After the switch off and wind down in Annecy, it was time to start thinking about heading North. We would have quite happily have stayed by the lake for another good few nights, but the weather was breaking, and we woke up to heavy rain on the Wednesday morning. The campsite was like the Marie Selest, with the white boxes and aged owners departing in droves- and heading further south for better weather. So we had about 5 days until our ferry home, so we hit the books and found a great little northbound roadtrip discovering medieval Burgundy. There was another option through the Grand Cru vineyards of the same area, but we quickly realised that we wouldn’t even be able to afford one tasting experience as they were all priced at between €25 and €50 per head!
We started our road trip at Cluny, one of the great powerhouses of the early Christian Church. The Benedictine Abbey- Eglise Abatiale founded in 900AD was at one point the largest church in the Christian world, up until St Peters was built in Rome. Only a small part of the original Abbey remained, but the ruins that underpinned the modern town were a sight to behold, particularly in the stormy skies that eventually broke into the most tremendous downpour that soaked us through.
Heading north, we found a wild camp just outside the most stereotypical French village you could ever find. Chapaize has its own 1000 year old church (of course it does!) the Eglis St Martin, as well as the most beautifully historic rural houses, a couple of fine dining restaurants and fields full of the biggest bulls we have ever seen!
We chose to be a little extravagant and have a drink out at one of the eateries in the village as we wanted to put money into the village in leu of our wild camp, but definitely could not have afforded to eat out at either restaurant. The owner was so welcoming and accommodating and we sat out as the sun set, like crazy English tourists and sampled the reds that he recommended from local vineyards. Obviously he knew his stuff and matched the wines perfectly to our tastes after asking us only a few questions about our wine preferences.
Up and off early the next day, our first stop was the hilltop medieval town of Brancion- complete with its eery and sparsely decorated hilltop monastery. We met some lovely Swiss travellers on our way up to the monastery, who proceeded to share with us their choral work in the austere church. We are not particularly religious, but the acoustics and the early morning solitude really did make the hairs stand up. For the benefit of maintaining the choral standards- we didn’t join in!
Off to the much larger town of Tournus on the banks of the river Saone, we toured the impressive Benedictine Abbey- complete with an apprehensive exploration of the crypt…it was far too dark and cold down there. After a traditional Lidl bakery breakfast, a fill up of Diesel (the cheapest diesel in over a year!) and some Adblu for the van, we were again heading northwards to the muchly anticipated Beaune. As on many occasions the guide book surprised us. Beaune was much hyped as one of the main centres of the Grand Cru tour…but it just didn’t do it for us. It was busy with coach trips and school trips, it felt very touristy in nature with the associated hike in prices and it was raining…heavily! We went with our gut and made a swift exit- you can do that when you are retired and have no plans for the rest of the day.
Luckily, the guidebook redeemed itself with the next stop on route, Autun. The historic central city from Roman times had its second hay day in the 12th Century when the Cathedral of St Lazarus was erected to house St Lazarus’ sacred relics. Now as I said before, we are not particularly religious people, but this Cathedral really stunned us. The architecture was beyond belief- so different to our own equivalents from places such as York. It was so easy to just spend time looking upwards and around at the geometric patterns that the stone masons from over a 1000 years ago had created. As close to artistry perfection as you could get.
We spent the night at a wild camp overlooking the town at the Croix de la Liberation- a stunning and isolated place to spend the evening and to wake up to the very misty morning. Another truly memorable wild camp that will stay with us for years to come.
After a lazy start, we continued north to the medieval city of Semur en Auxois- once an important religious centre boasting no less than six monasteries, the imposing city is built on a granite spur and protected by four massive pink granite bastions. Words cannot describe the enormity and history in this place, although compared to Autun, its cathedral was in dire straights- looking very tired and run down for such an historic site, the city as a whole was super impressive and a photographers dream. Once again, afternoon showers threatened to spoil our visit but we just about got away with it.
Again we pootled north to our final destination on the Burgundy route- the Abbay de Fontenay- something that we really looked forward to, but didn’t account for the entry fee on a par with the National Trust back home. Peering in where we could, it seemed that this UNESCO world heritage site had been heavily restored in the style of the original Abbay- but for us it seemed to lack an authenticity that we would have preferred- letting our imagination do the work just like in Cluny.
The final part of this adventure was not as smooth as we would have envisaged- finding a camp for the night. We checked out a couple of Aires in Epernay, followed by one further north and all were full. This is September in Northern Europe- it’s not meant to be busy out there. Seemingly most retirees on the continent now have a motorhome (after the Covid crisis) and they are not afraid to use them! After much searching and creeping further northwards, we found an lovely little spot just outside the tiny village of Chamery in the Champagne region. It was right next to the roadside, but was so quiet for the night. We were joined by another few Campervaners which made us feel even more secure for the night.
Again we woke to another cold morning- ahead of us a bit of a drive to Calais, interspersed with a final hypermarket shop for some cheap alcohol to last us the next few weeks and some much needed fuel to get us home on the long drag from Dover.
Our final stop was a traditional one for us at Biene Assise just outside Calais. It’s a fab site within striking distance of the port for an early morning ferry. The added benefit at this time of year was that it is also an ASCI site, so we could get a discount…and what a discount- our best one to date- €20 for the night as opposed to their standard rate of €36. A fine way to finish a holiday for a tight fisted Yorkshire lad.
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