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onjour!
Bonjour, this month we are going to continue our exploration of Beaujolais, a region that we had
already partially covered in a previous newsletter. This unusual and rich area of France is well
worth another visit. We suggest once more that you leave the ‘Autoroute du soleil’ (Highway of the
Sun) and head due west when you reach Villefranche-sur-Saône, a city better known for its tollbooth
than for its architectural riches. This will take you to the most beautiful southern part of
Beaujolais, known as the ‘golden stones’ region.
But before continuing, please remember that you can access and read all the newsletters already
published at http://www.francemonthly.com/
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Clochemerle-en-Beaujolais
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Before arriving in golden stones country, a quick visit of Vaux-en-Beaujolais is a must. At first
glance, this village hanging off a hill doesn’t seem particularly interesting, but it was made
famous by the novel ‘Clochemerle’. The author, Gabriel Chevalier, wrote about archetypal characters
in the rural France of days gone by: The mayor, the teacher, the priest, the baroness, the winegrower
and the sensuous innkeeper.
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The Charming Village of Charnay
(Click photo to enlarge)
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This down-to-earth story begins with the imposing and ambitious mayor telling the frail-looking and
inhibited teacher of his wish to set up on the village square a structure worthy of the French Republic...
a public urinal! This triggers a farcical squabble between the various protagonists. The inhabitants
of Vaux-en-Beaujolais, blessed with a good sense of humor, were quick to recognize their village. This
warm-hearted novel offers the reader a better understanding of a certain aspect of quintessentially
French culture (admittedly, not always flattering), but above all, it enables the reader to discover
Beaujolais on paper before coming on site to view one of the most photographed ‘monuments’ in France:
The public urinal of Clochemerle, aka Vaux-en-Beaujolais. The novel met with such success that the
word ‘clochemerle’ has since entered into everyday spoken French, referring to a local quarrel.
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The Region of Golden Stones
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It is hard to imagine that 195,000 million years ago, the entire region was covered with water and
enjoyed a tropical climate rather similar to that of the Bahamas. Then the Alps appeared, the climate
cooled off and the ocean withdrew, leaving behind a magnificent landscape of rolling hills. Granted,
that is a somewhat concise summary of an entire process that took several million years to complete.
As for these mountains which took shape over time, they had a special geological feature: They were
made of a certain kind of limestone that contained iron, and therefore acquired a very pretty and
warm gingerbread hue as it oxidized. As you drive down the small secondary roads, you will discover
the most beautiful landscapes of the Beaujolais region, and villages lined with residences and churches
that go from a russet color when clouds are darkening the sky to a golden brown when the sun finally
chases them away. Most notable among them are: Pommiers, the village full of flowers, Morancé and its
church with the square bell tower, Bagnols, a favorite of the Marquise de Sévigné, Theizé and its
sumptuous Château de Rochebonne, and Jarnioux with its 6-tower fortress, to mention a few. There is
also Lucenay, an intruder on the list, as it is the only town in the land of golden stones to be
made out of white stones! Although it was built just like the others out of its own quarry, its
peculiar stone contained no metal impurities. On the other hand, the quality of the stone was such
that it was very much in demand. Among other projects, it was used to build the St Jean of Lyon cathedral.
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Recipe for July 2007
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Stuffed Zucchini
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The Baboon Tower
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Chazay-sur-Azergue is one of those charming little villages in the region of golden stones, with an
eventful past. Three great protective walls were not always enough to protect the city from pillagers
or from English and Burgundian invasions. Today, all that is left of the stronghold is a gate that has
become famous, the Baboon Gate.
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The Baboon of Chazay
(Click photo to enlarge)
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One day in September 1365, the wife and daughter of the Viscount of Châtillon who had gone off to war
were alone in the castle when it became engulfed in flames. Fortunately, the grape harvest festival was
in full swing, with many street acrobats livening up the streets. One of them, nicknamed ‘the baboon’
for his monkey-like agility, rushed toward the burning structure and saved both woman and child. Out of
gratitude, the viscount made him his squire, and a wooden statue bearing his image was erected above one
of the gates. Bad weather and the passage of time eventually ruined it, and it became necessary to
remove it, in 1839. City magistrates were sent to Lyon to find another statue that would be a fitting
replacement for the original one. Legend has it that these municipal officials had such a grand time
drinking to this or that on their mission that due to a lack of either funds or clear minds (history
remains a bit fuzzy on the subject), they came back with a statue of a Roman Centurion!
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The Chappe Tower
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Just as Native Americans used smoke signals, and Africans the tom-tom, France devised their own means
of distance communication. Shortly after the French Revolution, a scientist by the name of Claude Chappe
worked out a system that was deceptively simple in appearance,
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Chappe's Telegraph in Marcy
(Click photo to enlarge)
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yet remarkably efficient: Three mobile branches, held up by a pole at the top of a tower and moved
with cords by a man inside the tower, were used to form right, acute, or obtuse angles. Each
positioning of these branches matched a code for a list of words. In another tower, 4 or 5 miles
away, another man was stationed, watching with binoculars. He would reproduce the same angles,
thereby transmitting the same signals. These messages, destined for the military, were of course
top-secret. In overcast weather, it was necessary to wait for clear intervals, but in optimum
conditions, all it took was 45 minutes to send a message from Marseille to Paris, whereas 4 to 8 days
would have been needed to carry one by horse, and that was assuming good traveling weather and no
encounters with bandits along the way. In 1899, 535 transmitting stations had been set up which
covered about 3,110 miles across all of France! Today, in the town of Marcy, you can see a rare
remaining telegraph-tower of the past, still in working order.
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The Legend of the White Lady
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It was somewhat reluctantly that, around 1668, Melchior of Mornieu agreed to the marriage of his
goddaughter Claire to his son Gaspard. The young ones were in love and their affair had already
produced a son, so a little damage control was in order.
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The Château de Montmelas
(Click photo to enlarge)
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Once married, the couple settled in the Château de Prosny (below the village of Oingt), where their
love just grew stronger with the birth of their second son. But their happiness was short-lived as
Gaspard, drafted by the army of Louis XIV, left to fight the Dutch. It was a painful separation for
the couple, who swore their patience and eternal love to each other. But solitude weighed heavily on
the desperate young woman, and she eventually found comfort in the arms of a groom. A little girl was
born of this union, and the lover skipped town before the poor husband returned to discover his
beloved’s betrayal. The young woman was then locked up in a convent for two years, during which time
the husband could elect to either take back his unfaithful wife, or sentence her to become a nun for
the rest of her life. The young woman was so repentant that Gaspard forgave her and they resumed their
life together with their two sons (the little girl had not survived) in the Château de la Garde in St
Vérand. Nonetheless, Claire spent the rest of her life filled with remorse and mortified. Legend has
it that for years, dressed in her white shroud, her ghost haunted the Château de Courbeville where
she had been born. It would howl with pain near the chapel of the Château de Prosny, and mysteriously
put out the candles of anyone who got near the Château de la Garde.
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The Château de Montmelas |
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Every detour along these secondary roads in Beaujolais reveals a beautiful little village with its
church, mill, and wash-house from another time. Suddenly, at the border of this region of golden
stones, a structure straight out of a fairy tale appears on top of a rock: The Château de Montmelas.
This fortress is both massive and elegant, with a donjon, towers, and small corbelled turrets with
conical roofs and crenellations. Once the stronghold of the lords of Beaujeu since the 10th century,
it then became the property of the Bourbons when, in 1409, Edouard II gave them Beaujolais (see the
previous newsletter). The castle passed from hand to hand over the decades, until the day when, in
1566, Jehan Arod acquired it at auction from the Duke of Nevers and the Princess of Clèves, who were
crippled with debt. Over the next five centuries, the tradition was that daughters inherited the
castle from their mothers, and it still remains in the same family today. Thanks to its strategic
location, the only truly dangerous enemies the citadel ever had to engage over the course of France’s
turbulent history were the revolutionaries of 1789. Only the donjon, later rebuilt in the 19th century,
did not survive their attacks. As a group of villagers left for Lyon to free their lord who had been
imprisoned, the remaining ones put up a good fight defending the castle they considered their own,
as Lord Gaspard Arod of Montmelas was very close to his people and very much liked by them. The family
that lives in the castle today is very proud of this heritage, and rightly so. They will offer you a
fascinating tour of the place, as well as an enjoyable tasting of the wines produced at the estate.
Now, that is certainly not to be missed should you stop there!
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Villefranche-sur-Saône
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After this little detour, you can continue on your way and perhaps get back on the highway at
Villefranche towards Lyon or Provence.
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Chanes - a Typical View of Beaujolais
(Click photo to enlarge)
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Villefranche owes its name to a certain number of privileges that were granted in 1140 to a population
that didn’t really care to settle there. Indeed, to fight against its traditional enemy, the powerful
archbishops of Lyon who kept acquiring more power as they acquired more land, Humbert III of Beaujeu
decided to found a town in the river Saône valley. His chosen spot was marshy and unsanitary, and
potential inhabitants weren’t exactly knocking each other over to live there…To encourage these
unexcited candidates, a first charter was signed, granting such privileges as tax exemption and even
freedom to runaway serfs if they would come live there. All these generous exemptions gave the town
the name ‘Ville Franche’ (Duty-free City). Four centuries later, Anne of Beaujeu transferred the wheels
of administrative power there to give a political dimension to this economic capital city. Villefranche
supplanted Beaujeu once and for all and became the capital of the region in 1532. If you have any time
left, do make a stop at Villefranche. Behind the facades of what seems to be just a long commonplace
commercial street are real architectural marvels, witnesses to a rich past. Just push a few doors open
and you’ll see!
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An Invitation to Travel... |
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We hope these newsletters have sparked your interest in traveling all over the mountains of Beaujolais,
as this region is well worth making a small detour. Beaujeu is a good starting point to discover the
red Beaujolais of the vine, and the charming little village of Anse is no doubt a wonderful place to
stop in this marvelous region of golden stones. Beyond the green landscapes and breathtaking panoramas,
thirty or so villages await you, each with their own story to tell. Some of them reflect the peaceful
image of places where life just flows like a long quiet river, while others convey their tumultuous
past through their architectural remains scarred by destruction and suffering. You will no doubt enjoy
the calm and authenticity of this region where tourism is not yet very developed. To help you in your
discovery, we recommend you get in touch with the Beaujeu tourist information office for the northern
part of Beaujolais and its vineyards (ot -at- beaujeu.com), the Anse one for the golden stones region
(contact -at- tourismepierresdorees.com), as well as the ‘Destination Beaujolais’ Association
(cgrison -at- beaujolais.com), three very dynamic organizations. Their members are the region’s biggest
fans, and their enthusiasm is contagious. They would love to help you organize your visit.
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