During our trek from the Chamonix region to Paris, we made a quick stop in Bourbon-Lancy, a small town in the Saône-et-Loire Department, located in the Bourgogne-Franche-Comté region. Alas, we did not get to visit its most famous feature: its thermal baths.
But we did spend a couple of hours wandering around its medieval district after a picnic lunch. It’s beyond picturesque, and a great example of many of the styles common in the Middle Ages.
One enters through an arch under the clock tower, which apparently used to be the wooden-gated entrance to the city. (see photo above). If you look closely, just above the clock, there is a man in blue (photo below) called “Le Beurdin”, an automated statue that rings the bell every hour and represents a kind of village idiot that has become the town’s mascot. Indeed, the town has the “Brotherhood of Beurdin” which celebrates the bell ringer’s “common sense, tolerance and humanism.”
Just to the right, the wooden house is in amazing shape thanks to tireless restauration efforts.
From there, we just wandered the streets and the path that followed the old ramparts. It was a short stay, but one that made for a great detour.
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