Auxonne

Auxonne is a small town in the Côte-d'Or department, in the Bourgogne-Franche-Comté region, set on the banks of the Saône river some twenty kilometres south-east of Dijon. The town retains fortifications reworked by Vauban and a medieval château that now houses a museum dedicated to artillery and to Napoleon Bonaparte, who served here as a young officer before the French Revolution. The 19th-century covered market halls and the bridge spanning the Saône mark the historic centre, whose streets reflect the town's military and river-trading past. The marina allows for boating and riverside walks in a peaceful, green setting typical of the Saône valley. The surrounding countryside, a mix of farmland and woodland, is well suited to walking and cycling, with easy access to the vineyards of the Côte-d'Or and to Dijon for those interested in heritage and Burgundian cuisine. Auxonne therefore makes for a quiet, human-scale base from which to explore this part of Burgundy at a relaxed pace.