Bottom of the world

Spotting a place on the map called "Le Bout du Monde" a dozen km or so from Chagny where the barge was moored, I could not resist visiting it. This is what Alexandre Dumas wrote about it:

"We descend a small slope and after about 10 minutes we find ourselves in the middle of this Burgundy El Dorado where the encircling rocks high above isolate us from the rest of the world." [Impression de voyage.]

It is a small limestone valley hollowed out of the Cote d'Or by a small stream, the Cosanne, (Cat 1 Trout fishing,) leaving a slice of geological time exposed. At the bottom of the cliff is a layer about 195 million years old, where clay soil was deposited on the prairie. Rising up the face can be seen layers including the squashed skeletons of molluscs that lived in a warm, shallow sea duric the Jurassic, 185 million years ago.
Chateau. Every village has one. This one is Chateau La Rochepot and dates from 1180.Read more