St Florentin-Tonnerre-St Rémy

Another great morning along the canal. The reflections from the canal had us reaching for the camera - we do this most of the time, so what is new you may ask! Well, what’s new is that Hilton features in the early morning shots, and, you may have notice, that he has not yet woken up! Our German neighbours are already having breakfast before they head homewards to Koblenz. 

We were undecided as to whether, or not, we moved on today, so in the interim, we took a walk up to the village of St Florentin for some shopping, and to look around the village. The lovely people in the Tourist Information Centre were most helpful even giving us the key to explore the 16th century church, the most outstanding feature of the town. 

Standing in the centre and at the highest point of the village, St Florentin church was built in the 16th century in Gothic and Renaissance styles, and has remarkable sets of stained glass windows and statues dating from the same period. 

We took the large key, climbed the stairs leading to the summit and proceeded the unlocking of the ancient door. Even from an untrained eye the interior of the parish church is quite stunning. What power and influence religion had back in those times!

After our cultural hit we decided we needed to visit the patisserie for the weekly(!)  mille-feuille, plus the daily baguette. 

We wandered around the village, taking in the medieval part of the town, visited the garden/viewing area to get a perspective as to why the village was built where it now stands. There is only one  tower of the village’s defensive ramparts remaining. 

We made our way back down the hill to the canal and made short work of the  mille-feuille(delicious)! 

It was getting close to lunch time so we though we would leave for Tonnerre for lunch. At Tonnerre I walked around to the  Hotel Dieu, the hospital built in the 13th century. The invalid ward is one of the oldest and biggest hospital monuments of medieval France. The building took three years and was finished in 1293. Its proportions are imposing - it is 101 meters long (today 90 m after the 18th century modifications), 18, 50 m wide and almost 20 m high..

We left Tonnerre mid afternoon for our overnight stop in the village of St Rémy, a little way from Montbard. We are now in the Côte d’Or Department of Burgundy. 

Canal de Bourgogne

Yet again, now at the end of the day, and I am writing this with the rain beating down on us again! We are parked alongside the Canal de Bourgogne admiring the pleasant surroundings with many other motorhomes and canal boats. 

This morning we stopped off for a coffee at the delightful town of Joigny which is situated on the River Yonne. We had visited the town before but we couldn’t help ourselves, we had to have another look around. It is a Burgundian town that has a mix of  the medieval and the renaissance at heart, and lies in an idyllic setting. The craftsmanship in the timber building and the carvings in the church gives you a glimpse of the richness of those times. On the hills overlooking the town we caught our first glimpse of the vineyards that have made Burgundy famous. 

AtJoigny we picked up the trail of the Canal de Bourgogne and followed this to Migennes where we stopped by the canal to have some lunch. Whilst here I went looking for the Mosaïque de Migennes, thinking it was part of an archeological site, but alas, the mosaic was hanging in the wall in the tourist office! 

After leaving Migennes we followed the course of the canal, shaded at times by the trees of Napoleon. The Emperor Napoleon is credited with originating the policy of lining French roads with trees, to enable his soldiers to march in the shade (not to extend a similar courtesy to invading German armies, as an old joke has it).

A few kilometres further along the canal was the town of St Florentine, another medieval village, now along the Canal de Bourgogne. We stopped at a lovely spot right on the canal. A very pleasant afternoon and evening spent here. 

St-Juliet-du-Sault

I write this sitting in the van, all the windows open, relaxing in the warmth of the day, listening and watching the rain engulf us and our neighbouring motorhomers. Just the sort of refreshing rain we needed in early summer at home.  It’s a good life!

Today has been a slow day, up late due to being awake half the night after another tmassive thunderstorm.  The thunder was so fierce that the sound vibrated the timber panels in the van. Hilton (the van) once again proved equal to the task with not the slightest evidence of rain entering. 

A little shopping this morning, drove a few kilometres southwards, visited Villeneuve-sur-Yonne, before finishing up at the quaint village of St Julien-du-Sault. 

On our way we came across some very tasty cherries available for the public to pick - and so we did! We have often seen cherries growing in places that people could have access to them, so today we stopped and picked two small buckets full.  They are very sweet indeed. 

We spent the rest of the afternoon chatting with a Dutch couple and just chilling out. A very pleasant way to spend time in the Burgundy countryside. 

Provins

It rained off and on overnight which meant we were awake for a good part of the storms. The  morning, though, was pleasant even if a little overcast. 

A slower morning whilst catching up with some house work before heading off to Coulommiers. 

In the 11th and 12th century, the village of Coulommiers was built along the Grand Morin. Tanneries along the Grand Morin became the economic heart of the town - and this remained so for over 800 years, with the last tannery closing in 1934. In the 17th century a castle was built but suffered during the Revolution! Today the beautiful Capuchins Garden are on the land where the castle formerly stood. 

After spending time in Coulommiers we drove on to Provins, a World Heritage site, where we stopped for lunch and a visit. We arrived on a day when nearly all the schools in the district we on an excursion. Over 2000 school children were here for a day’s outing before their term finishes. They are so fortunate to have a site like this to visit on a day like this. 

We wandered, look and clicked!  Provins, a medieval village, became famous during the Middle Ages as a vital trading route within Europe. The Earls of Champagne became very powerful due to their family controlling these lands. Today the remaining section of the walled city gives us a glimpse of the protection provided for villages at that the time. 

Later we drove further south to Gron where we stayed the night.