The sculpture on the three doorways of the west façade of the Cathedral of St-Etienne dates from the 13th century. But the oldest section of the Cathedral is its crypt, which dates to the early 11th century.

For more information, see: Welcome to Auxerre Cathedral

In this house was the ancient library of François Fournier. Nicolas Restif de la Bretonne worked here as an apprentice… (For more information, see: Rétif de la Bretonne [f]).

From another source [f]: C’est dans les collections de la Bibliothèque d’Auxerre qu’avaient été choisies la plupart des éditions originales… des bois conservés par M. Tridon, imprimeur auxerrois de la descendance de François Fournier chez lequel Nicolas-Edme Rétif apprit son métier de typographe, avaient été confiés à la Bibliothèque. — From: Bulletin des Bibliothèques de France

Auxerre is so typical and average among towns in France, that it was chosen by a polling institute as “the average French town,” and polls among the population here are often extrapolated to the whole of France. (Wikipedia)


His real name was Guillaume Joseph Roussel, and was nicknamed Cadet as he was the youngest member of his family. Born in 1743 in the Doubs, he moved to Auxerre in 1763, firstly as a servant and footman and then as a bailiff’s clerk. During the French Revolution, he became a Jacobite. One of his political enemies, the knight Chenu de Souchet, composed a famous song to make fun of him. This song was adopted as the marching song for soldiers during the Revolution in 1792 and so spread throughout France … (Tourism Office of Auxerre)