Lamartine's childhood home

This house was built in 1705 by Lamartine's great-great-grandfather to serve as a wine-harvesting house at the heart of a vast vineyard estate, established as early as the 17th century. Lamartine spent a simple, happy, and familial childhood there and was deeply attached to this "nest of tenderness." In this house in the Mâconnais region, which became his property in 1830, the poet returned every year to oversee the grape harvest and relive his memories. In 1860, he was forced to sell the house that had inspired some of his most beautiful poems, "Milly ou la terre natale" (Milly, or the Native Land), "La vigne et la maison" (The Vine and the House), and part of the "Préludes" (Preludes). This house, which is still a working vineyard, is open to the public.