6 km from the Mâcon-Loché TGV station, it's another time. Three rocks, preserved villages and vineyards structure a harmonious landscape. Added to this are limestone meadows and oak forests, refuges for a variety of fauna, and a Museum of Prehistory that takes us to meet our ancestors, so far away, so close... Solutré's prehistoric horse hunting has made the site famous all over the world. From yesterday to today, equids connect time. That of the man of Solutré, reference of a prehistoric period, and that of the modern man, anxious to protect an exceptional heritage, to value it and to share it within the framework of sustainable tourism. A demanding approach that has earned the site national recognition: the Grand Site de France label.
A remarkable landscape
In the south of Burgundy, a wine-growing region bathed by the Saône, the Roches de Solutré and de Vergisson, and Mont de Pouilly stand on a limestone plateau that is ideal for viticulture and rich biodiversity. The particular structure of this landscape immediately makes it attractive. Geological heritage for the rocky spurs, a secular heritage of southern colouring for the habitat of Roman stones and tiles, religious buildings, the small built heritage - fountains, washhouses, ovens, ovens, cadoles (shelters) - without forgetting the grid pattern of the vineyard plots and their dry stone walls, identifying signs of this landscape in the same way as the rocks.
Like the Vergisson rock, Solutré Rock comes from fossilized coral reefs that appeared about 160 million years ago. We have to look at the geological time scale to understand. In the Mesozoic - 252 to 66 million years before modern times - warm seas extended here. In the Cenozoic - 66 million years to 2.6 million years - as the Alps rise, the Saône basin collapses. This means that they live next to different types of land on which erosion will take place. The surrounding mountains round out as the cliffs of Solutré and Vergisson to the west and gentle slopes on their eastern flanks emerge. The landscape as we see it today is set.
Its 50,000 years of human occupation give it a remarkable historical character. The discovery of an impressive prehistoric bone deposit in 1866 made the site famous throughout the world. This notoriety, which increased the reputation of the great wines of the Pouilly-Fuissé and Saint-Véran appellations, was further strengthened by François Mitterrand's pilgrimage to La Roche de Solutré
The Grand Site de France Solutré Pouilly Vergisson is ideally located on foot. To get to know the mythical Roche de Solutré, which rises to an altitude of 493 m, it is better to observe it from the perspective of its almost twin sister, La Roche de Vergisson, 483 m. Let us walk along the sloping vines, capturing the smell of pruned vines that burn in the wheelbarrows. Let's follow the grassy path on the slowly rising limestone plateau. Footsteps flush out insects, grasses bend to the wind. A bird flies away from a bush. We just met a hiker with his donkey. In the distance, we admire the galloping of a few rustic little horses in the wild. And all of a sudden, it's a dazzling sight! The panorama stretches from the Mâcon plain to the Jura, and further afield to the Alps
A rich biodiversity
The Mâconnais combines a continental climate and a mountainous climate with attenuated Mediterranean and some Atlantic influences. A complex combination favourable to biodiversity, further accentuated by the coexistence of crystalline, calcareous and clay-limestone soils, but also by the altitude of the relief. Everything contributes to the richness of the natural environment. In addition, there is human intervention. Over the years, he has profoundly modified the original lands, gardening the landscape with perseverance and taking advantage of its natural assets. The sunshine and the rapid infiltration of rainwater into the soil cracks explain not only the success of the vine but also the presence of flowering meadows. Among the emblematic species are the delicate mountain willow, the yellow bouquets of the Coronille arbrisseau, a multitude of wild Orchids, which are undeniably the stars of the site, or the modest but no less brilliant Carthusian Carnation... In all four seasons, the landscape is unique. When the snow has just fallen, in the shimmering autumn, when orchids bloom or when the heather unfolds its pink carpet. The calcareous grasslands of the Mâconnais that cover the peaks of Mont de Pouilly and the Roches de Solutré and Vergisson are rare environments included in the Natura 2000 network, suitable for a wide range of animal and plant species. The cliffs offer nesting sites for the Great Horned Owl, other protected species such as the Circaète Jean-le-Blanc or the Ashy Harrier frequent the area. Many varieties of orchids are also found in dry grasslands. But the most interesting thing is the plant associations. Here, on small portions of greenery, species that are dependent on mountain, Mediterranean or oceanic environments coexist. Then it is a profusion of fescue, sedge, upright Brome, white Helianthmus, Italian Silena and even screes where rock and sunflower plants bloom, blue Sesleria, sedums, saxifrages... A small pocket flora will be enough to recognize many species.
This remarkable natural environment also shelters rare or more common animal species, insects, lizards, small rodents or passerines that find shelter in the groves and in the dry stone walls that dot the landscape... You can observe a whole range of wildlife adapted to the meadows but also to the cliffs. While it is easy to spot the Flambé Butterfly, Praying Mantle or Mediterranean Cricket in the summer, seeing the Ortolan Sparrow, Owl owl or European Nightjar will require more perseverance and naturalistic knowledge
A land of legends and know-how
The elders competed in ingenuity to make the best use of the country's resources. Legends, but also traditions and practices that persist. A land of hunting, viticulture and breeding, this Mâcon countryside is certainly not satisfied with just deploying its landscapes for tourists. Some grow grapes to make famous wines, others transform goat's milk into distinctive cheeses, lay their easels facing breathtaking landscapes, open rooms and their tables to guests on holiday. But if there is a constant among all the inhabitants, it is the habit of walking on the paths. The landscape speaks for itself, we are in a wine-growing region. It is therefore the work of the vines that punctuates the seasons and viticulture occupies many families on estates passed down from generation to generation. In fact, vines have been grown on these lands since ancient times.
It is therefore a plural discovery that the Grand Site de France offers us, along its paths, within its Museum and its House. Below La Roche and the Museum, the Maison du Grand Site, a beautifully restored building, explains this evolution of the landscape very well. On the excavation site itself, at the level of the bone deposit that revealed the prehistoric importance of the site, you can visit the Archaeological and Botanical Garden of Solutré. Along the path, explanatory panels detail the history of the excavations and the different biotopes. A stone's throw away, hidden at the bottom of La Roche, the Museum of Prehistory tells us about 50,000 years of human occupation. With its new scenography, the museum offers you an attractive, informative and original visit
A green and diversified tourism
Leaving La Roche, you will still have to stop at the Atrium and in the wine cellars to discover or rediscover the flavours of Pouilly-Fuissé but also those of Saint-Véran. To complete your gourmet basket, a visit to the Davayé educational farm is a must to stock up on raw milk cheeses
A way to recover from some of his efforts. Because it is a whole green tourism that has developed for those who enjoy cycling or mountain biking, Nordic walking, botanical or gourmet hikes, around heritage or geology. Hiking trails criss-crossing the Grand Site allow you to climb the famous Roche de Solutré to enjoy its panoramas or to appreciate the freshness of the forests and admire the Rocks from below, to get lost in the mountains of the Mâconnais or to plunge into the heart of the great vineyard while visiting its villages. Then on roller skates on the green routes, with donkeys on the trails, on horseback on the green trails, alone or with a country guide or an escort... you have the choice of routes!
Smart info
When? When? All year round, even if the arrival of good weather is more pleasant
Getting there. By car, by train (Mâcon-Loché TGV station) or by plane (Lyon), everything is possible.
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