Bjergevej

Sublime panorama over the countryside of Bligny-sur-Ouche, mills and tourist railway, that’s the trio offered by the mountain path. Here, tranquility reigns over the countryside of pre-modernity. The bocage draws lines that delineate the fields and small groves. It is a true haven of peace for wild fauna. So keep your eyes open!

(Female Voice: Béatrice BOURÉLY)

01. Bligny-sur-Ouche

Bligny sur Ouche... 2 minutes stop. You will need more to appreciate this beautiful village nestled in the Ouche Valley. Peaceful Ouche Valley at the heart of which we welcome you, especially on the Mountain Path. A trail of 10 km 700. The hiking loop encircles like a rampart, a micro valley of two square kilometers. This rampart is the mountain of Nuas. From the height, the panoramas are sublime over the countryside of Bligny-sur-Ouche, over the villages of Vic-des-Prés and Ecutigny. Bligny-sur-Ouche is therefore our starting point with its upper part dominated by the church and its lower part with its mills along the Ouche. The link between the two is the imposing town hall built in 1837, which symbolized at that time a prosperous town where exchanges were important. It is therefore not surprising to encounter on this circuit a whole heritage related to travel and transportation. At the forefront, there is the former coaching inn of the Three Pheasants. Dear to the inhabitants of Bligny, its name proudly written in Gothic letters on the facade above the coach door, so aptly named in such places. A little further along, the level-crossing keeper's house and the neighboring metal footbridge discreetly recall the Epinac - Pont d'Ouche railway line, closed in 1968. From this line, the fourth established in France between 1829 and 1835, the Bligny - Pont d'Ouche section has been recreated for the operation of the tourist railway of the Ouche valley inaugurated in the summer of 1978. This railway constitutes one of the important tourist assets of this corner of Côte-d'Or. Unrelated to travel but rather a witness to sedentary life, another heritage can be found after the bridge over the Ouche. Recently renovated, visit the washhouse with its three-sloped roof slanting towards the washing basin. At the center of the hamlet, the well is topped by a cross erected in 1750 by a certain “de Gagniard, bourgeois of Bligny”. It is now located on Rue des Jonquilles, a name recently assigned by the obligation to identify the streets of villages and hamlets. Inspired by the local flora, this pretty name may not have been chosen long ago when the cultivation of hemp dominated all around Bligny where a museum retraces the history of this plant and its various uses. Don't hesitate if you feel like it and have a good trip.

02. The Ouche Valley

Quickly, the path climbs the mountain winding among witness hills that form four mounds. The presence of Montot (464m), Les Chatelets (471m), En Cruot (502m), and La Planaise (402m) recalls the distant marine past of the region and the effects of millions of years of erosion on the lower Jurassic marls that make up the subsoil. The climb will be tough, but it should be appreciated. Enjoy some breaks to observe the summits of the Morvan to the east, barely more than thirty kilometers away. This green and humid region literally contrasts with the typical limestone landscape of the upper Ouche valley. The granitic soils that dominate the Morvan offer two famous peaks: Mont Beuvray and Haut Folin, at 900 and 821 meters, respectively. Just after point 3, on your right opens a small pocket of greenery carved by a tributary of the Ouche that flows intermittently at the bottom of the depression. The valley you have in sight is truly isolated. Surrounded by walls a hundred meters high, only cattle breeding is possible here. A small barely-drivable road allows access nonetheless. Far removed from the roadways serving Bligny-sur-Ouche, tranquility reigns here over the countryside of pre-modernity. The bocage draws lines that delineate the fields and small groves thicken the line in some places. It is a true haven of peace for wild fauna. Keep your eyes open!

03. The mountain of Nuas

A little more courage. Soon there will be reward for you. Before arriving at Nuas, the vegetation becomes drier and it is clear that you have reached a plateau. You have arrived on the Bajocian limestone. Without knowing it, perhaps, you have just crossed the boundary between two geological layers dated at -175 million years by passing from the lower Jurassic (marls) to the middle Jurassic (limestone). In just a few strides, you have just crossed several million years of the earth’s evolution. More resistant to erosion than the marls just climbed, it is to this limestone that we owe the existence of the mountain of Nuas and the other witness hills in the area. On your left, moreover, before reaching Nuas, other witness hills rise in the landscape. The main hill, called “above the crais”, evokes the nature of the soil at the top of the hill. The term “crais” often used in the region evokes poor and stony soils. Once on the mountain, you can catch your breath. Above all, appreciate the landscape before descending towards the Ouche and civilization. For the most attentive, some rocky outcrops will be detectable during the descent, allowing you to appreciate the texture and color and perhaps even a fossil of these Bajocian limestones.

04. A well-preserved train

We mentioned it at the beginning of the hike, enthusiasts have been working for nearly 40 years to reopen a railway line between Bligny and Pont d'Ouche. Today, it hosts the tourist train of the Ouche valley inaugurated in the summer of 1978. A perfect opportunity to admire the station of Bligny-sur-Ouche. The passenger building constructed in 1905 is remarkable with its characteristic PLM (Paris Lyon Méditerranée) style. Windows with curved lintels, blue enamel plates with white letters identifying the different spaces, large clock, and altitude engraved on the southern corner wonderfully recall a still-close past. Only the glass roof attached to this building is missing to fully recover the original atmosphere also so present in the neat little cabin of the toilets, essential facilities when the wagons were devoid of them. Away from it all, according to the customs of the PLM company, the goods shed no longer knows any transshipment. Beyond, however, two recent hangars make up the rolling stock depot, including the Couillet steam locomotive 030 T 1586 from 1910 classified as Historical Monuments. Faithful to its original route, this railway line takes the Ouche valley from Bligny to Pont-d'Ouche, the initial terminal of a line designed to transport coal from the Epinac mines to the barges navigating on the Burgundy canal. This circuit therefore finds the tracks at Oucherotte where it crosses them by a “level crossing without barrier or half-barrier” according to the regulatory road sign with its silhouette of a steam train. At the crossing or more exactly just before crossing the rails, one can appreciate the quality of the masonry work channeling the stream below the embankment of the railway line. And before departing and leaving the Ouche valley, we can only invite you to take a ride on the tourist train of the Ouche Valley. After the effort comes comfort and the pleasure this time to let yourself be driven!