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Description
Auxerre is an historical city in the French region of Burgundy (Bourgogne), located at the heart of one of the country's largest wine-producing areas.
Access
Auxerre is located half way between Paris (170 km) and Dijon (150 Km) on the A6 motorway, at the junction of the proposed A26 Troyes-Bourges motorway. The city is ideally situated to discover northern Burgundy.
Auxerre is 15 km from Chablis, world famous for its white wines, 20 km from Pontigny Abbey, 45 km from St Fargeau Castle, 60 km from Vezelay Basilica and 78 km from Troyes.
Transportation
Auxerre is small in area, so walking is highly recommended for most purposes, and is a pleasant thing to do in the old city.
Activities and Sightseeing
- The Old Abbey of St. Germain, no longer in use as an abbey, contains an important crypt with frescoes dating from the time of Charlemagne.
- The Cathédrale Saint-Étienne d'Auxerre, a splendid Gothic cathedral whose flamboyant facade gives its exterior an unusual appearance.
- The city of Auxerre is home to the football team A.J. Auxerre. It's worth a visit to their stadium, the Stade de l'Abbé Deschamps (route de Vaux BP 349 89006) to see them take on a rival team for a home game. The season is usually from September until mid May. If you sit with all the enthusiastic fans behind the home goal posts tickets are about 3.50 to 6.50 for students (more for others). It's about as interesting to watch the game as it is to watch the supporters. The team's website is http://www.aja.fr/.
Walk across the pedestrian bridge that spans the river, it gives a nice postcard view of the city.
Restaurant
If you're looking to cook your own food or buy food for a picnic, Leclerc is the giant supermarket that has most of what you need. It is located on the Northeast side of the river (cross the Rue du Pont and continue for 30 seconds). As you are in France, buying a baguette, wine or cheese in a large commercial store is kind of hypocritical; try buying those kinds of products in a local boulangerie, cave à vin or fromagerie – the charm of these such stores is the reason you came to France and something you can't get at chain store, n'est-ce pas?
Nightlife
Drink a beer or a café at the 'Annex' during (European) football matches. The regular crowd congregates to cheer on the local team, AJ Auxerre, whenever away matches are played, or a foreign team who plays a French player (for example, Thierry Henry playing for England's Arsenal). An alternative to the 'Annex' is 'La Bodega', a pub that uses old wine barrels as tables and that has a huge projection screen.
Lodging
There is a row of hotels — including some budget hotels — on a ring road on the outskirts of the city which is part of National Route 151. Part of the road is called Boulevard Vauban. The location is not bad, because the city is small enough that a walk from that ring road to the old city and its sights is only a few hundred meters.
See the listing of the Hotels in Auxerre