Montbard and Tonnerre

We left Pouilly en Auxois for Montbard on a beautiful sunny morning, and another day which promised some heat. We will still be going alongside the Canal de Bourgogne for the next few days, easy and flat riding and the trail surface is almost all paved though a bit bumpy in spots. The heat seems to have brought out more cyclists, or maybe it’s because it’s Friday and more folks have the day off. It’s not crowded though and I love to see them. We were able to check in to our rustic hotel early in the afternoon which gave us time to ride over and see the nearby Abbaye de Fontenay. The Abbey dates from the 11th century and was inhabited by Cisterian monks following the doctrine of Saint Bernard. The buildings went through many transformations including industrial and commercial use but are now well restored and presented for the public. Interesting to me was the monks had the earliest working metallurgical factory in Europe and invented the hydraulic hammer to help in the forging process. Educated dudes those monks. Our hotel looked a bit like something from an old western but turned out ok with a decent restaurant for supper and breakfast.

Off to our second one night stop, in Tonnerre 60km up the canal from Montbard. It was a hot, muggy, and buggy day with George especially getting plastered by a few billion aphids and some larger bugs as well. The good hot shower at the end was very welcome. Today we got to witness a boat actually going through one of the dozens of locks we have ridden by since joining this canal system. Not hugely exciting but interesting, and the whole process was less than ten minutes, not as much time as we had imagined. We are able to travel far faster than any of the boats we have seen and don’t have the necessary lock interruptions. The lock system is managed by a government agency, the Voie Navigables de France, and we see their vehicles and personnel all the time, but seldom in action. One thing we saw in Tonnerre during our short stay was the Fosse Dionne, dating from the 16th century, essentially a public laundry washing facility created due to a water source rising into this spot after seeping through the limestone cliffs above. The source has been investigated by divers as far as 380m back and 80m below the outlet. Over the years 3 divers perished in the exploration(!). It will be an even more compelling site once a budgeted and scheduled restoration is complete in the next two years.

Tags: france, travel