In sharp contrast to its rustic neighbours, CLAMECY, 23km to the west of Vézelay on the banks of the River Yonne, has a distinctly industrial feel as the centre of the Morvan's logging trade from the sixteenth century to the completion of the Canal du Nivernais in 1834. Individual woodcutting gangs working in the hills floated their logs down the Yonne and its tributaries as far as Clamecy, where they were made up into great rafts for shipment on to Paris. This contact with the capital – and cradle of new egalitarian political ideas – led to the early spread of revolutionary thoughts among the workers and peasantry of the Morvan, who staged a number of violent insurrections even before 1789. The history of the logging trade is documented in the museum on rue de la Mirandole (daily 10am–noon & 2–6pm; Nov–Easter closed Sun; €3.05).There's nothing special to see in town, apart from the many fifteenth- to eighteenth-century buildings in the centre, but it does have an interesting history and a bizarre connection with Bethlehem. In 1168 William IV, crusading Count of Nevers, died in Palestine, bequeathing one of his properties in Clamecy to the bishopric of Bethlehem, to serve as a sanctuary in the case of Palestine falling into the hands of the infidel. When the Latin Kingdom of Jerusalem fell, the first bishop arrived to claim his legacy, and from 1225 until the Revolution fifty bishops of Bethlehem suceeded each other in Clamecy, honouring the little town with the title of bishopric. A curious little chapel by the bridge, built in 1927 in reinforced concrete, commemorates the connection. The tourist office is on rue du Grand-Marché (April–Sept Mon–Sat 9am–12.30pm & 2–7pm, Sun 10am–1pm; Oct–March Mon, Tues & Thurs–Sat 9am–12.30pm & 2–5pm; tel 03.86.27.02.51). For places to stay, try the lovely, old-fashioned Hostellerie de la Poste, on place Émile-Zola not far from the bridge (tel 03.86.27.01.55, fax 03.86.27.05.99; €40–55; restaurant from €17), or the good-value Auberge de la Chapelle, 5 place Bethléem (tel 03.86.27.11.55, fax 03.86.27.06.21; €30–40), with an attractive restaurant, located in a renovated thirteenth-century chapel just across the river, on the road to Auxerre. There's also a good riverside campsite on the edge of town on the route de Chevroches (tel 03.86.27.05.97; May–Sept). If you're travelling south towards Nevers, the Ferme-Auberge du Vieux Château, near the village of Oulon just off the D977, makes an ideal place to treat yourself to a little luxury in beautiful surroundings (tel 03.86.68.06.77; €40–55, dinner at €17).
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