was a bit early, this year just a day late. On 16 August this year there were violent thunderstorms, certainly heralding the end of the canicule. Followed by a few more thunderstorms and making the conditions for my drive back pleasant and agreeable.

Vienne

My first stop was a mistake. A last minute decision as I was starting on my way, with plenty of time to spare, to see the ancient town of Vienne just south of Lyon. According to the guidebooks, it has the remains of an ancient Roman temple, plus a highly-regarded cathedral, some of it restored under the auspices of the great Prosper Mérimée, to whom we will be returning. But it’s not a quick stop. Nowhere to park, crowds of people, complete lack of signs. I retreated. Another time, perhaps.

Tournus

This was the first proper stop, where I planned to stay the night. It’s just north of Macon, very near to the autoroute, but no one seems to have heard of it. It has a wonderful Romanesque abbey church with two splendid towers that you can see from the motorway - if you’re not keeping an eye on the road as you should be.

The interior is simple and impressive, all in pure Romanesque style - and relatively free of tourists, presumably because people haven’t heard of it. A lovely place.

I was accosted in the church by a guide, who turned out to be English of mature years, doing what he called an internship as a guide. He referred me to a tiny chapel a couple of hundred yards north of the church, dedicated to St Laurence, he who came to grief on a gridiron. It was built in about AD 960 making it one of the oldest buildings in France - or anywhere else.

St Laurence chapel

I asked my new friend, the guide, how you pronounce Tournus, with or without the final “s”. He said without the “s” as in gay Paree. He said that some while ago it was normal to pronounce the “s”, but now it’s regarded as a bit low-class. All of which supports my theory (which I put to him) that leaving out the final consonant is all part of Parisian snobbery. Back in the day this Parisian habit hadn’t reached Provence; hence you have Gigondas and Vacqueras with their final letters loud and clear.

I stayed at a hotel called Le Rempart. Good value, three stars, comfortable, fully air-conditioned, good restaurant. Nearby is a more fancy place, the Hotel de Greux, with Michelin stars - and therefore to be avoided, in my book.

Vézelay

Another wonderful survival from the glories of medieval France, which should be high on anyone’s list of places to see, even higher than Tournus, but again relatively unknown, partly because it’s not that easy to get to and not on the way to anywhere in particular.

It’s near Avallon. Coming from the south, you take a left turn after Beaune and drive through wonderful Burgundian countryside. Vézelay itself is an abbey church perched with its small village on the top of a hill and so visible for miles around. See above.

Getting to it is a challenge. You drive up the hill and park, with some difficulty, in the village. You then fail to realise that you have to pay. Returning to the car, I find a polite letter claiming the money and helpfully telling me how to comply. I managed, but hope I

paid for the right length of stay.

The real challenge is the climb through the village. It’s a climb of a couple of hundred yards, all up hill, passing by endless cafes, restaurants and tourist boutiques. Very exhausting. But worth it.

The abbey church is a masterpiece of the Romanesque style having been built in the early 12^th century. Its pride is an amazing tympanum, the semi-circular sculpture above the

entrance, showing Christ sending out the apostles to convert the heathen.

The nave is glorious - but, I have to say, was not at its best on the day I arrived. They were busily preparing the whole church for a performance later that day of Bach’s St John Passion. Involving hundreds of chairs being installed throughout the nave and the choir, all facing the wrong way towards a stage they were building at the west end. It would certainly be a wonderful way to hear Bach’s music, but setting it all up didn’t do much for the ambience of the church. Because of all this, the photo below doesn't do it justice.

What you could do was admire the capitals on dozens of the columns in the nave,

depicting all sorts of biblical stories plus an assortment of weird animals. A typical example below.

Mary Magdalene

In the middle ages, Vézelay was a more important place than it is now. It was founded as a monastery. It soon became an important place of pilgrimage because (amazingly!) they discovered the remains of Mary Magdalene there. It is still famous as the place where St Bernard, in the presence of Louis VII, encouraged the faithful to go on what became the (unsuccessful) Second Crusade.

But soon after that - here we mustn’t laugh too loudly! - they discovered that the remains of Mary Magdalene were actually down in Provence. This seriously hit the pilgrimage trade. For that and doubtless other reasons, the abbey fell into ruin. In the 19^th century it was one of the many places that came to the attention of the remarkable Prosper Mérimée, the Inspector of Historic Monuments (as well as being the author of Carmen, the novel on which the opera is based). He got the young architect Viollet-le-Duc essentially to rebuild it.

Langres

I then took a leisurely drive across yet more lovely Burgundian scenery to get to my final stop, the Cheval Blanc at Langres, where I’ve been staying for over twenty years. From there it’s about a five hours drive to Calais. Not the most exciting terrain, particularly after passing by Reims.

Cloth of Gold

You end up, just before getting to Calais, by the nondescript field that they say was the Field of the Cloth of Gold, where Henry VIII indulged in some diplomacy back in 1520. He didn’t get far into France.

Tony Herbert

25 August 2026