Day 4, Montréal, Fontenay, Morvan

Fontenay

The plan today is to explore some places around Vezelay, and perhaps drive through the Morvan.

Via Avellon we go east. We pass a castle which like so many is privately owned and not open to the public, and stop in Montréal, the charming walled town where we admire the beautifully carved choir stalls which I talked about in a recent post.

Then on to Montbard, which is rather disappointing. It looks seedy and dilapidated, probably because everything is closed at this time of the day, and the railway station doesn't make things any better. We climb the steep streets of the town, but not as far as the church. We go back to the entrance road and drink coffee in a very unpleasant cafe. When we leave the town, we come across a nice bakery along the main road which is open all day, and there we buy provisions. Soon we turn off the main road towards Fontenay, a former abbey in wooded grounds, built along a stream. Before we reach the abbey, we enjoy our picnic in the sun along this quiet road.

 The nave of te abbey church taken from the netrance doors

 Virgin and child, 13th century

 Detail of the stone altarpiece, 13th century

From the choir towards the main entrance

Fontenay to me is a revelation. Monks did know to find the most rural and picturesque places for their abbeys. Like Fountains Abbey, it is built along a stream, vital for survival. I presume that unlike Fountains Abbey in Yorkshire, the climate was a lot better here and therefore life easier and the buildings less damp. Although empty now, I can very well imagine the monks living and working here, praying in the church, copying manuscripts in the vaulted long room.  

The monks' room where the scribes worked

Even their sleeping quarters were far more convenient than the ones in Fountains Abbey,. Here the dormitory was on the first floor, over the big ovens with openings guiding the heat from below into their sleeping quarters.

  The stairs to the dormitory, and the wooden roof of the dormitory

In Fountains Abbey the monks slept on the ground floor, which might have been very damp given the climate and the stream next to the abbey. The church is big, and apart from the altarpiece and a statue of Mary and child, empty. From the church one reaches the living quarters of the monks.

The monks' room and the cloisters are very intimate. The monks' room, the place for the scribes, wasn't heated but next to the big kitchen fires, so perhaps not as cold as other parts of the abbey buildings. The church seems very big, but in fact isn't. It is stark and simple, without decorations. Its emptiness makes it look bigger than it is. It was all part of the Cistercian philosophy. Here no intricately chiselled pillars as they would distract. Only light was important, as God is light.

 The forge. Through the door the watermill is just visible

A bit away from the main buildings is a forge with a huge hammer which was driven by a watermill. Working with metal – metallurgy - is still an industry in this part of Burgundy, especially in Montbard.

 The abbey is surrounded by nice gardens.

After the French Revolution, the abbey was used as a paper mill. Perhaps that is why the place has been saved from destruction.

It is hard to leave this peaceful place, but we do and go for a short tour through the Morvan, looking for a rather modern abbey which is still in use and hidden in the depths of the forests. Before we enter the park, we skirt Semur-en-Auxios and are pleasantly surprised by this medieval town. The view from the bridge is great with the historic church and the ramparts high above the river standing out against the sky. We have no time to explore the town, unfortunately, so I promise myself to go back one day soon.

 Semur-en-Auxios

It takes some time to find the 'Abbaye de la Pierre-qui-Vire', hidden in a maze of wooded, winding country lanes, but in the end we do. The buildings are new and modern, but the few monks we see old! We drive on to St.Léger-Vauban, high on an open plateau, where Vauban (1633-1707, Marshal of France and military engineer) was born. A big statue of Vauban adorns the triangular common. 

 Tour d'Horloge, and a shop in the main street of the historic part of Avallon

From here we drive back to Avallon, and enjoy a pizza in a very nice and friendly restaurant next to the Tour d'Horloge, in the historic part of the town, and decide that this is certainly an area worth coming back to to explore more historic towns and places.