Set in a lush valley, bordered by woodland, and chosen for its seclusion by St Bernard, Fontenay is one of the finest examples of Cistercian architecture in France. Building started in 1120, and the unadorned abbey church is magnificent in its simplicity and purity of line.

At the height of its prosperity, the abbey housed 300 monks and lay converts, but was converted into a paper mill after the Revolution. Restored earlier this century, the complex includes a monks’ dormitory which overlooks a lovely Romanesque cloister and the vaulted chapterhouse. There is a dovecot, a forge, a prison and a medicinal herb garden fed by a diverted stream which also feeds the fountains from which the abbey takes its name.

The best way to avoid the crowds is to make your visit at the beginning or end of the day (nearby Montbard makes a useful place to stay). The town was the birthplace of 18thC scientist Georges-Louis Buffon, and boasts a small park laid out by Buffon on the banks of the River Brenne. He also built a foundry, the Forges de Buffon, which has been restored by an English family, a pleasant 6-km walk or drive north of town along the Canal de Bourgogne.