Macon

Lunch on the terrace on our last day in Menerbes. We left the Menerbes apartment at 9:30 on Saturday morning and travelled the tollways along with many other motorists. This is the first weekend of the school holiday season here in France. At the beginning of our day traffic moved smoothly but all good things must come to and end. At the toll booths, probably the biggest that we have ever seen (26 gates) we were attempting to pay at the sixteenth. Several of the gates appeared to be not moving what-so-ever. There was no apparent reason for the traffic to stop but indeed it did. Long lines of cars, trucks, caravans and bikes attempted to merge into other booths that suggested that they were functioning. Wrong-just a tease. Imagine peak hour Paris traffic all converging and merging into a few lanes. We queued for some time before we finally fed our 17 Euros 30 into the automatic slots. Having paid it was amazing. Traffic disappeared and everyone was once again motoring along. Rest break required so we exited to discover one of the biggest rest stations that we had ever seen (today was a day of firsts.) The parking area for those pulling in to take a break from their journey, was larger than all of the outside parking at Greenhills, shopping centre. Inside we found a restaurant, a crepe station, a cafe and tray affair equal to that in an Australian food hall in a mall and lastly a cafe selling wraps or paninis. Of course the obligatory coffee vending machines sat stationed by the doors. Wow! Service was efficient with people coming and going in brisk succession. On the road again. Macon punched into Navman and last stint on the tollway and only 4 Euros 60 this time. Lucky pick. Found our hotel in a beautiful setting overlooking a park. It's old but so am I so it was a good choice. The receptionist was welcoming and car parking secured. On foot we explored Macon to the bridge over the Saone and thence every little rue in the shopping precinct. The old district boasted many rues of fascinating shops. At the bridge spanning the river one can see the flood peaks dating back for centuries. From memory, and remember it's old, 1710 was a big year in terms of flood peaks. For those on the road looking for a place to sleep for the night in Macon I urge you to try the Hotel Bourgogne. If the journey has been long one may dine in and that may also be a pleasant experience. Parking in-house is always a bonus! Architecture here reveals a variety of darker stone colours not previously seen in other towns that we have visited thus far.


Menerbes