Our directory of villages and sites to visit around Lyon is expanding once again. After last telling you about Le Corbusier’s Église Saint-Pierre in Firminy, we’re now turning our attention to another jewel in the region’s crown, and not the least because, in addition to being pretty, this one has good taste. Off to Charolles!
The “Little Venice of Burgundy
Like Chanaz, its Alpine counterpart ( known as the “Little Venice of Savoy”), Charolles is distinguished by its location at the confluence of two rivers, the Arconce and the Semence. These rivers give Charolles its riverside architecture, with many charming bridges and footbridges.
Don’t miss the Sacré-Coeur church, formerly part of the Cluny order, famous for its monumental organ. But above all, Charolles has the atmosphere of a city that has lived for a thousand years. Convent, ancient castle, ramparts and towers… the remains are rich and numerous. Needless to say, you’ll find plenty of restaurants, bars and terraces to satisfy both small and large appetites. Would you like to take home a souvenir of the region or make your Christmas gifts? Stop by the Charolles factory, which has been producing magnificent lighting fixtures, vases and other products since 1844.
But it’s also thanks to the surrounding area that Charolles really comes into its own. Coming from Lyon, you’ll be able to observe the lush greenery of southern Burgundy, whose area is in contention for inclusion on UNESCO’s World Heritage list. If this distinction has been achieved, it’s thanks to its exceptional natural environment, of course, but also to what mankind has managed to produce from it: meat that’s known the world over!
A small-town name known the world over
Just as Japan has its Kobe beef,Scotland and Argentina their Black Angus, France boasts some of the world’s finest beef breeds, such as the Charolaise. Renowned the world over for the quality of its meat, Charolles beef has been awarded the Appellation d’Origine Contrôlée label, which honors not only the quality of its meat, but also its terroir of origin and the ancestral know-how of local breeders, a guarantee of quality in the race for UNESCO status.
The Charolaise is a uniformly white cow with a very tall stature, weighing up to 1,200 kilos – the weight of a Twingo! These cows are also excellent milkers, making them the leading suckler breed in France. All these qualities have enabled the Charolais breed to travel the world. In all, no fewer than 70 countries, including Mexico and Brazil, breed this type of cow.
Charolles… A word that, like Beaune, Beaujolais or Abondance, instantly changes the heartbeat of even the most demanding gourmets. And to think that the origins of all this beauty lie just outside Lyon! Then again, go and ask the top chefs in Tokyo or San Francisco what they think of the quality of these products, and we’re sure you’ll be met with a shower of praise. Every now and then, it’s good to remember that we live in a gastronomic paradise that would make the whole world jealous. When a city touches its finger on the privilege of serving what’s good, Lyon makes a fist of it.