40+ ways to pass the time at Stigny

1. Visit the Treasure of Vix museum at Chatillon-sur-Seine and be amazed by the biggest 6c BC bronze vase you are ever likely to see… well, anywhere!

2. Get an “all-round” impression of Stigny village in twenty five minutes by walking the perimeter path, the Chemin de Ronde, encircling the whole village.

3. Get some useful exercise on the flat(!) by following the towpaths of the picturesque Canal de Bourgogne, with its florally decorated locks, nearby at Chassignelles, or further afield, towards Tonnerre in one direction, and Montbard and beyond in the other. You may even hire a canal boat at Tonnerre or Montbard and float away the hours –beware; the locks (like everything else!) close every day for lunch!

4. Contemplate 800 years of local religious worship at the nearby austere church at Chassignelles.

5. Pick walnuts or sloes in September from the trees and hedgerows along Stigny’s country roads. We can give you the recipe for sloe gin!

6. Learn to compare the Italian and French Renaissance styles at the chateaux of Ancy-le-Franc (just 3km. down the road), an acknowledged masterpiece, with its intriguing (colloquially christened by our neighbour Karen) “Chambre de Derrières” – you have to visit to see why! – Nuits-sur-Armançon (5km), smaller and less ostentatious, and Tanlay (18km), with its fine moat and gardens, a big surprise in such a small village.

7. Wander through the woods and meadows and see how many wild flower species you can spot.

8. For intensive retail therapy, lose yourself in the largest designer factory-outlet centre in all France, on the outskirts of Troyes, but also take in the charming medieval city centre, which itself has smart, high-quality shops of all kinds, and a great food-market, as well as many eating and drinking opportunities.

9. Learn to talk intelligently (and hopefully intelligibly) about cutting-edge Chablis wines at the Chablisienne wine co-operative (just a couple of streets from Chablis town centre), where you can sample more varieties of Chablis than you ever knew existed, in relaxed surroundings, without trekking round to each individual domaine. But work out first who is driving (unless you are spitters!), and remember the staff are there to maximise sales!

10. If you do need to research Chablis more intensively, by all means visit one of the prestigious individual wine houses, many of which advertise tastings.

11. Marvel at the awe-inspiring 11c.-13c. frescoes, unequalled in France, and the wonderful 13c. stained glass, in Auxerre Cathedral, and just round the corner, the Abbey Church of St. Germain, with a crypt where the ambulatory is decorated with frescoes dating from 850 AD, some of the oldest in France.

12. Add an entry on your CV that you have stood at the very spot where the world-famous River Seine has its source, about 10km north-west of Ste.-Seine-l’Abbaye, on the road from Chatillon to Dijon.

13. Sample some of France’s finest cheeses, produced nearby in Burgundy, such as Epoisses, Chaource or Soumaintrain, preferably enhanced by a good local red wine. A great local delicacy is gougère, a type of cheese pastry.

14. Enrich your taste-buds with local Burgundian dishes, not just the famous Boeuf Bourgignon (beef casserole), and coq au vin (chicken in wine sauce), but also foie gras, escargots (snails cooked with garlic, butter and parsley), or the many game dishes, wild boar or venison.

15. Try the delicious jambon persillé (ham with parsley) from the butchers in Ancy.

16. Visit the scene of Julius Caesar’s epic lifting of the siege of Alesia in 52 BC, when the uprising of the Gauls under their charismatic leader, Vercingetorix, was finally crushed – at Alise-Ste-Reine, just off the D905 beyond Montbard.

17. Discover what England’s 12c. Cistercian monasteries would now look like if they hadn’t been trashed by Henry VIII; the Abbey of Fontenay, in a delightful rural valley just off the D905, was founded by St. Bernard in 1118, and with some restoration is still pretty much complete, despite a colourful history; the Abbey Church, completed in 1147, and still with an earth floor, is one of the most ancient fully intact Cistercian churches preserved in France.

18. Forget the tired old baguette, and sample some of the other many wonderful varieties of French bread, such as scrumptious olive bread or walnut bread.

19. Another link with St. Bernard is the magnificent Basilica of Vézelay, where the wondrous monk preached the Second Crusade in 1146, and from where Richard the Lionheart departed for the Third Crusade in 1190. You can still feel the vibes!

20. Buy several bottles of white Aligoté wine, mix with Crème de Cassis (blackcurrant liqueur), and while away the holiday imbibing kir, the traditional Burgundian aperitif.

21. Have a BBQ in the garden at Sous Moncelot without worrying about smoking out the neighbours.

22. Pick pears in late summer direct from our garden pear tree.

23. Go back almost to the dawn of early Christian architecture in the Ste-Reine crypt, all that remains of an 8c basilica at Flavigny-sur-Ozerain, whilst sucking the world- famous anis de Flavigny, a liquorice-flavoured sweet, once lovingly produced and sold throughout Europe by the Ursulines nuns – O, be still my heart, what hedonistic pleasure!

24. Stroll virtually undisturbed through the perfectly preserved medieval town of Noyers, near Nitry, nestling beside the serene River Serein, with its 16 towers and strong ramparts. Regularly used as a film set, it would in any other region be heaving with tourists and sacrificed to crass commercialism.

25. Wheeze your way up the steep, winding streets of the village of Montréal (near Avallon), lined with 15th and 16th century houses still occupied.

26. Take a long day - or two day - trip to Beaune and marvel at the flamboyant coloured roofs – OK, you can sample the treasures of art, history and gastronomy of Burgundy’s capital as well.

27. Pick up a priceless bargain at one of the regular Vide-Greniers (literally “empty your attic”) held in rotation in one or other of the local villages every weekend in Summer- a kind of jolly, open-air country flea-market, often with food stalls and fairground roundabouts – but be early in the morning, the best bargains go quickly.

28. Make a raid on one of the bigger supermarkets such as Auchan in Tonnerre to get supplies of wonderful fresh fruit, vegetables, cheese and wine at very reasonable prices.

29. Have a lie in.

30. Be startled by the astonishing size of the roof of the medieval “hospital” in the otherwise modest small nearby town of Tonnerre, completed in 1295, pre-dating the more famous one at Beaune by 150 years.

31. Extend your practical knowledge of classic Burgundy red wines from Cote-de-Nuits, Cote-de-Beaune, Maconnais and many others, not to mention the local but less famous Tonnerrois and Auxerrois.

32. Tour the vast and sombre forests of the High Morvan Natural Park, traditional home of the formidable Morvan wet-nurses. - Don’t ask!

33. Park your car at Montbard railway station and take a day trip to Paris on the TGV express train – it can be done in a day!

34. For everything you want in a spectacular medieval fortress, with massive towers, thick walls, a moat and drawbridge, visit 12c. Chateauneuf, visible from the A6 autoroute going south towards Beaune. For a less dramatic example, much nearer to Stigny, there is Epoisses, to the east of Avallon, again close to the A6, much frequented by Madame de Sévigné, and home to one of Burgundy’s best cheeses.

35. Just meander at random along the country roads, absorbing the delights of the dozens of picturesque villages scattered throughout the region.

36. Be intrigued by the only pentagonal chateau in France at Maulnes, currently undergoing restoration, beyond Cruzy-le-Chatel, with a startling five-sided spiral staircase.

37. Try and catch a glimpse of deer or wild boar along the many woodland paths, but check that it is not the shooting season!

38. Join in the Stigny village Bastille Day celebrations in July, or the Village Fete in August, including eating, drinking, flinging-the-sandal contests, processions, and fireworks.

39. Watch out for one of the cultural events in the stunning setting of Ancy-le-Franc chateau, often in the open air, such as classical concerts by Paris musicians, or touring theatre performances - organised by our neighbour Françoise.

40. Take a picnic to one of the leafy meadows adjoining the Canal de Bourgogne.

41. Get some much needed exercise by hiring bicycles from the Ancy or the Tonnnerre Tourist Offices, and spin along the quiet rural roads or the canal towpaths.

42. If that's not enough exercise, visit the very modern Montbard aquatic centre known as Centre Nautique Amphitrite (www.carilis.fr), with four pools, sauna, jacuzzi, hammam, flowing current, wave pool, and much more!

43. Take in some culture at the Yonne Music Festival, at venues in Ancy, Chablis and Noyers.