The childhood home of Alphonse de Lamartine, a winegrowers' house that inspired some of his finest poems.
€265one way from Beaune with a private driver
Private driver from Beaune: 1 h 13 by road (98 km), €265 one way for the whole car.
Or add it to our full-day wine tour plus two hours, €700.
Coming by train or plane? Transfers from stations and airports →
In the village of Milly, west of Mâcon, stands the house where Alphonse de Lamartine spent his childhood. Built in 1705 at the heart of a family wine estate, it inspired some of his best-known poems. The family who bought it from him in 1860 still cares for it and opens it to visitors.
The house was built in 1705 by one of Lamartine's ancestors, at the heart of a wine estate of about fifty hectares, and it first served as a harvest house. Alphonse, born in Mâcon in 1790, spent a simple and happy childhood here, deeply marked by the personality of his mother. The place shaped both his poetry and his later political commitment.
Lamartine became the owner of Milly in 1830 and came back every year to watch over the harvest and revisit his memories. He celebrated the house in the poem Milly ou la terre natale. Burdened by debt, he had to sell it in 1860, calling it the marrow of his bones. He asked for a buyer who would respect the place, and that buyer's family has cared for it ever since.
The Maison de Lamartine is a country house rather than a castle, built as the centre of a wine estate. The main house and its outbuildings stand on either side of a courtyard entered through a gateway, and their façades, roofs and gate are listed as a historic monument. Inside, the rooms evoke the familiar, rustic world of the poet's childhood, and a garden surrounds the house.
Guided visits start at 15:00 and are also offered on public holidays, except 25 December and 1 January.
Checked on on the official site.
The house opens for guided visits on Sunday afternoons from May to September and on public holidays, and individual visitors do not need to book. Groups can visit by appointment. Visits can be given in French, English and Spanish, and cultural events take place during the year.
What to combine with Maison de Lamartine on the same day, nearest first.
Maison de Lamartine is about 1 h 13 from Beaune by road (98 km). With a private driver, the trip from Beaune starts at €265 for the whole car, up to 4 guests.
Did you know? Lamartine's famous lines asking whether inanimate objects have a soul come from Milly ou la terre natale, the poem he devoted to this house and its landscape.
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€265 one way from Beaune · up to 4 guests
