The Abbey of Fontenay lies in a narrow, wooded valley in northern Burgundy, a few kilometres from the small town of Montbard. It was founded in 1118 by Bernard of Clairvaux's circle and became one of the earliest and best-preserved Cistercian houses in Europe. The Cistercians wanted a life of simplicity, work and silence, and they built accordingly: plain stone, no carvings of saints, no coloured glass, and a site chosen for water and seclusion. The result is a place of extraordinary calm.
What survives is remarkable because much of it is original twelfth-century work. The abbey church is long and austere, with a pointed barrel vault and light that falls in clean, plain shafts. The cloister is a quiet square of arches and the dormitory has a vast timber roof. There is even a forge, built by the monks beside the stream, where iron was worked using water power, which reminds you that these were farmers and engineers as much as contemplatives. After the Revolution the abbey became a paper mill, and was later bought and restored by a private family, which is partly why it was saved.
The ride in from Montbard is gentle, along small roads through oak and beech woods, with farmland on the plateau above. This is not high or dramatic country; it is soft and rolling, the sort of road that is a pleasure at moderate speed with a bit of dappled light. Cars and coaches arrive in summer, so mornings and weekdays are best. The car park is a short distance from the gate, and there is ample room for motorbikes.
Montbard, with about five and a half thousand people, has fuel, supermarkets and cafes, and it also has a handsome park laid out by the naturalist Buffon, who lived there in the eighteenth century. Bring a jacket because the stone buildings stay cool even in August, and allow at least an hour to walk around inside. The countryside nearby produces good cheese, notably Époisses to the south-east, and the bakeries do sound business all day.