The first two days of our walk took us south along the mountainous ridge of the Beaujolais. The valleys on either side were the picture of pastoral prettiness, but the crest was covered with forbidding forest and devoid of habitation, which meant that we had to descend a long way for any civilised comforts – morning coffee, a meal or somewhere to sleep, for instance.
Getting to Matour
Mâcon is the closest major town to Matour and is serviced by both TGV (high-speed trains) and normal trains (TER). We believe there is anautocar(bus) from Mâcon but we don’t know the details.
Alternatively, as you are on a walking holiday, you could take the 31 km “liaison” track, described in this walk’s Topoguide, that starts in Mâcon. This liaison track joins the main walk about 15 km south of Matour. Another possibility is to catch an SNCFautocarfrom Mâcon to Cluny, and then do the one day 26 km walk which is described in our 2011 diary. If all else fails you could get a taxi.
Day 1: Matour to Poule-lès-Écharmeaux