Gite de Monceaux-Surroundings

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Surroundings

The Surroundings

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The surroundings

Waterways

The river Yonne passes through Monceaux le Comte. The river is clean, only 5 min. walk from the Gite and can be used for swimming or fishing. Local fishing permits are required for all waterways in the Nièvre and are available in the local épicerie. Half an hour’s drive away there are three different lakes:
	Lac de Chaumeçon is a storage reservoir with beaches all around for swimming. It has an aquatic sport centre with rafts, canoes and fishing boats. On the way you’ll find the Auberge du Lac with terrace. Etang du Merle is a swimming lake, you can also pedal around on a rented pedal boat. The camping next to it has a terrace. Lac de Baye has a beach and a place to picnic under the trees. There are no restaurant facilities on the lake. It’s mostly used for sailing. The sailing school rents boats out. Next to Lac de Baye lies Lac de Vaux a lake entirely reserved for fishing boats.
Within a 45 minute drive are two larger lakes:
	Lac de Settons which is a little bit more crowded than the smaller lakes. There are restaurant facilities on the lake. Canoes, sailing- and motorboats are allowed. You can make a circular trip on a touring boat. Lac de Pannecière is the biggest reservoir of the Park the Morvan. It’s mostly a lake for swimming and fishing. The villages around do have restaurants.
Within a 30 minute drive are 3 different rivers where canoes can be rented:
	The river Cure from St. Père in the direction of Vézelay. The river Chalaux under guidance from aquatic sport centre of Chaumeçon. De Yonne from Montreuillon.

Le Cousin près d'Avallon, Lavoir de Grenois, Ecluse Coulanges sur Yonne

L'Yonne, Canal du Nivernais, La Cure

Spirituality

The road to Santiago de Compostella the GR654 passes Monceaux le Comte. The 19th century church of Monceaux has a 13th century arch depicting Saint George and the dragon from a previous church. Inside the church stands a polychromed statue of the Notre dame du Réconfort from the 15th century from the nearby 13th-19th century Abbey Le Réconfort’, which is currently a rest home.
Vézelay, as well as Fontenay and la Charité sur Loire, are listed on the world inheritance list of UNESCO:
1 The basilica Sante-Marie-Madeleine of Vézelay from the 12th century lies a 20 minute drive away. It is a haut lieu d’energie. This means that it has very high energy vibrations. On the way to Vézelay lies the church the Notre Dame of Saint Père. The architecture of this small church can compete with the big basilica of Vézelay.
2 A beautiful daytrip is to the abbey of Fontenay at 80 km away, on the way is the enchanting village Montreal. On the top of the hill lies the church with an old big stone picnic table.
3 An hour’s drive in the other direction lies the charming monastic city of la Charité sur Loire, best known for its antique bookshops.
The contemporary Temple of the Thousand Buddhas lies in the centre of the natural park of the Morvan at a two hour’s drive from Monceaux le Comte.
Locally every village of some importance has a church and a wash house from the 12th-19th century often on Gallo-Roman vestiges.

Donzy

Wine and gastronomy

Wine:

Burgundy is world wide famous for its grands crus and premiers crus from the Chablis and the Côte d’Or.
The part played by monasteries in wine growing has always been great, such as the Abbey of Cluny from 910 and the severe monastic order the cistercian evolved out of the Abbey of Cluny from the Côte d’Or with their Clos Vougeot. The many Roman churches in Burgundy date from that time.
The local wines are coming up. Priced between €5,- and €10,- you can drink a delicious Irancy, Coulanges la Vineuse or a Saint Bris le Vineux.
Even more locally you’ll find the Côte de Tannay from the pinot noir, the melun and the chardonnay grape. The quality differs by the wine producer.
The aperitif of Burgundy is kir. Bourgogne Aligoté with crème de cassis or kir royal with crèmant de bourgogne and crème de cassis.

Michelin restaurants:

For those seeking 3 star Michelin rated restaurants, Marc Meneau has his restaurant in St. Père next to Vézelay. The restaurant of Bernard Loiseau lies in Saulieu. The church is worth the trip with the unaltered Café Paris opposite.

Local restaurants with outside terraces:

Monceaux le Comte has a good family-run restaurant where you can wine and dine sumptuously. Only a two minute walk from your gite. The Dutch/German propietors speak French, Dutch, German and English fluently and even a little Italian.
A hotel restaurant le Poteau at 3 km. is simple but good. It still has a bar where locals come to drink their aperitif.
Le Relais Fleuri at 7 km has a rich Burgundian kitchen with a southern French influence. A walk after dinner is recommended through the beautiful little town of Tannay.

Restaurants at a 20 min. distance:

Hotel Perreau in Lormes is a family restaurant with a classical Burgundian menu. The view from the church of Lormes is breathtaking for a romantic walk after diner.
Another restaurant with a fantastic terrace and lovely food is Les Deux Ponts in Pierre Perthuis. Make it complete with a nightwalk under the moon down to the river Cure. Vézelay has many restaurants. Le Vézelien is a place where the local farmers sit next to the pilgrims and artists. The food is simple and good.
For a good coffee or tea on a less beautiful day Cabalus is an inspiring former hôtellerie-infirmerie with homemade soup, bread and cakes next to a huge monumental fire place on any hour of the day.

Snacks:

In summertime you can eat chips in the little harbour of Chitry les Mines mingling with both the locals and the tourists from the canal boats. At night time it’s a very cosy place under the open tents with party lights. It is a nice bicycle ride along the canal of about 10 km.

Gite de Monceaux An Authentic and Original Holiday House in Burgundy

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