We spent the next week with my sister, brother-in-law and father at a gîte in Layer Sur Roche, a tiny village about 100km north-west of Dijon.

The five bedroom converted farmhouse seemed so spacious following our previous six weeks in the camper van – although we still missed our former “home”.

According to the local mayor’s assistant, who lived next door, the population of the village was 17 and the wider district of Bissy La Coté 100. Judging by the number of people we met this might have been an overestimate! However, those that we did come across were extremely helpful and friendly.

Set in the heart of rural Burgundy, for every journey it was essential to allow extra time for the inevitable encounter with a large piece of farm machinery. The grape picking machines looked like something out of War of the Worlds with their high wheelbase and vacuum hose tentacles.

It was all vineyards and  rolling corn fields here and with no internet access I’m now playing catch up with the blog by condensing the whole week into one post.

My brother in law had hired a car so each day we would do a trip out to a different part of the region.

About 40 minutes drive away was the village of Essoyes, birthplace of Renoir’s wife Aline, and frequent subject of his paintings as he had a studio and spent most summers there.

It’s a very typical Burgundy village with a population of around 700. We had a pleasant stroll around the town and a long chat with a woman who’d retired from Paris who appreciated the quiet life – although, apparently, her husband not so much! The next day we visited Dijon to pick up my niece Hannah and her boyfriend Stefan who were arriving by train from Paris.

This is a medium-sized city with a compact, largely pedestrianised centre. The suburbs are full of fairly charmless apartments but the centre is teeming with beautiful Gothic and Renaissance buildings. Of particular note are the polychromatic roofs of glazed coloured tiles.

Driving around the centre is a bit of a challenge as you have to navigate through tramways, pedestrianised areas and one way streets.

The hired compact Peugeot was a 7 seater, but only if you replaced the boot space with the 2 extra seats. Hence the journey home with 7 plus suitcase proved to be a bit of a tight squeeze.

Wednesday started sunny and warm and we set off to visit Lac d’Orient for a picnic lunch. It was tinged with sadness as we remembered Mum, who passed away last year, and her legendary picnics.

Built in the 1960s, the lake is part of a network of four lakes called “Grand lacs de Seine” which regulate the flow of the Seine and protect Paris from flooding in winter. It’s the third largest artificial lake in France and is situated in the Parc National de Forêt d’Orient, near Troyes. With manmade sandy beaches dotted around the shores it’s a popular recreational spot for fishing, boating and swimming.

On our final day we went to Auxerre, stopping at Chateau de Tanlay on the way.

Auxerre sits on the river Yonne about 1.5hrs from Paris and is in the Burgundy wine growing region. Chablis is situated nearby.

We took the opportunity to hire a couple of little “put put” boats to take a trip on the river.

And after the stress of the cruise we needed a coffee stop.

The town itself is very attractive with Gothic and Medieval buildings standing on the steep hillside that runs down to the river Yonne. Here there are a number of canal boats moored between the two locks that bookend the town.

Although small, the town is very interesting and has a special charm about it. For me it was one of the highlights of the week and I’d highly recommend a visit.

One of the other highlights was, of course, the France German World Cup game. Strange for me as I have little interest in football but it was impossible not to get caught up in the excitement on match day. Lots of red white and blue on display including vibrant coloured wigs worn by the all the staff in the supermarket.

This was a great talking point with the locals and we vowed to be supporters that night – England had long gone. Sadly victory never came to “Les Bleus” but, like many things, the locals seemed to shrug it off without too much pain and the national psyche remained firmly intact.

Cette région me semblait très différent que celle des autres régions que nous avions visitées. C’est une région vraiment rurale et très isolée, à l’exception des grandes villes comme Dijon. En plus d’être une région viticole énorme, agriculture est au cœur de la region. Le rythme de vie est plus lent et avec les petite rues rurales et les grosses machines agricoles on dois “chill” pour profiter de cette nouvelle style de vie.