Founded in 1118 by Saint Bernard, Abbaye de Fontenay is the oldest and one of the most beautifully preserved Cistercian abbeys in Europe. Occupying over 1,200 hectares of land in a wooded valley, it enjoyed a peaceful existence for most of its first seven hundred years—interrupted only by English looting in 1359 during the Hundred […]

One of the highlights of a walk along the Burgundy Canal will be a visit to Château d’Ancy-le-Franc. Built in the 1540s, the château is one of the earliest, and still one of the best, examples of Italian Renaissance architecture in France. (Published June 2013, last updated June 2020) The interior has been painstakingly restored […]

Located sixteen kilometres (ten miles) past Martel on the GR 46—GR 480 path, Turenne is the perfect place to stop after your first day of walking. It’s also the first of six ‘most beautiful villages’ you’ll visit on this long-distance walk which winds 130 kilometres (81 miles) from Martel to Rocamadour. (Published May 2013, last updated […]