Day 28 - Saturday 28th May 2005

We  spent the morning cleaning the old mill in preparation for our departure tomorrow.  Went into Arnay-le-Duc to get our daily baguettes, took some photos on the way.  We had a lunch of  various saucissons, cheeses, radishes, olives and baguettes.  After lunch we headed down to Autun, a town established by the Roman Emperor, Augustus.  The invasions of the 3rd Century destroyed most of their construction except two of the city gates, a large Roman theatre and I presume the ruins of the Temple of Janus.  We parked in the central square and went for a walk through the shopping area, which picked up considerably after 2:30 when everybody had returned from lunch.  We then trundled down to one of the Roman city gates which still spans one of the major road from Nevers into Autun.  Next stop was the ruins of the temple of Janus, there are two walls left standing in splendid isolation and now home for a number of large black birds.  To balance out our visit to a pagan temple we then went to the 12th century Cathedrale St-Lazare.  As usual it was a spectacular place, with souring architecture and impressive stonework.  There is substantial restoration work going on in and around the cathedral.  Several of the side chapels had been restored or were still in good condition however some were in poor condition and in, much of the fresco on the roof had peeled away and was laying in pieces on the floor.  We found the old Roman theatre which stands above a large lake used for yachting.  Had an early finish to the day and headed back home to read under the willow.  Both of us are sad to leave "Le Vieux Moulin" and would love to stay here for a while yet.