Waters and Wines of North Burgundy. Joigny

By bufo_raddei, 28/10/2022 08:33

Our travel started in Joigny, a small town on the banks of the Yonna river.

Well, it started actually in Paris, where we came by plane, and from where took the train to Joigny. Note to the traveller – if you are going from Paris to some small place in Burgundy – look for your train on Bercy Gare, which is near the Lyon Gare.

In Joigny we came in the very late afternoon, but still had a couple of hours to walk around the town. And we also had some time the next day morning, because we can get our barge only after 2 pm. All this time we spend walking around Joigny, and the town is worth all this time. It is beautiful.
Our apartment was within a stone’s throw from Yonna, and we went to the river bank, just dropping the luggage.

The old town on the other side of the river.

The town is really old. It was founded during Roman times in IV century AD, and named after Roman prefect Flavius Jovinus, who founded it.

Old town and it’s reflection in Yonna.

The hills above the town are all covered with vineyards. They are the first Burgundy vineyards (if you are coming from Paris). Now they are few in numbers (the consequence of phylloxera epidemy in the XIX century), but before they were numerous, and from Medieval times wine from these vineyards charged the cellars of Parisians. The Yonna meets the Siena, and the waterway was the most efficient transport way before railways were built (this is the reason why all these canals were built). But about Burgundy wine, I will talk separately.

The barge mooring. Our coming barge is the second from the left.

Here it is.

On the riverside we crossed paths with a local lady, who, looking at our photography agiotage, started to tell us, how Joigny is beautiful, and how she enjoyed it every day. I completely understand her.

Across the bridge into old town.

Streets of old town.

At the end of the X century count of Sens fortified the town. North gate from the town side.

From the outside.

This gate is called Wood Gate (Porte du Bois), it is built in the XII century. Wood from the nearby forest was delivered into the town through this gate. Oak was used for wine barrel making, and also was delivered to Paris.

Behind the gate. Vineyards on the hills.

Just behind the gate public washhouse locates. Since Middle Ages, such washhouses have been in every French settlement. This one was locked, but I will show you another one later.

This street goes back to Yonna around the old town.

The best way to prevent access to the river – overgrown it with nettle.

And the bridge again. It is also not young. It was built in 1420 and is still in perfect condition.

The bridge in the dusk.

Back to the streets. The square with an old fountain.

And modern copper tree.

With stunning details.

The house of Burgundian Carlsson.

Porte Saint-Jean, the gate to the saint John Church (Église Saint-Jean de Joigny) on the top of the town.

The view to the church through the gate.

Anf from another side.

The church inside is very simple and severe, but stained-glass windows are rich.

The view through the gate from the church.

Through the gate you can see this timber-framed house. There are plenty of such houses here. I like them very much.

This is a very unusual timber-framed house – Pillory (XVI century). It is decorated with carvings and tiles.

This timber-framed house has the Tree of Jesse.

Back to the town top.

Still on the top. Well, you cannot knock words out of a song. it was the only place in the town (except bakeries, they open at 5 am), that works on Monday morning.

There is a nice view of the vineyards from the cemetery.

To the cemetery we came looking for the winery. It was my epic fail with local wineries in Joigny. It was a wine journey, and Burgundy is a wine lover’s haven, so in every place, I selected some wineries to try the very local wine. And we did it everywhere, except Joigny. Of course, we tried local wine here, but not from the winemaker’s hands. I selected three interesting wineries, two outside the town, and one just inside. I tried to contact them in different ways but without any success. In the town winery, I decided to walk in, because we browsed the town anyway. We found it. Should be open according to the doorplate. No answer to the door ring, no answer to the phone call. A Neighbour lady started to worry about us (I don’t know what is the origin of the common opinion that Frenchmen are rude and unkind to foreigners, I always meet very kind people), call to the owners by private phone, and find out that they on the vineyard, and we can try wine, but only in the afternoon. It was too late, in the afternoon we should be on the boat.

More town streets.