Our first venture into French real estate! This small cottage, in the village of Varzy, is ideally situated for visitors with a car who really want to explore the Burgundy region.
Everything is pretty close, by Australian standards! Within half an hour you’re at various larger towns, forests, natural wonders, Roman ruins, famous pilgrimage towns atop beautiful mountains and one of France’s most exciting undertakings – the construction (from scratch) of a medieval castle using traditional tools, methods and materials.
Wineries (domaines) and other local delicacies are not hard to find. Larger market towns are at most 15 minutes drive, and the nearest of these, Clamecy, has a train to Paris around 5 times a day, so you could even have your friends and family meet you for a combined holiday with some arriving by train (we’ve done exactly that)!
Clamecy is also home to the main canal of the region, and has splendid views and vistas that overlook the water. Plenty of places for a picnic.
This picture is the front facade of our cottage, which was once a coach house / stables complex that serviced the grand mansion across the road (now derelict but rescued by the village for future restoration we hope).
