One of the best things about the few days of drizzly weather we had during our trip to Burgundy was that I didn’t feel even the teensiest bit guilty for spending the day in the car. The Burgundian countryside is so gorgeous, and we spend hours driving from village to village, from castle to castle, taking photos, familiarizing ourselves with the history, and drinking the occasional hot chocolate.
Burgundy is well known for its tasty beef dishes (beef bourguignon anyone?), so its no surprise that nestled between the charming medieval villages and castles we found herds of grazing cattle. There was something about this enormous bull that had us turning around to take a close up.
One delightful medeival village we passed through was Chateauneuf-en-Auxois. Perched high on a hill, the Chateauneuf de Chateauneuf-en-Auxois towers over the rest of the village. The castle dates back to the early 1100s, and was used for over 300 years by the Chateauneuf family (Chateauneuf means new chateau, so the family actually took on the name of the castle). The Chateauneuf de Chateauneuf-en-Auxois passed through several hands before it was eventually donated to the state in 1936.
Today, both the chateau and the surrounding village have been named as protected historical monuments. The village itself is simple but charming. There wasn’t a whole lot to see aside from the castle. There were one or two shops (both closed during our visit) and the cozy l’auberge du marronnier restaurant, where we stopped for a hot chocolate.
After warming up a bit, we headed out to this lovely viewpoint where the visibility was limited slightly by the stormy weather.
We made our way back to our car, unendlessly charmed by the stone houses and climbing vines. On to the next village!
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