A vine romance

Travel

As you drive along the quiet country roads through the rolling landscape of Burgundy, past vast fields of crops and through ancient villages, it strikes you that some of the local place names seem quite familiar.

Names like Nuits St Georges, Meursault, Chateauneuf and Montrachet are immediately recognisable - at least to everybody who stalks the wine aisles of supermarkets.

For if there's one thing that most people know about this region of central France, it's that its name is synonymous with good food and good wine. What they may not know is that as well as being a feast for the stomach, it is also a feast for the eyes and mind.

The history of the area greets you around almost every corner. There are villages where you could imagine yourself back in the middle ages, so little has changed.

Our visit was confined to one small area, Yonne, named after the river that flows through it on the way to join up with the Seine. It might be comparatively small but there's still a lot to see.

It's an easy journey - three hours on Eurostar from London to Paris, a quick change of stations and then an hour by local train down to Joigny.

Our first night was spent in an idyllic little hotel, La Beursaudiere at Nitry, just off the A6 motor-way, before we drove a few miles to one of Yonne's many historic villages, Noyers sur Serein, with its half-timbered buildings and fortified walls.

The small river Serein was an historic boundary between two powerful rivals, Champagne and Burgundy. Noyers was a crossroads, so, although thriving, it was also a place where unwelcome guests could always be just around the corner.

Now, though, it is peaceful enough for an English potter Andy Squire to have set up business there with his French wife Claire and children - just one of many arts and craftspeople who have set up shop there.

Not far from Noyers is another small town with a name that might mean more to English visitors. Chablis is dominated by the product to which it gave its name. Wineries appear around every corner and at the end of the main street the vineyards rise up on the adjoining hillsides.

It wasn't long before we found ourselves taking a tour of the vineyard and it soon became apparent that only a French wine maker can speak with almost religious fervour about the soil, the vines, the weather and everything else that go together to produce the grapes that make the wine.

His evangelical enthusiasm for the philosophy of winemaking was infectious and we soon found ourselves tasting the difference between petit Chablis, Chablis, premier crus and grand crus. And what's more, unlike the taster, we weren't obliged to spit it out.

You could spend a week or more going round the wine routes of Burgundy - and many people do.

Another village known for its wine, but more famous for other things is Vezelay. This is a world heritage site - not for what you get in a bottle but for the 11th century citadel built by monks, which is still a stopping off point for modern day pilgrims on their way to Santiago de Compostela in Spain.

The town is built on a steep hill with the imposing monastery perched starkly at the top.

As you wander up the street you see hostels for the pilgrims alongside fashionable shops for the tourists.

There's a wonderful modern art gallery, too, the Musée Zervos set up by Christian Zervos, the editor of an art review, who counted many 20th century artists, including Picasso, among his friends - and their works make up much of those on display.

The biggest town in the area though is Auxerre, with its twin cathedrals, half timbered buildings and a football team, whose local hero was Guy Roux, the manager for 44 years until 2005. During that time the club played 90 matches in European competitions.

You could go and see a football match - but the chances are you'd rather lift a glass of Chablis and watch the cruisers sail down the Yonne.