Entry 17 October 18, 2008 through Burgundy

[David and Susan Bratt]

Entry 17--October 18

We have sent the last two days in beautiful sunshine and gorgeous fall colors in the Burgundy region of central France. On Friday we drove to another France Passion winery below the medieval village of Flavigny sur Ozerain (where “Chocolat” was filmed).

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We parked Rover at this very busy vineyard and walked the two kilometers to the village at the top, only to find a large empty parking lot that could have handled Rover easily. We walked the streets and took far too many pictures because every time we turned a corner we were confronted with picturesque scenes that called out to be immortalized. The only way to sit down to rest in many of these places is to find a cafe or bar, so we bought a cup of coffee (always the tiny espresso cups) and rested up for the 2 km walk back to the vineyard. At least this time it was downhill. Later we visited the winery’s tasting room and added to our collection (especially since we weren’t having to pay for an overnight parking place).

It was 35 degrees overnight and very foggy when we got up on Saturday morning. Today was to be another visiting historical sites. But this time we weren’t going to be afraid of parking. We drove to the chateau of Bussy-Rabutin. Some roads were very narrow but all were passable. Our biggest delay was waiting for the bakery delivery truck delivering fresh baguettes. The fog burned off as we drove up the hill and the chateau was especially lovely on such a beautiful day. It dates from the l6th and l7th centuries: apparently the owner got in trouble for writing a satire on the goings-on at the French court and was banished from it (a lesson many artists have learned), so, being rich, bored, and talented, he built a chateau and decorated it with portraits of the great and near-great he had known, often accompanied by malicious little verses about them (some people never learn).

Then it was off to find the Fontenay Abbey in a valley not too far away. Parts of this Abbey date to the early 1100’s. It is an amazing collection of buildings: a church, monks’ dormitory, cloister, forge, kennel and more. About half of them are open to the public. Beautiful gardens and grounds surround the whole place. The guide quotes some particularly aesthete words by George Dudy: “To fully grasp the meaning of Fontenay and the power of its beauty, you must approach it step by step, painstakingly trudging the forest footpaths through the brambles and bogs in an October rain.” Alas, we didn’t . . . and we left the whips and chains behind, too. We drove Rover right up to the large parking area in the bright sunshine and enjoyed it anyway.