Flavigny-sur-Ozerain

Our next stop, now June 28th, was the village of Flavigny-sur-Ozerain, another of les plus beaux villages de France. The village is nice enough by itself, and very old, but it has a special attraction, the factory where the famous Anis de Flavigny candy is made, which will require a second post. But first, the town, starting with the remains of the Benedictine abbey there founded by Widerard in 719. 

Helpful map

Extremely helpful chronology; click to enlarge and you
will read that Julius Caesar and his legions camped here--
bringing anise seeds for medicinal purposes--and gave
the place to one of his veterans, Flavinius, whose name
stuck

The Three Abbeys milestone...13th century, marking
the boundaries of the three abbeys, of which Flavigny's 
was one...see below

Rare dorsal view showing St. Seine and his famous donkey

Now entering the Carolingian (8th-9th cerntury) crypt of
the old Benedictine abbey; renovation was funded by the
Anis de Flavigny company (next post)

Assorted remnants, helpfully labeled

Helpful design of the abbey church--now gone--with
the crypt to the left; not in English too, but--click to
enlarge--and the pix are pretty easy to follow

Easy to tell which bits have been reconstructed

Moving right along, seeing the town

Interestingly, the abbey church was destroyed in the
Revolution, but the parish church was untouched; only
five monks were left in the abbey by then, and the (secular;
i.e., corrupt) abbot; in the Revolution, the Second Estate
[the Church] was hated just as much as the First Estate
[the nobility]

Some old paint remains

Sic transit, Gloria...a setting for the film Chocolate; now for sale

Stuff like this is part of the charm of these villages

One of the town portals...

Alas, the walls and towers did not keep the English
out in the Hundred Years War

Chateauneuf Chateau

It is not one of the great and grandiose chateaux from later centuries, but rather a sort of classic Medieval castle...towers and walls and such, begun in the 12th, a redoubt for the noble family and their retainers in troubled times. Continued through more noble families and troubled times into the 19th. Now it's publicly owned, with repair and renovation continuing, but the old fortress is in pretty good shape and is excellently presented. And in English too. Definitely recommended.

In a nutshell...

Construction on walls and moat; one assumes, in accordance with
French tastes, the moat will become a formal garden

Renaissance features in the relevant buildings

Main courtyard

Very old and presumably deep well; can't have a castle
without a well; or cistern

In the chapel, the tomb of Philippe de Pot; a 1993 copy (guarded
by Nazgul?); the original is in the Louvre

Original tile in chapel

In the great hall

One of many helpful models

In one of the sleeping chambers

The decor varies from Medieval to 19th century, reflecting the long
habitation in the chateau

Superb interpretive signage throughout, although
not always in English; but the French is straightforward
enough to follow; 70% of English derives from French,
don't you know?

A bit of the 16th century Moses tapestry

In the lord's bedchamber

Defensible garderobe

Unadorned bits; service areas?

More of the Moses tapestry...presentation of the infant
Moses

Elsewhere in the castle, an impressive display on the
castle's history, as told through archival holdings

For example

And now in the castle museum, with more displays on its development

And on some of its more important residents

Well pleased with our visit, we stayed in the town camping

aire and then drove on the next day, having a look at the 

Burgundy canal, one of France's many 18th-19th century canals