SUMMER’S LAST DAYS, SAVE FOR A FEW FLASHES, were dreary and wet. But today, the first day of autumn, dawned spectacularly. Woodsmoke perfumed the morning chill while redstarts and tits — crested tits, long-tailed tits and great tits — flitted and chirped in the trees. Apples are rosy red while chestnuts and walnuts fall noisily. Sunflowers, heads blackened and bowed, await the guillotine and fields of mustard grow more golden each day.
Sunflowers Mustard
We are in Burgundy — Bourgogne, en français — based in Argilly at La Maison du Parc, not far from Dijon. It’s a charming and quiet place with a well-equipped kitchen. This is wine country — so much of France is —but within striking distance of walled fortresses, chateaux, abbeys and medieval villages surrounded by rolling fields.
Medieval Vezelay Vauban fortification at Besançon
We have visited Cistercian abbeys before but none as complete and picturesque as Fortenoy Abbey. The Cistercians were a no-frills order who practiced the old school monasticism of St. Benedict. There is nothing flashy about Fortenoy but everything in this World Heritage site is perfect. If I didn’t know better I would think Connie saved it for last intentionally.
Dovecote
Oldest forge Shadows in the cloister
