The best MTB trails around Montillot

Crescent Lake owes its name to its crescent shape. It is popular with local fishermen and also with swimmers who can visit its beach to cool off. Camping is also permitted. This lake, with its exceptionally bucolic setting, was chosen as the location in 2015 by Michel Gondry for filming his movie Microbe and Gazoil.

This church, dedicated to the Holy Cross (Latin: "Santa Croce"), derives its patronage from the cross on which Jesus Christ died. The veneration of the Holy Cross is largely based on Saint Helena, the mother of Emperor Constantine the Great (who, after his victory at the Milvian Bridge in Rome, recognized Christianity as a religion and ended the long period of persecution with the Edict of Toleration of Milan in 312). She made a pilgrimage to the Holy Land (Israel/Palestine) in the early fourth century and brought numerous relics back to Europe, including the "True Cross," on which Jesus Christ was crucified. Helena is therefore often depicted with a cross as an attribute. The Church celebrates the Feast of the Discovery, public presentation, and veneration of the Holy Cross—called the "Exaltation of the Holy Cross"—on September 14th.

There is no possibility of touring the lake by mountain bike along the banks, but rather by taking the road. However, check that the road that passes over the dam is open (temporarily closed until June 25, 2025 for us!).

Beautiful cliffs that offer sublime views

On the Cure, the very old bridge of St-Père, remodeled several times, has kept its appearance from the end of the 18th century. It is difficult to date the first stone bridge. Like the Asquins bridge, it is very important due to its history and location. A Roman bridge may have existed at St Père, each bank being bordered by a Roman road. In the Middle Ages and after, the Cure separated the Duchy of Burgundy, the County of Nevers and the royal lands and St Père was located on strategic and very busy communication routes. In addition, the town was very close to the rich abbey and basilica of Vézelay and Avallon, therefore on a famous pilgrimage route.

The cure is a river that passes not far from Vézelay. Swimming there is very pleasant!

As in probably every other profession, there are a few so-called “black sheep” among the many honorable millers in the milling trade. The popular children's book author Otfried Preußler tells the following short episode in “The Flight into Egypt”: “And they didn't even get all the way to Klostergrätz that evening, but there was a mill on their way, the monastery mill - they stayed there until the next morning. At first the monastery miller was almost shocked when the k.k. Gendarmerie knocks on his door: There had been a certain dispute with a customer last week about a few sacks of milling material which had disappeared in the mill here in a completely inexplicable way […] but it could have been that he had been reported for it anyway – and now they’re coming to pick him up… then of course all the disputed milling sacks had immediately fallen from his mind, the monastery miller, just as [sergeant] Hawlitschek was now simply asking him for a place to stay for the night.”

view with point where choir dancers can cross