Cuisery, the Book Village (Saône-et-Loire (71))

In 1999 Cuisery became the fourth Village du Livre in France: the idea was to bring fresh life back to the village and revive the number of shops in the centre which had been closed. The central street is La Grande Rue, which now boasts a number of bookshops, and every first Sunday in the month the village boasts a book fair. Coming in from Tournus, the visitor is greeted by a floral display which enhances the poem written by an anonymous member of the village. At the beginning of La Grande Rue stand two enormous books: Hugo's La Légende des siècles and the imaginary Aux portes de l'an 2000.