When we flew from San Francisco to Paris with our friend Sue on our way to Provence in Sept. 2001, we decided to drive south from CDG airport for a couple of hours. We were pretty exhausted and jet-lagged by that point. Even so, we drove to northern Burgundy and spent the night in a hotel in the big town of Auxerre (pop. 30K+). I don't remember if we had already reserved rooms or whether we just walked in and asked if two rooms were available. Either way, that's where we stayed. About 10 years later, on one of my car trips with CHM, he and I booked rooms at the same hotel for a night before continuing our drive farther down into Burgundy.
That's the hotel just above, where we stayed. I can't remember whether Walt and I had stayed there before, but I have a memory of a dinner we had in Auxerre some years earlier. We had a delicious bœuf bourguignon (a beef stew made with red wine) in a restaurant right on the riverfront. I believe it was in a brasserie called Le Quai. The river at Auxerre is called l'Yonne. It's considered to be a tributary of the Seine, even though the distance from the point where the two rivers become one to the source of the Yonne is greater than the distance to the source of the Seine.
In Paris in the 1980s, I knew a family that had lived in Auxerre for many years and then relocated to Paris. I had been to Auxerre with them back then, so I knew the town. Walt and I went back there on another trip to Burgundy in 2014. We were staying in a village not far from the wine town called Chablis, where tasty wines are made from Chardonnay grapes.
This is the cathdral in Auxerre. It's dedicated to saint Étienne (Saint Stephen). By the way, the X in Auxerre is pronounced as an S — it's [oh-SEHR]. It's a town I would seriously consider moving to if Walt and I ever decide to leave Saint-Aignan and move to a city again. I'd also consider Tours, Blois, and Bourges.
Your photos certainly make Auxerre look quite appealing! All the best towns and cities seem to have a river running through them, or a corner on the sea.
ReplyDeleteIt is a nice place, and it's close to Chablis, Noyers-sur-Serein, and other towns that are interesting too.
DeleteWhen I took my niece in 2017 from Grenoble on a pilgrimage to Péronne for the bicentenary of my grandfather we stopped in Auxerre for the night at the Hotel Normandie, the same one we’d been together you and me. It is a fine hotel (publicité non payée).
ReplyDeleteI like the three churches along the Yonne and especially the gothic one.
I recall wall paintings in the cathedral’s crypt, as well as stained glass windows.
Auxerre seems to be a very lively town. I had friends living at un jet de pierre from it and they liked it.
The church reminds me of Notre Dame. What a lovely town!
ReplyDeleteEvelyn
Had a lovely lunch in Auxerre, in the early 80’s. It was a wife (chief) and husband (waiter) operation. Still remember he used a straight edge to clean off the the tablecloth between courses, and it was the first time for coffee in a double bubble brewer, brought out to the table after dessert. The chief came out and asked if we liked lunch, and said she had enjoyed visiting the US. The town had a lovely view over the countryside.
ReplyDeleteWondering how to pronounce l'Yonne? Like Lyon? The town looks nice. I think this is where the ancient Greek sculpture Lady of Auxerre was found. It's currently in the Louvre.
ReplyDeleteThank you, David, for la Dame d’Auxerre. I didn’t know about her and I didn’t meet her on any of my numerous visits to the Louvre. That’s a real mystery. Where does she come from and who bought (stole?) her in Greece and brought her to Auxerre? Her reconstruction shown on Wikipedia is interesting.
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