The Regions

Franche-Comté

Franche-Comté is a small french region bordered by Switzerland to the east and Burgundy to the west. It is made up of 4 departments; the trritory of Belfort, Haute-Saône (where the Château de Nantilly is located), Doubs and Jura. This region, often underestimated, has many assets.

Nature is predominant. Franche-Comté is one of the greenest regions in France with more than 42% of its area covered in forests and woodland. It is also crossed by numerous waterways; in total 5350km of rivers and streams sweep across the countryside or form magnificent valleys and waterfalls. To give you just a few examples: The Saône, Ther Doubs, The Loue, The Lison, The Dessoubre, The Furieuse… There are equally many still-water bodies, natural or artificial lakes, 80 in all.

The extreme north of the region is covered by the Vosges mountains and the southern part by the Jura mountains; between the two lies the beautiful landscape of rolling hills and open plains.

It would be impossible to talk about Franche-Comté without mentioning its cheeses. The Montbéliard cows give their milk to help create the celebrated Mont d'Or, Morbier or Comté… Fans of good wine can accompany their meals with Jurassian wine, like the Vin Jaune du Jura (Jura's 'Yellow' wine).

Franche-Comté also contains some cities of great importance. With ties to art, literature and medicine it is the cradle of many influential people who have left their mark in history (Louis Pasteur, Gustave Courbet…); it has a very rich past.

Burgundy is one of the largest regions in France and it is made up of 4 departments: The Yonne, in the north-west (which also makes up part of the 'Bassin Parisien', the Parisian Basin), the Nievre, the Saône et Loire and the Côte d'Or which form part of Eastern France.

Many sites provide testament, even today, to the glorious history of this region. After all it is in Burgundy where the famous Alésia (of the Siege of Alesia) is situated, where the two Benedictine monasteries of Cluny and, later, Cîteaux were founded and where the Dukes of the house of Valois prospered in the XVth century.

While Burgundy attracts numerous lovers of art and history it also attracts lovers of wine. Mersault, Pommard, Nuits-Saint-Georges, Chambolle-Musigny… these are just a few names that surely mean something to connoisseurs of good wine.

But whoever likes to drink good wine must surely seek to accompany it with good cuisine and of this Burgundy offers plenty; after all, who has never heard of 'escargots de Bourgogne' (snails of Burgundy), Dijon mustard or of Beef Bourguignon?

From pastures where the Charolais cattle graze, via forests and woodlands, to fields full of cereal crops, Burgundy offers beautiful and varied landscapes traversed by meandering rivers and canals.