On an average day we will spend four to six hours touring. In that time we cover between 200 and 300 kilometres on mostly minor roads and see a few dozen interesting sites and learn a little more about France and how it works. That is good day for us.
Then you have days like our drive along the Burgundy canal. A day when all the stars align. A day when there is so much to do and see that it can take us a few hours just to get to the start line (the point where we planned to start touring.) We have had a few touring days like this; The Pyrenees, Andorra, The Villages of Provence, Gorges du Verdon to name a few.
We bumped into Chablis on our way to the start line. Chablis is as you would suspect surrounded by vineyards that roll down one side of the valley across the valley floor and back up the other side like a giant carpet of grapes.
Chablis itself is a fully quaint village. Words can not do it justice. It is just about picture postcard perfect. We love the way the French don't commercialise tourism. Now the French summer holidays are over we feel like we are the only tourists in most of the places we visit, and today that includes Chablis.
After two hours on the road and a cup of tea surrounded by the vines of Chablis, we arrive at our start line; Tonnerre. By comparison with Chablis, Tonnerre is a big city. Ramschakle and run down. This is the former Gallo-Roman site the guide book talked about. It apparently has a 700 year old hospital still funded in part by income today from a trust bequeathed by its founder Marguerite of Burgundy on her death in the 13th century. But we have not come to see the hospital our sights are set on the “Public Wash-house” of Tonnerre.The wash-house or in French “Lavoir” was where women would go to do the family (theirs or their master's) laundry before washing machines were invented. The wash-house is built on the site of a natural spring that existed before Roman times. The spring is known as the “Fosse Dionne” and was the main source of water for Tonnerre for centuries. Even today the spring gushes 200 litres per second as it has done for centuries. Oh to have a water source like that in your back yard. I guess that is why it has been called the “Source Divine”.
In the 1600s, when people became aware of the need for personal hygiene, they began to wash their clothes. This wash-house was built for public use in the early 1700s and was used by the local women right up until the early 20th century.
Another interesting thing about Tonnerre is the pipe music that the council plays over load speakers through the town. It was some classical musical when we were there. Maybe it is to help soothe the locals, who look a bit rough around the edges.
Our next stop is Tanlay which is a very small, very quiet village with a BIG impressive Renaissance era Chateau. Built in 1550 the chateau is surrounded by a moat and a magnificent garden. The Chateau is still a private home.
The gatehouse....
The stables....
Having recovered from the euphoria of Chateau Tanlay we head to Chateau d'Ancy-le-Franc just down the road. According to the guidebook Chateau d'Ancy-le-Franc is considered to be the finest example of Renaissance architecture in Burgundy; big rap.
You be the judge. We still prefer Chateau Tanlay for it flamboyant style and decoration.We drive on through the countryside;
Often beside the Burgundy Canal for a little variation in scenery;
If we win lotto we will be doing the canals in style like this, on a floating hotel...
This will be Jenelle next year, chief decky....
Learning how the locks work....
Early afternoon we stop beside the canal for lunch. While we eat we have a ringside seat to observe two older English couples get on with the daily chores of cruising aboard their rented canal cruiser. We've decide we will definitely be doing a canal cruise on our next trip to France. We've seen how the canal locks work, the water is always smooth so John won't get seasick and Jenelle has agreed to be the deck hand in charge of ropes and opening and closing the lock gates. And just look at the scenery where you can just hove to for lunch.
Enough of the dreams, now it is time to move on to L'Abbaye de Fontenay. A former Cistercian Abbey founded in 1118 by St Bernard. The Abbey is almost perfectly preserved and is a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Here amongst other things the monks mined iron ore from the surrounding hills, made steel and then main steel products like nails, shovels and plough blades. This manufacturing provided the income for the abbey.
The Monks also farmed trout...
On the day we were there part of the Abbey was being used for filming a movie. This only added to the excitement of the visit..
And guess what? This is a private home. How much money do these people have? The mind bogles.
Near emotional exhaustion and camera meltdown we head for Flavigny-sur-Ozerain a tiny hilltop village with houses dating from the 13th century. That is nothing; they have been making the famous Anis de Flavigny lollies since the 9th century. This is the village in which the movie “Chocolat” was filmed. It is one seriously, off the scale picturesque village.
We arrived home wrung out, ready for a hot cup of tea and a little lie down!!! But no......between our two cameras there are just a mere 395 photos. Jenelle managed to cull it down to 80 odd photos, about 4 times the number we usually allow ourselves for a blog post.
