Near Beaune is Savigny, with a château built in 1672; in the neighbourhood are the Fontaine Froide, the ruins of the abbey of St. Marguerite, and the Roche Percée.
Meursault.
PARIS
MARSEILLES 223½ 313½ [MEURSAULT], pop. 3000, 1½ m. from the station. Omnibus awaits passengers for the Inn. The most distinguished wines produced here are the Goutte d’Or, a golden-coloured wine, and the Perrières, a dry white wine of a slightly sulphureous taste. In the neighbourhood is Puligny, where the delicious sparkling white wine called Montrachet is grown.
PARIS
MARSEILLES 228 309 [CHAGNY], pop. 4200. Inn: Commerce. Junction with line to Nevers 102 m. W., passing Nolay 5 m. W., Autun 26 m. W., Montchanin 18 m. W., and Le Creusot 22 m. W. (see [page 25], and [map page 1]). From Chagny southwards commence the Macon wines, of which the vineyards around Chagny produce a first-class quality.
Nolay, pop. 5000. Inns: Cheval Blanc, La St. Marie. The vineyards in this neighbourhood produce a good white Macon. A few miles distant is the Vallon de Vaux-Chignon, below cliffs 200 ft. high. In a deep fissure is the source of the Cusane. 3¼ m. E. are the ruins of the castle Rochepot, 15th cent. In the church of the village is a remarkable echo. 8 m. beyond is Epinac, pop. 5000, with coal mines.
Autun.
26 m. W. from Chagny is [Autun], pop. 13,000. Hotels: Poste; Cloche. This modernised little town, the ancient Bibracte, claims with Trèves the honour of having been built before the Roman invasion. Cæsar spent a winter in this city with two Roman legions; and at a later period, when the Emperor Augustus went to Gaul, he made Bibracte his headquarters, and erected so many magnificent public buildings that the name of the town was changed to Augustodonum, modernised into Autun. Napoleon III., in his “History of Cæsar,” considers, however, that the site of Bibracte was on the summit of Mount Beauvray, 14 miles westwards, where coins of Gaul, mosaic pavements, fragments of pottery, and an enormous number of amphoræ, have been discovered. The walls of Autun were 10,000 feet in circumference and 8 feet thick, and were garnished with 40 towers, and pierced with four large gates, of which two—the Porte d’Arroux, 55 feet high, and the Porte St. André, lately restored—still remain. The Porte d’Arroux and the temple of Janus (a plain square tower) are behind the railway station. But the Porte St. André, adjoining an ancient church, is on the town side of the line at the Faubourg St. Jean. The Cathedral, which commands the entire city, was completed in 1178. The architecture of the modern portions is Gothic, but the more ancient is Romanesque. The two towers have been restored and adorned with Gothic spires. The interior contains several windows of painted glass. The entrance is by a handsome open portico with sculptured arches and columns. From the Porte St.
Blaise (straight up from the cathedral) a cross road leads to the Pierre Couchard (Coarre), a pyramidal monument of great antiquity.
In the College is the Public Library, with 12,000 volumes; and the Picture Gallery, containing paintings by Horace Vernet. In 1789 Talleyrand, afterwards Prince Talleyrand, was Bishop of Antun.
Montchanin. Le Creusot.