Excursion to the Roche de Solutré and the Village of Solutré-Pouilly

The Roche (rock) de Solutré is an impressive sight.  It’s a huge chunk of limestone (for those geology purists in our midst, it’s a limestone escarpment) surging up from a landscape of vineyards, trees, and fields.  Quite impressive!  It’s also interesting from an archaeological point of view since there is evidence of human occupation starting 15,000 or more years ago.  The French have done a beautiful job of creating a visitors’ center and a museum at the site.  Both do a great job of explaining what has gone on around here throughout history and prehistory.

View of the countryside and rock from a distance.

View from the trail on the way up.

  

There are also two trails leading to the top of the rock and the spectacular 360° views.  We have been to the rock before but hadn’t had time to climb to the top of the rock, so it was pretty high on our list for this visit to France.  (As a reminder, I had had a little episode with a chunk of calcium in my hip not long before this.  I had weaned myself of using a cane and was happily wandering around Lyon without any problem, but every little twinge in my left leg or hip still made me nervous.  That made going up the rock a little more adventurous for me.  In fact, our friend Andrée-Anne had adamantly advised against it.  But, I wasn’t going to let a little incident with a calcification hold me back.  Besides, I had David to cheer me on and wait patiently during my frequent rest stops – AND I had my collapsible cane in my bag.)  We chose the easier of two trails; it’s longer but much more gently sloped and is about 2 kilometers long.  It was a lovely walk since the trail leads though cliffs and vineyards and passes by a fenced paddock where konik polski horses happily graze. 

One of the konik polski horses earning his keep.

These horses are semi-wild and were imported because they are genetically close to those tiny horses that used to be in the area (and were hunted here).  They are distinctive in appearance with a dark stripe down their backs and stripes on their legs.  Their current job is to eat invasive vegetation.  Anyway, after about 40 minutes we were on top of the rock.  As you can see in these pictures David took, the view is definitely spectacular and worth the hike.

 

 

 

 

 

 

After our hike, we rewarded ourselves with lunch in the village of Solutré-Pouilly not far away.  We had eaten at an auberge there on our last trip to the rock – in fact that meal still rates in the all-time top 5 for me.  So we were looking forward to another amazing experience.  The Hôtel-Restaurant La Courtille de Solutré didn’t let us down.

 

Here's part of the terrace dining area.  Our table was under that tree.  In fact, if you look carefully, you can see my head poking up just over the wall on the right.

The gentleman at the neighboring table took this picture of us enjoying our "amuse bouche."

And, here is the plat, or main course.  We both had the veal dish that was the specialty of the day.  Isn't the presentation beautiful?

As you can see from these pictures, the setting is lovely.  The service is great – efficient and congenial, and our meals were delicious.  We noticed Guide Michelin signs on the door for 2012 and 2013 – no small feat, especially for a restaurant in a tiny country village in Beaujolais.

Our drive back to Lyon was quite pleasant.  We took our time and drove through fields, vineyards, and little villages most of the way.