Various programmes

At the heart of the Bresse region

Guided tour of Domaine des Planons in St Cyr Sur Menthon: the Bresse Departmental Museum offers you a chance to discover the lifestyles of the people of the Bresse area from the 15th century to the present days in three separate areas: the museum, the farm and the estate grounds.
Visit of the farm listed historical monument: recognisable thanks to its traditional chimney and its wood framed construction. With its wooden furniture, day-to-day items and outbuildings, it provides a great opportunity to discover the life of a family from the Bresse region in the 18th century.

Lunch: 3 courses meal, drinks included (1 glass of wine + coffee).

Visit of the “Parc des Oiseaux” in Villars Les Dombes: welcome to the ‘World of the Birds’! The ‘Bird Park’ is one of the biggest ornithological parks in Europe with more than 3000 birds, 400 species from all over the world (which 40 are threatened species). The park set on 35 ha and offers a fascinating ornithological and botanic experience including a unique ‘Show of birds in flight’, 80 birds from 20 different species are performing on stage a wonderful ballet of beauty and wonders , for an unforgettable worldwide tour!

EQUESTRIAN CABARET

Meet up at the National Stud Farm at 10.30 am.

Guided visit of the place: the stables with their horses, the honour saddlery, and the collection of hippo mobile vehicles.

At 12.00, installation in the manège to assist to the equestrian cabaret: during lunch, the manège will be turned into a lightening show. The equestrian artists with their horses make their apparition and seduce you thanks to their artistic universe. Come and enjoy the game between horses and artists for an emotional and enchanting moment.

Lunch: 3 courses meal drinks included (1 glass of wine + coffee).

In the afternoon, meet our local guide for a visit to the Cluny Abbey: founded in 910, it was the centre of a major monastic movement in the middle Ages. Its church was the largest Christian building in the world until St Peter’s Basilica was rebuilt in Rome in the 16th century.

Then walk throughout the monastic city to discover one of the 150 medieval houses, which make of Cluny an extraordinary museum in open-air.

CRUISE ON THE RIVER SAONE

10.00 am: departure from the Pont de Vaux’s river port. 5 hours cruise on the Pont de Vaux channel, the Saône and the Seille Rivers till Pont Seille and return trip at around 3.00 pm. Crossing of the Pont de Vaux and La Truchère locks.

Lunch on board (5 courses meal, drinks included).

Departure with our coach for a guided tour of the “Forêt Farm Museum in St-Trivier-de-Courtes” from 3.30 to 4.30 pm.

The Forest Farm-Museum offers a very fine example of Bresse rural architecture. Built in the 16th and 17th centuries, it now houses the Bresse Farming Museum. The small building presents a traditional interior including, in particular, an open-hearth fireplace with sides measuring 4m, supported by a beam weighing 4 tonnes.

Return to Pont-de-Vaux at around 5.00 pm.

Destination Nature

Day 1

6 hours cruise on the Pont de Vaux Channel, the Saone and the Seille Rivers and return trip. Crossing of the Pont de Vaux and La Truchère locks.

Lunch on board (for the menu, please contact us).

Guided tour of “Les Charmes” sands in Sermoyer: unexpected vista of natural sand dunes. The sand has been brought down here by the winds during the tertiary period.

Accommodation in the Sport Centre in Mâcon. Dinner (3 courses meal at the self-service canteen).

Day 2

Appointment with the local Guide in Solutré for a walk around the Solutré-Pouilly-Vergisson Major National Site.

Packed lunch supplied by the Sport Centre.

Continuation of the walk.

Return to Solutré for a well-deserved wine tasting of Pouilly-Fuissé!

THE BEAUJOLAIS AREA

Visit of Château de Corcelles with its 90 hectares of vines in the Beaujolais area. The vineyard has a wide variety of soils on different appellations: Beaujolais, Beaujolais- Villages and Brouilly in Gamay, and Bourgogne Blanc in Chardonnay. A guided tour will lead you around this magnificent site. Come and taste our wines of the Chateau. You will be warmly greeted in an authentic setting and will be able to share in our passion for wine with a person who really knows his subject.

Lunch: 3 courses meal, drinks included (1 glass of wine + coffee).

Guided tour of the Beaujolais “des Pierres Dorées”: Southern Beaujolais is a lively and luminous region, dotted with ochre-yellow stone built villages that reflect the sun. This stone produces a whole array of warm sun-drenched colours giving originality and charm to this area.

Visit of the medieval village of Oingt: it has been recently classified one of the "most beautiful Villages of France". Stop in Theizé and Jarnioux.

EnoCulture: most famous places of the Mâconnais region

Welcome in the heart of the Solutré magnificent landscape classified as Major National Site.

This oenological tour brings you through the past to discover the prehistorical excavations and enjoy a tasting of the popular Mâcon and the aristocratic Poully-Fuissé.

Visit of the Departmental Museum of prehistory to understand the essential aspects of the prehistorical site.

Lunch: 3 courses meal drinks included (1 glass of wine + coffee).

Chardonnay: from the grape to the village: welcome to Chardonnay, the 3D name! Known as a village, a grape variety and very famous wines all over the world, Chardonnay is both a scheming and fascinating place. This oenological tour opens the doors to the vinicultural landscape of the true Chardonnays of Chardonnay. Enjoy a tasting of the different ‘terroirs’ and wine-making methods employed around this Burgundian village.

Relaxing day

Visit of Touroparc Zoo: from all continents and from a wide variety of terrestrial and aquatic habitats, 800 animals belonging to 140 species thrive in natural and green surroundings of 12 acres. Each species receives special attention from the zoological team.

The witness of a past: 30 shops and workshops of the past century are waiting to show you forgotten aspects of our heritage. You will discover the expertise of our ancestors, all gathered around the site of the restored village.
Self-serve buffet drinks included (¼ wine & coffee) within the park.

Come and discover many masterworks of the Carpenters’ guild trades and the story of roof structure drawing and the Companionship, established in 1871 in Romanèche-Thorins.

The UNESCO as Intangible Cultural World Heritage listed the drawing of roof structure and the companionship.

Wine tasting in a cellar.

Enjoy a medieval day

Departure from Cluny with our guide. We go for a drive through her family's different estates and historic sites of Chapaize and Cluny. Vivid and historical explanations of customs and legends from another time. Visit to Brancion feudal village.

Stop for refreshment and wine tasting in a cellar in the Mâconnais area.

Guests are welcome at the “Potin Gourmand” in Cluny. Aperitif.

Lunch: 4 courses meal drinks included (for the menu, please contact us).

After lunch, songs and dances with a troubadour and its accordion.
End of our services about 4.00 p.m.

The archaeological heritage

Visit of the archaeological site of the St Clément’s Church in Mâcon: Built as a funeral basilica in the VIth century, it gradually became a liturgical centre until the XIXth century.

Panorama on the Solutré Rock (hunting site for more than 25000 years) and visit of the Departmental Museum of prehistory: at the feet of the famous Solutré Rock, it presents some of the richest founds in Europe.

Lunch: 3 courses meal, drinks included (1 glass of wine + coffee).

Visit of the Azé caves: listed prehistoric site. The prehistoric cave, the one thousand-bear cave: lion skeletons, including one extremely rare specimen with its entire skull intact. The underground river: 800 meters of marked paths, fossilized and active galleries. The archaeological museum: an impressive array of minerals, flint rock, bones, weapons...

Visit of the “La Lie Quarry” in La Roche Vineuse: a meticulous and long drawn-out archaeological job enables us to recount partly how the Gallo-romans and the Merovingians (and up to the twentieth century) worked in this limestone quarry.

THE WINE ROAD

Guided tour through the vineyards and famous names of the Mâconnais (Pouilly Fuissé, St Véran...) and the Beaujolais (St Amour, Chénas, Fleurie…) wines.

Wine tasting in a cellar.

Lunch: 3 courses meal, drinks included (1 glass of wine + coffee).

Visit of the Hameau Duboeuf, Beaujolais Wine Park, a unique collection of displays & presentations; a wonderful journey through the trades of the vine and of wine. The Station invites you to explore the legendary wine route: the Paris-Lyon-Mediterranean line. A “Jardin en Beaujolais”: in the heart of the vines, discover the fragrances of the flowers that make up the rich aromas of wine. Wine tasting at the end of the visit. You will discover the different sites of the Park in little train.
"Ciné Up", the first dynamic cinema in the Beaujolais area to discover the landscapes of the Beaujolais and the Mâconnais regions.

Beaujolais Nouveau festival

Thursday 18th November 2015

Arrival in the Mâconnais area and lunch 3 courses meal (1 glass of wine + coffee included).

Welcome at the 3 stars hotel in the south of Mâcon and registering.

Meeting with the English speaking guide at the hotel and guided tour through the Mâconnais and Beaujolais vineyards.

Arrival in Beaujeu and opening ceremony of “the Sarmentelles”.

Sacrament by the Beaujolais companions and welcome the foreign delegations (no sacrament for the group).

Dinner-show under a heated marquee.

Torchlight procession in a musical atmosphere with a brass band.

Midnight: as each year, light and sound will accompany the spectacular broaching of the Beaujolais Nouveau barrels, which will then flow for thousands of tasters from all over the world.

Return to the hotel at about 1.30 a.m. and overnight.

Tuesday 19th November 2015

Departure after breakfast.

The Burgundian natural environment

Guided tour of “Centre Eden” in Cuisery: It displays the diversity and wealth of the Burgundian natural environment. You will learn natural laws, observe the alive or stuffed animals, trigger audiovisual activities and test your naturalistic knowledge.

Lunch: 3 courses meal drinks included (1 glass of wine + coffee).

Activities at the planetarium of the “Centre Eden”: it has a dome of 6 meters in diameter to show the sky and the stars in video sequences. It allows travelling in space to understand better the universe. The exchanges between the public and the organizer allow a big interactivity.

The geographical position of the “Center Eden” allows, within a radius of 16 km, the access to a particularly interesting diversity of natural environments. “Natural environment” activities: a local guide will offer a naturalistic approach of a natural environment. He will allow you to recognize the characteristics of an environment as well as the wealth of its fauna (small animals, tracks and signs of presence of animals, birds) and its floral (trees and flowers).

The Mâconnais Selection

Welcome of the group by our professional guide in Cluny.

Visit of the “La Corbette” bovine cattle farm and tasting of local products.

Then a visit to a farm that produces goat’s cheese, cheese tasting.

Lunch: 3 courses meal drinks included (1 glass of wine + coffee).

In the afternoon, stroll through the medieval town of Cluny to explore some medieval houses and the ruins of the great Abbey Church.

Tasting of “Crémant de Bourgogne” (sparkling wine) and wafers from Burgundy in a medieval house in Cluny.

1 gourmet basketoffered for each participant including 1round loaf of bread, 1 goat cheese, ½ bottle of Mâcon rouge, 1 beef terrine & 3 wafers.

THE TREASURES OF THE AREA

Guided tour of Berzé-Le-Châtel Castle: with its 13 towers overlooking the Mâconnais Valley, Berzé is a well-preserved 13th century fortress. Berzé-le-Châtel is the oldest and largest fortress of Southern Burgundy.

Guided tour of the Monks’ Chapel in Berzé-la-Ville: it is well worth a visit to discover the sole frescoes. The pictorial decoration of this Romanesque chapel, built by the monks of Cluny, covers an artistic route starting in Byzantium and ending in Cluny.

Wine tasting in a cellar in Sologny.

Lunch: 3 courses meal, drinks included (1 glass of wine + coffee).

Guided tour of Cluny Abbey: founded in 910, the Cluny Abbey was the centre of a major monastic movement in the middle Ages. Its church was the largest Christian building in the world until St. Peter's Basilica was rebuilt in Rome in the 16th century. Discover what remains of the spiritual centre and the seat of the greatest medieval monastic order in the West, and stroll around beneath the tall Romanesque vaults.

Guided tour of Cluny: the site offers a prestigious heritage, including a number of monastic buildings, a Museum of Art and Archaeology housing major works of civil Romanesque sculpture, a Mediaeval City rich in Romanesque and Gothic houses, two churches, etc.

ROMANESQUE ART

Visit of the Monk’s Chapel in Berzé La Ville, chapel presenting Byzantine frescos from the 12th century and listed as an Ancient Monument.

Visit of Cluny Abbey: the Benedictine Abbey of Cluny extended its influence throughout Mediaeval Europe. The abbey church was the largest in the Western Christian world before the building of St Peter’s of Rome.

Lunch: 3 courses meal, drinks included (1 glass of wine + coffee).

Visit of St Martin’s Chapel in Chapaize, one of the oldest Romanesque churches in Burgundy, listed as an Ancient Monument.

Visit of the village of Brancion, the most important stronghold of southern Burgundy, and its chapel.

Matour & La Clayette area

Guided tour of the local Heritage Museum in Matour: in a modern and interactive “mise en scène”, discover three main themes: Nature, History & Tradition.

Guided tour of Bernard Dufoux’s Chocolate factory à La Clayette: best chocolate maker in France in 1998, 1999 & 2000. He will share with you his passion for chocolate, with a video presentation of the cultivation of cocoa, a demonstration and an introduction to the tasting of one or several chocolates.

Lunch: 3 courses meal drinks included (1 glass of wine + coffee).

Guided tour of Drée castle in Curbigny: built during the 17th century, it became the property of the Drée’s family during the 18th century.

Since 1995, M. Prouvost restored and refurnished it and converted it in a beautiful castle. Since the 2000’s, the castle is surrounded by 13 Ha of French style gardens with 40 000 box-trees and 2 300 rose-plants.

Pilgrimage in South Burgundy

Day 1

Guided tour of the Basilica Notre Dame de Fourvière: one of the busiest sanctuaries and tourist sites in France. For more than a thousand years The Virgin Mary has been honored here. The Basilica is a typical and outstanding example of the 19th century religious architecture.

Lunch: 3 courses meal, drinks included (¼ wine + coffee).

Guided tour of the village of the Holy father: the Shrine of Ars belongs to the Roman Catholic Church. Since the death of Jean-Marie Vianney, who was the parish priest of Ars until 1859, the Shrine’s mission is to welcome pilgrims, make known the Holy Curé, who was the patron saint of the priests of the whole world, and safeguard his memory in this holy place.

Accommodation in a 3 stars hotel in the South of Mâcon. Diner and overnight.

Day 2

Guided tour of the basilica of the Sacré-Coeur in Paray Le Monial : It was also at Paray-le-Monial that Jesus appeared to Saint Margaret Mary Alacoque, revealing to her his Heart burning with love for man. A young girl from the region, Margaret Mary entered the monastery of the Visitation in Paray-le-Monial in 1671. She experienced numerous apparitions which were confirmed by her confessor, a Jesuit, Saint Claude La Colombière. Jesus requested the introduction of the feast of the Sacred Heart, which would take place every year in June. Following these apparitions, the spirituality of the Sacred Heart spread throughout the whole world. Saint Margaret Mary was canonized on 13th May 1920 and Saint Claude la Colombière on 12th May 1992.

Lunch: 3 courses meal, drinks included (¼ wine + coffee).

Free time at the Taizé Community: created in 1940 by Brother Roger Schutz, Taizé Community is made up of over a hundred brothers, Catholics and from various Protestant backgrounds, coming from around 30 nations. By its very existence, the community is a “parable of community” that wants its life to be a sign of reconciliation between divided Christians and between separated peoples.

ON THE FOOTSTEPS OF LAMARTINE

Guided tour of Mâcon, where Lamartine spent his childhood.

Visit of the Lamartine’s section at the Ursuline’s Museum: numerous documents on the literary and political life of Alphonse de Lamartine (1790-1869), Macon’s illustrious poet, are exposed.

Visit of Lamartine’s House in Milly Lamartine where Lamartine spent a straightforward and happy childhood. This beautiful home was the inspiration of his most beautiful poems.

Lunch: 3 courses meal drinks included (1 glass of wine + coffee).

Visit of Château de Pierreclos: private and historical monument from the 12th, 15th and 17th centuries where Lamartine liked to spend some of his spare time.

Stop by Château de Monceau: bought back by the family in 1662, the poet inherited it in 1833 and spent brilliant years there writing.

Stop by the Solitude Pavilion: place where Lamartine spent time meditating and writing.

This key festival of Burgundy winegrowers, created in 1938 by the “Chevaliers du Tastevin” brotherhood, takes place every year at the end of January, and brings together Burgundy’s mutual aid societies to celebrate their patron saint, Saint Vincent. For the 2018 edition, it will take place in Prissé (near Mâcon) and will celebrate the Saint-Véran wines.

Friday January the 26th, 2018

5.00 pm: arrival in Mâcon and check in at hotel Ibis Mâcon Sud***. Dinner (3 courses meal, excluding drinks) and overnight.

Saturday January the 27th, 2018

7.00 am: departure for Prissé for the beginning of the festivities of the “Saint Vincent Tournante”.

7.30 am: departure of the parade in Prissé: the festival always begins with the parade of societies carrying statues and banners bearing the effigy of Saint Vincent.

9.45 am: religious service.

11.00 am: opening of the cellars and enthronement of old winegrowers by the “Chevaliers du Tastevin” brotherhood.

1.00 pm: lunch (3 courses meal, ¼ wine + coffee).

3.00 pm: return to Prissé for continuation of the tasting of the “Saint Véran” wines. On the spot, activities, music, exhibitions and local products.

5.00 pm: closing time of the cellars. Departure for possible purchase of Saint Véran wines (purchase forbidden during the event).

6.30 / 7.00: return to the hotel. Dinner and overnight.

Sunday January the 28th, 2018

8.30 am: departure from the hotel after breakfast.

9.00 am: meeting with the English-speaking guide in Prissé for a guided tour through the Saint Véran’s vineyard. Stop off at the foot of the Solutré Rock: Sphinx-like amidst the Mâconnais vineyards, this unusual geological feature, one of nature's masterpieces, has become a symbol of southern Burgundy. More than just a rock, it is a “Grand Site de France” for you to explore!

11.00 am: return to Prissé for continuation of the tasting of the “Saint Véran” wines. On the spot, activities, music, exhibitions and local products.

1.00 pm: lunch (3 courses meal, ¼ wine + coffee) and end of our services.

Program and prices for 2017 subject to service providers’ availability when booking.

Vinestival: oenological festival (April)

Friday

Accommodation in a 3*** hotel in the South of Mâcon and Dinner.

Saturday

Discover what goes on behind the Great wines of France Contest scenes.

Lunch: 3 courses meal, drinks included (1 glass of wine + coffee).

Welcome at the Atrium du Pouilly Fuissé: tasting of the five Pouilly-Fuissé “appellations”.

Visit of the plant and tasting at the “Vignerons des Terres Secrètes” cellar.

Return to the hotel. Dinner and overnight.

Sunday

Discovery of the “Viré-Clessé Spring”: excursion in the heart of the vineyard by small train to discover 30 cellars between the villages of Viré and Clessé.
A little train will walk you from a cellar to another.

Lunch: 3 courses meal, drinks included (1 glass of wine + coffee).

Discover the Wine fair in Mâcon: the fair gathers about a hundred of producers rewarded at the Great Wines Contest in the past.