Canal de Bourgogne

The weather looked not too bad, we found a campsite with a Canadian tent, in the small town of Pouilly – en – Auxois, booked it, packed the car and drove. As we neared the campsite the skies fell down so hard it was almost impossible to see out the windscreen.

Not a good start, but by the time we reached the campsite the storm had passed. Our home for the weekend was waiting. It was cosy and clean, with a view over the countryside.

We had planned to get up early and cycle to a chateau on a nearby hill before zipping down the canal to another chateau with gardens to explore, but the rain on our tent kept us in bed, reading and talking, relaxing, and changing our plans a little.

The rain stopped and the clouds thinned. We sat outside to eat lunch, prepped our bikes for an afternoon adventure, and set off from the campsite alongside the canal and past the entrance to a tunnel Voûte du canal de Bourgogne…before continuing through the small town.

This little town is special.  The Voûte du canal de Bourgogne… is a 3.3 km tunnel built under the town. What planning  that must have taken. We were glad it is still used and maintained. I think the town dwellers are too!

Above the tunnel is a pathway for cyclists and walkers to enjoy. It’s a lovely route lined with plane trees and occasional round towers which we thought were probably air vents. The dappled light through the leaves was pretty and we were feeling good.

Looking along the path it appeared to be ascending but as we weren’t peddling much it must have been going down. A strange optical illusion caused by the avenue of trees maybe? It was good to be in the fresh air exploring a different part of France. We smiled and chatted, stopped to take photos and enjoyed just being.

The tunnel went under a main road so the pathway turned off and circled around before once again we were cycling on top of the canal. It was strange to think boats may be passing along below us.

Soon we reached a deep culvert, it was the other end of the tunnel. We walked down the steps to peer inside. There were no boats. It is very narrow and many of the boats we’ve seen on other French canals wouldn’t fit through, we were sure. There were lights at either end of the tunnel, so no collisions would occur, there was not space for passing.

We climbed back up to our bikes and were now cycling next to the canal although we couldn’t see it at first but the path descended quickly until we were canal side for real and the waterway expanded into a large, boat turning area for people who decided not to venture through. It was quiet and empty.

The canal was studded with lock after lock as the land descended. There were numerous pretty lock keeper cottages, with about a quarter of them being lived in. We took lots of photos and wondered what it would be like to live in one.

Sometimes the path climbed up and over a bridge and after one of these was a lived in cottage with a difference.

It was decorated and surrounded by old farm tools and machines, many of which had been artistically morphed into wild and wacky creatures. Brilliant. We smiled, took pictures, wondered, and admired the craftsmanship and imagination of the people who lived there.

A few walkers and other cyclists stopped too, a gathering of appreciation.



Leaving this art marvel behind the canal path continued to be quiet. The canal was lacking boats. We’d only seen two and they were moored. But there were birds, insects, flowers and a Chateau on a hill to look at instead. It was the chateau we had planned on visiting this morning. We would visit Chateauneuf-en-Auxois on Monday on the way home instead.  

Our quiet ride was filled with chatter and laughter as we approached a large crowd on a wide grassy verge. There were bikes, flags, posts and a sign saying a RAID was taking place. We thought this was some charity event but had no idea what was happening.

We slowed to be safe and curious.

Cyclists were arriving, parking their bikes and then jumping or climbing carefully onto rafts in the water. They then paddled off to the next bridge, with much laughter and shouting, collected something from a bag hanging under it, then paddled to the next bridge before returning, getting back on their bikes and cycling over the bridge and up a gravel track only to get off and push as the track into the forest was very steep. Such fun. It was great to see people enjoying themselves.

After negotiating past this there were more people walking and jogging along the canal path with us so we used our bells to warn them we were coming. No-one seemed to mind moving out of the way buy we cycled slowly. These runners were racing to a zip line which they shrieked across to the other side before climbing into three-man canoes and setting off the same way as us for several kilometers. There was some good natured bantering and a couple of collisions but all was well, they reached their destination, turning around at a lock and hauling themselves and the canoes up onto the side of the canal for well earned food and drinks. 

Oops. A meander is great but sometimes you need to reach your destination in time. It was mostly downhill so our legs worked not too hard to get a decent speed and the distance to Chateau De Barbirey-sur-Ouche shrunk. It was still open, the gardens anyway. There was a family renting the chateau so we couldn’t go inside. That was fine. It was the gardens we’d come to see. They were lovely to wander around, great plant colour combinations in the formal gardens, trees with open mouths and strange seeds, woodpecker holes, fun benches under trees, one of which we sat on for a drink and much needed snack. There were woodlands, ponds, a lake, autumn crocus studded the grassy bans like purple stars, a fallen crab apple carpet attracted insects and small birds, and of course there was a chateau with a tower. 

We left and turned away from the canal, following a winding quiet road up and down a valley through the hills. It was very green with lots of cattle and horses. We spied a ramshackle barn high on a hill, missed our turning, turned back, and after much puffing we were next to that barn high on a hill with great views back across the valley. Up close, it looked as though one more puff of wind would send it tumbling down. Martin lay his bike down to take some photos. A car stopped, the occupants checking to make sure we were okay. Little moments that retore faith in humanity are well remembered.

The route continued up and down, round and round until I was sure we were going back the way we had come, all sense of direction left me.

We saw a lake from on high on a road that swooped down to another village with a chateau. Then up through farmland and strange wafts of music on the wind. We pass a very pretty private chateau as we plod up another hill. We don’t stop, we’re in the up groove. 

After a  good night’s sleep.......

It was warm and sunny, but we still had a leisurely wake up and breakfast, setting off at ten thirty the opposite way along the canal.

We cycled over a small bridge to the other side where it was busy with walkers and other cyclists for the first kilometre and then it was just us again.

The reflections were brilliant, and photos had to be taken.

We passed a Chateau we’d often seen from the motorway and then turned off the canal and over a hill, through a village where someone was selling eggs and it looked like the whole village were buying them. We admired an old signpost and the old building before realising we should’ve turned at the signpost! We stopped to turn around and concerned villages were quick to set us on the right way although they grimaced and said it was steep.

It was steep, but a slow pace got us to the top. There were rolling green valleys, white cattle, plenty of tiny villages each with a tower or chateau for us to admire.

The road shrunk and we stopped on the edge of a village for a drink and snack. We were barked at by a puppy but enjoyed the warmth of the sun on our faces and a rest for our legs on the convenient bench.

We left the village and continued along the meandering road. There was a tower in the middle of a field and buildings made with wood and wattle. We entered the village of Vitteaux where the buildings shouted history and interest, and we had to explore it rather than just pass through the edge. It was quiet and felt deserted although it wasn’t. There was no café and no shops that we could see, but plenty of towers and wooden buildings. Some were derelict. It felt like a forgotten town, sad.

We turned onto a narrower road, more of a track, a short cut to Château de Posanges with a moat. Beautiful and rare. Impressive. Private so no visiting. It was small and perfectly formed.

Then onto an even smaller track. Very quiet and bumpy. Hedgerows and insects, trees and birds. Peaceful.

We cycled through an ancient stone gateway and into the town, along old streets to the square infront of the church where a cold stone bench was welcomed by our aching butts.

We had lunch, much needed for it was now 2.45, and watched other tourists arrive and chat. The church and a shop we could see from our stone bench are famous. Chocolat was filmed here. I love that film, and the book.

After refuelling we explored the village. Stopping to accept a map from the man in the tourist office, peering though the windows of the shop front used in Chocolat and now for sale, visited the crypt that the man from the tourist office was very proud of, before visiting the museum and shop of les Anis de Flavigny. Famous sweets.

In the shop you could taste all the flavours for free and we collected a few for our ride back before buying two boxes and some ice cream. Very yum.

We left the famous village, enjoying cycling down the hill we’d climbed earlier, it was much easier, and down to the canal.

It had three rooms downstairs and two up, more space than it looked like from the outside. There were a few original tiles on the floor and Martin tested the stairs which were still good. It lacked windows though.

It was still light and warm, although the sun was going down and a wind had sprung up from nowhere, when we reached the campsite where a shower and food were gratefully received.



Lovely weekend cycling.