Marcigny is a small market town on the right bank of the Loire in southern Burgundy, in the heart of the Brionnais, a rolling country of green pastures, hedgerows and white Charolais cattle. It is also a land of Romanesque churches: within a short ride you can visit Semur-en-Brionnais, Anzy-le-Duc, Iguerande and many others, each with carved portals and capitals from the eleventh and twelfth centuries. The great abbey of Cluny lies to the east, and its influence is everywhere.
Marcigny itself was home to a famous priory for noblewomen, founded in the eleventh century by Saint Hugh of Cluny. Little remains of it, but the Tour du Moulin, a fifteenth-century fortified tower, now houses a museum with a collection of faience and local history.
The Loire here is wide and wild, with sandbanks, islands and shifting channels. People do swim in the river in summer, but it is not a safe place to swim casually: currents are strong and unpredictable, and the sandbanks can collapse. Look for designated bathing areas, or ask locally.
The riding is relaxed and scenic. Roads wind through the Brionnais hills, past farms and churches, with gentle gradients and good surfaces. Traffic is light. Fuel and food are available in Marcigny, and the local restaurants serve Charolais beef, a local speciality. As a start and finish, Marcigny offers a peaceful setting and a taste of rural Burgundy.