Medieval Morvan, Avallon France
September 15, 2023 - by Muriel Dassen
The Bourgogne region in France is of course very well known for its sublime red ánd white wines! But have you have heard of the green lungs of the Bourgogne? That is how the natural park Morvan is also called. It is a mountainous area where you can find true unspoiled nature. The landscape is characterised by mountains, hills, vast forests, blue lakes and rippling rivers. So we had to come here for 3 rides and explore this area. Besides the nature the Morvan also holds many nice little towns, much of them with a medieval character. We have chosen the cosy town of Avallon as our central point for our tour here that we have named Medieval Morvan, which city reigns over the picturesque Cousin valley and is known as “one of the most charming towns” in the department of Yonne.
Of course you can download the GPX / ITN files and full e-books of the 3 rides we have in this tour via our roadtrip planner but you can already find the info in this blogpost.
Medieval city walls and Tour Gaujard
Avallon is situated in the North of the Morvan on the river Cousin. The city was founded in the 13th century and consists of many cosy streets with all kinds of historical buildings. The whole of Avallon is surrounded by fortified walls and you can still admire the beautiful city gates, such as the Tour Gaujard. Even before the Roman era, this place was inhabited, and in Roman times, it was close to the Via Agrippa, making it easily accessible. The city had a temple, a tribunal and a theatre. In the high Middle Ages, the city was attacked on several occasions by the Saracens, Vikings and Normans, after which the inhabitants of Avallon decided to surround the city with a large wall. In the late Middle Ages, Avallon did not escape the violence of the Hundred Years' War. The 20 tower and walls ended up in ruins, but were rebuilt in the fifteenth century. And in Avallon also the Plague caused many civilian victims. Despite its turbulent history, Avallon has retained its original character throughout the centuries and you will be able to still find a few of the towers and parts of the walls, besides the medieval streets and beautiful old buildings.
You can also find the Romanesque-style building Saint-Lazare Cathedral if you follow the main street from the Tour Gaujard into the centre of Avallon, which dates back to the 8th century. It has a magnificent 12th-century gate decorated with remarkable basket handle arches, a fifteenth-century bell tower and organ dating from 1850. The church has been in a state of disrepair and the enormous church doors have been left wide open for years giving room to pigeons and their sh…….
However, when we visited it seemed the church had been cleaned and better taken care for.
Passing the Tour de L’Horloge you will get to the centre of Avallon with the nicest little cafes and restaurants. Avallon truly is a nice city for some wondering around through these medieval small streets.
In one of these small streets you will find this charming city palace which now houses the 12 rooms of the musée du Costume, Costume Museum, presenting the history of clothing and fashion from the 18th century to the present day. Following the main street going North you will get to the shopping area of Avallon which
will lead you to the roundabout where we will end all 3 rides of our tour. You will find a nice park and statue of the French master builder of fortifications Vauban, but also some other nice bars and restaurants with terraces.
Recommended hotels:
Rating on Booking.com: Very Good 8.5
With secure parking for a few bikes, make sure to ask for parking when booking
With bar
In city centre Avallon
Rating on Booking.com: Very good 8.1
With free private on site – not covered - parking
With bar
5 minute walk to city centre Avallon
Rating on Booking.com: Very good 8.0
With free private parking on site – not covered
WIth bar and restaurant
10 minute walk to city centre Avallon
Rating on Booking.com: Very good 8.4
With free private parking on site - not covered
With bar
With pool (June through September)
15minute walk to city centre Avallon
Rating on Booking.com: Good 7.6
With free private on site parking – not covered
With bar and restaurant
With pool
5 km / 3 miles from city centre Avallon
Ride 1
With ride 1 of this Medieval Morvan tour we’re gonna go South to dive straight into the Morvan, the green lungs of the Bourgogne! The ride is around 220 km / 135 miles with amazing bike roads, but of course also some nice stops to enjoy a coffee, some food, the views and the medieval cities in the Morvan.
After a beautiful start of this ride we thought it was time for coffee in the town of Lormes, where you can find Le Grand Café. There is some parking around, so you should be fine parking your bike here for a quick coffee. This café is closed on Mondays.
In the 1970s, the road between Paris and Lyon was named Route Nationale 6. It became an important road, especially for holidaymakers, and Saulieu was benefiting from the streams of tourists heading South along this road. Restaurants and hotels were opened, important cultural heritage sites were renovated. After the motorway was opened, the importance of the Route National decreased and with it the number of tourists visiting Saulieu. But Saulieu has, as one of the few places on the former Route Nationale 6, managed to retain much of its former glory. And it is still known for its good restaurants, like Bernard Loiseau. A sad story though: the restaurant had three Michelin stars since 1991 but in 2003 chef-owner Bernard Loiseau feared the loss of a star and committed suicide just before the new
Michelin guide came out....and not losing the star. Saulieu is also the birthplace of François Pompon, the French sculptor who had a preference for animal sculptures, who lived from 1855 to 1933. And you will find a few of his sculptures, or replicas, throughout Saulieu. Nowadays Saulieu honours Pompon by the polar bear route: bronze polar bears should be leading you along the a main sights of Saulieu.
For lunch in Saulieu we can recommend the less prestigious Café Parisien: a café with art nouveau decor, a nice terrace and delicious food.
We have one more stop in this ride in another beautiful medieval town: Semur-en-Auxois, built on a pink granite plain. We have added a parking close to the medieval gate to the old town. Lovely to have a little stretch of the legs, a drink or an ice cream before you head back to Avallon, which is some 50 km / 31 miles from Semur-en-Auxois.
Ride 2
Ride 2 of our Medieval Morvan tour is not actually taking you into the true Morvan. This ride will take you North of Avallon into the Yonne department or the area that is called the Basse Bourgougne, the low Bourgogne. We did add stops in two beautiful medieval cities to stay in theme! And also in this area we have found the nicest roads for a beautiful ride through the French countryside. With around 165 km / just over 100 miles the ride is a bit shorter so you will have some time to enjoy in those two cities.
Our first stop of this rise is one of the most famous wine villages in the world: Chablis. The town is surrounded by vineyards within a radius of 5 kilometres, together forming the total Chablis wine region, one of the smallest wine regions in France. Only when the wine comes from this small wine region, it can be called Chablis. If not, it is not a Chablis wine. Chablis wine is a very dry white wine from Chardonnay and perfect to combine with fish. Apparently it is also called oyster water because of the good combination between the wine and the shellfish. As you still have a ride to do, we recommend to stick to coffee for now at La Chablisienne, or another cafe if you are here on Monday like us and it is closed.
We have added a bike parking in the middle of Auxerre so you can spend some time in this lovely city. Maybe with a citywalk, this time following the bronze plaques in the pavement dedicated to Cadet Roussel: a bailiff in Auxerre in 1763 who was jovial, a bon vivant and somewhat eccentric. In 1792 his friend Chenu wrote the song of Cadet Roussel, which mocks him in a friendly way and made him famous. You can get the route at the Office du tourisme, just behind the square where we are parked the bikes. If you go on this walk you should be able to see the many half-timbered houses in the historic quarter. And if you are interested in religious buildings, don't miss the Cathédrale St.-Etienne. It took more than 3 centuries to build it and is now is famous for its 13th century stained-glass windows. Don't forget to have some lunch or a drink at one of the many nice terraces, at the place where we added the bike parking or the surrounding streets.
On our way back to Avallon the ride follows the river Yonne, which river gave the name to this department. Although this ride is a bit shorter and we did not go into the Morvan, this ride through the Basse Bourgogne is very enjoyable! We hope you agree and if you have any questions, please let us know.
Ride 3
As there were still so many roads to discover in the Morvan area, we added a 3d ride to this Medieval Morvan tour. This ride will take you South of Avallon into the Morvan again, going as South as we can get in a 1 day ride from Avallon. The ride is 215 km / 133 miles through the mountains, hills and forests of the Morvan, also coming across some of the lakes and rivers in this area. We were amazed by this beautiful area!
We have added the parking near the Saut de Gouloux to the ride as the waterfall it is a well known destination in the Morvan and supposedly one of the most beautiful waterfalls in the region. And it is small but nice. And if you directly cross the road from the parking and go down the path it is only a 5 minute walk. You can also take a little detour going down next to the café if you like a longer walk. Unfortunately the cafe has very limited opening times, but we thought still a nice first stop to truly discover the Morvan area.
Chateau Chinon Ville is the capital of the Morvan, located in the middle of the nature park, surrounded by peace and quiet. There are remains of the old city wall and the Notre Dame gate and next to the parking that we added to the GPX / ITN file that you can download via our roadtrip planner you can find some restaurants for lunch. Or you can do like we did: make sure you have some food for a pick nick and go to the Panorama du Calvaire for lunch with a view! The panorama is in the GPX file too.
We have added a parking close to the pedestrianised area of Vézelay. Vézelay is possibly the most famous 'Plus Beaux de Village de France': full of history, religion
and culture and very popular with tourists. And according to the famous Michelin guide 'Worth the trip' so we had to bring you here in this ride. Vézelay is built on the top of a mountain, the highest point of which is reserved for the Romanesque Basilica. This is also the start of the pilgrimage to Santiago de Compostela and therefor a famous place of pilgrimage itself. And we agree that it is definetely worth to stop here during your ride to have a last stretch of your legs on this ride before you do the last 17 km / 10 miles back to Avallon.
Go on your own QUAZY RIDE
You can download the GPX / ITN files of the rides and the full e-books via our roadtrip planner and then we hope you will enjoy the rides you will be doing in this Quazy Rides Medieval Morvan tour and your stay in Avallon.
If you are posting on social media, don't forget to tag Quazy Rides or use the #QuazyRides, because we LOVE to see you having fun with our rides.
