CURVESCOUT / MOTORCYCLE RIDE
Ordered leg totals agree within rounding. Stop distances are approximate sums of rounded legs. Stops, delays, approach and any separate return travel add time. Basis: producer-declared routed record.
Reading history stays on this device. My road watch requires a separate selection; opening it does not subscribe this ride.
Distance and riding time are measured on the routed road. Check local closures and conditions before you ride.
From Beaune it runs 372 km to Beaune; allow about 6 h 00 of riding. The stops in between: Les climats du vignoble de Bourgogne - Dij, Cistercian Abbey of Fontenay, Vézelay and back through Cistercian Abbey of Fontenay. It was put together for the scenery rather than the shortest line.
For about 45 km this is Burgundy Grand Cru Route, a road with a name of its own and a reason for it — expect company on a summer weekend. Early is better than fast.
82 km through ground somebody thought worth listing. The road passes it rather than bypassing it. Speed drops and stays down. Park rather than crawl through.
The Climats of Burgundy are, in plain terms, the vineyard plots of the Côte d'Or, each one with its own name and character, worked and described by monks and growers for nearly a thousand years. The word means little parcels of land with a specific soil, slope and exposure, and the idea is that two vines a few metres apart can yield wines that taste different. Near Ladoix-Serrigny and Beaune the slope faces east and south-east, and the great hill of Corton rises above the villages, covered in vines and crowned with woods.
Read the complete The Climats write-up.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
The Climats is where the day begins. Next is Les climats du vignoble de Bourgogne - Dij.
Dijon sits at the top of the Côte d'Or, where the Burgundian plain meets the long limestone escarpment that carries some of the most expensive vineyards in the world. The UNESCO listing called the Climats of Burgundy covers those vineyards and the towns that grew around them, and the label's last word, cut short, means Dijon itself, the old ducal capital where the Valois dukes ruled a territory that rivalled the French crown. The Palace of the Dukes and Estates, now a museum and town hall, still dominates the central square, and the pedestrian streets around it are full of half-timbered houses and fine stone doorways.
Read the complete Les climats du vignoble de Bourgogne - Dij write-up.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Les climats du vignoble de Bourgogne - Dij comes up about 45 km into the recorded legs. Next is Cistercian Abbey of Fontenay.
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.
Read the complete Cistercian Abbey of Fontenay write-up.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
about 127 km into the recorded legs you reach Cistercian Abbey of Fontenay. Next is Vézelay.
You see Vézelay from a long way off, a hill crowned with a basilica, with a village strung along the ridge below it. It is one of the great Romanesque churches of France, the Basilica of Sainte-Marie-Madeleine, begun in the early twelfth century to house relics said to be those of Mary Magdalene. Pilgrims came in thousands, and in 1146 Bernard of Clairvaux preached the Second Crusade here, to a crowd so large that he spoke in the open air. It is also a starting point for one of the Camino de Santiago routes, so you often see walkers with scallop shells on their packs.
Read the complete Vézelay write-up.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Vézelay, about halfway. Next is back through Cistercian Abbey of Fontenay.
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Cistercian Abbey of Fontenay write-up.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
back through Cistercian Abbey of Fontenay sits at 260 km, about halfway. Next is back through Les climats du vignoble de Bourgogne - Dij.
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Les climats du vignoble de Bourgogne - Dij write-up.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
back through Les climats du vignoble de Bourgogne - Dij comes up about 329 km into the recorded legs. Next is The Climats.
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete The Climats write-up.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
The Climats closes the day.
The Climats → Les climats du vignoble de Bourgogne - Dij is 45 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Les climats du vignoble de Bourgogne - Dij → Cistercian Abbey of Fontenay is 82 km of getting across. Ride it tidily and keep the enthusiasm for what comes after.
Cistercian Abbey of Fontenay → Vézelay is 64 km of getting across. Ride it tidily and keep the enthusiasm for what comes after.
Vézelay → back through Cistercian Abbey of Fontenay is 64 km of getting across. Ride it tidily and keep the enthusiasm for what comes after.
back through Cistercian Abbey of Fontenay → back through Les climats du vignoble de Bourgogne - Dij is 74 km of getting across. Ride it tidily and keep the enthusiasm for what comes after.
back through Les climats du vignoble de Bourgogne - Dij → The Climats is 43 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.