When you pass by on the motorway, all you can see of Chalon-sur-Saône is the chimney stacks of Saint-Gobain: the Burgundy bottles come from this factory. From the road that crosses the town, the view is not much more attractive. Nevertheless Chalon-sur-Saône has many attractions: quasi-romantic, quiet districts, old houses. Dedicated to the inventor of photography born in Chalon in 1765, the Nicéphore Niepce Museum (former mansion of the Royal messengers) has housed many collections of cameras and photographic equipment since 1972. Near Chalon, Nicéphore Niepce successfully reproduced the first images in 1816 in a dark room on paper made light sensitive with chloride and silver nitrate . The Denon Museum founded in 1819 recalls the memory of a companion of Bonaparte, Vivant Denon. He participated in the birth of Egyptology in France and organised the first museums. The ancient Saint-Vincent Cathedral combines several architectural styles: from Romanesque to Neo-Gothic. An ancient tower from a house in Old Chalon, the tower of Doyenné (15th century) was taken down in 1907, brought to Paris, bought by Franck Jay Gould who rebuilt it and gave it to the people of Chalon in 1928. La Maison des Vins (House of Wines) of the Côte Chalonnais (Hills of Chalon) is found in the pretty Chalet de la Foire on promenade Sainte-Marie. The vineyards of the Côte Chalonnais (Rully, Mercurey, Montagny and Givry) are located near by.