BIENVENUE
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Guest house and restaurant in Semur-en-Auxois
A timeless place in Semur-en-Auxois
LA CÔTE D'OR
Legends and history intertwine and nourish dreams. It is said that, passing through the country of Auxois, Hercules who had just liberated the people of Eryhtia from the giant Geryon, would be at the origin of the creation of Semur-en-Auxois. Later named "Sene Muro": old walls, Semur was for a long time a defensive city, as its towers and ramparts still attest today. Its destiny is linked to that of the Dukes of Burgundy, Robert II, Philip the Bold, to whom the city swore loyalty. This earned him the wrath of Louis XI. It was Henry IV who had his fortifications dismantled in 1602. Abandoning her vocation as a warrior, Semur became the capital of the baillage of Auxois. Its urban structure reveals the juxtaposition of the religious, political and economic powers that have long ruled it. Today, Semur is a charming city in which you can stroll and go hunting for multitudes of signs of its romantic history.
Put down your suitcases in La Fontaignotte, in a few minutes on foot, by bike or by car, you will explore charming villages nestled in the country of Auxois Morvan.
14 kms away, you will visit the Château d'Epoisses which welcomed Philippe Le Hardi, Madame de Sévigné, Chateaubriand, the Prince de Condé and many illustrious guests, without forgetting the magnificent dovecote and the flowerbed with 500 roses.
15 km away, do not miss the charming village of Corsaint and its chapel which contains a painting whose history we will tell you.
16 km away is the ARCADE Cultural Centre, a research workshop in creation and design, a place for exhibitions and artists' residencies. Thanks to the many exhibitions and events that are organized there, you will become familiar with the work of young artists or you will find the works of established artists.
At 16 kms, founded around 450 by Saint Jean de Réome at Corsaint, then transferred to its present location in the 6th century. The Royal Abbey of Moutiers-Saint-Jean is the oldest abbey in Burgundy. The hospital Saint Sauveur and its apothecary, its garden of the simple and its chapel, surprising places of the XVII century, face him.
16 kms away, Flavigny sur Ozerain was built around the Benedictine abbey of Saint-Pierre, itself built in the 8th century. Ramparts, fortified gates, cobbled alleys, in Flavigny, do not miss the Grange de Flavigny where the farm women prepare home-made dishes by the fire in winter, or in summer, on the terrace facing the Church of Saint Genest. Enter the church to admire the polychrome statue of the nursing virgin dating from the 14th century. At the entrance to this "most beautiful village in France" is the famous Anis de Flavigny factory.
A must visit, 21 kms away, the castle of Count Roger de Bussy Rabutin, cousin of Madame de Sévigné, military, courtier, philosopher and epistolary writer. Banished from the court of Louis XIV by Mazarin because of his libertine escapades, he takes advantage of his exile to sharpen his satirical pen and reveals the gallantry of the high nobility of France in his "Histoire amoureuse des Gaules", intended to entertain his mistress, the Marquise of Montglas. L'intrigante marquise de La Baume, copies and publishes this manuscript which, circulating freely, is the cause of a great scandal. Imprisoned in the Bastille by King Louis XIV, then liberated but exiled permanently in Burgundy, he embellished his castle of Bussy-Rabutin with mottos, paintings and nearly five hundred portraits of people of the court, accompanied by spiritual and caustic inscriptions of his growth. A monumental forerunner of “Le Canard Enchaîné” !
24 kms away, the Abbaye de Fontenay, which celebrates its 900th anniversary in 2018, is the best preserved Cistercian Abbey in the world.
22 kms away, the great Buffon forge, a model factory founded in 1768 by the naturalist from Montbard, will transport you to the world of steelmaking at the time of “Le Siècle des Lumières”.
Less than an hour by car, you will join “la route des grands crus de Bourgogne”, Beaune, Clos Vougeot, Volnay, Auxey-Duresses. If you wish, the winegrowers with whom we work directly, will welcome you for a visit of their vines and a tasting.
In Dijon, you will appreciate the power and wealth enjoyed by the Dukes of Burgundy.
And again:
The Canal de Bourgogne and its towpaths converted into hiking trails for cyclists and walkers, Châtillon sur Seine and its Vase de Vix, Alésia, Vézelay, the list is endless.
Near all these places, you will be able to radiate from "LA FONTAIGNOTTE" to discover the Golden Coast, magnificent and peaceful region and return every evening to relax in our lounges or on the terrace, to evoke your adventures and your wonders of the day, around a delicious English tea or an aperitif dinner.
