A weekend in the country, Part II

With the rental car, we were also able to drive around the countryside of Dijon. JP had recommended a beautiful former abbey called Fontenay. Jacob, Eric and I decided to go there one afternoon. The structure was no longer being used as an abbey. It had been converted in the late 1800s into a paper mill. In the early 1900s, that the current owners acquired the land and restored the buildings and grounds to their original state. It's in excellent condition, partly because it had been used as a paper mill, which kept it from being razed as many other religious buildings were in the wake of the Revolution.



I agree with JP. There is a feeling of immense peace that you can find sitting on the grounds and in the main church.



We also got a chance to drive through the Comte region of France and into Switzerland. Jacob discovered that his paternal forebears came from an area near Bern. We spent a really nice day driving through farm fields and vineyards. We had lunch in the shadow of a large chateau overlooking some grapevines and a beautiful lake.



Afterwards, we all lounged around in the shade of an orchard.



While we weren't able to meet up with anyone bearing Jacob's last name, some rigorous Google-searching and persistence in the face of ill-marked roads did lead us to some limited success.



On the way back, we stopped at a little restaurant in a small town close to the French border and had dinner, mostly meat and various iterations of potato.



The drive back to Paris was overcast and a little rainy. Jacob and Eric were able to be good samaritans by trying to pushstart this old couple's car.



Unfortunately, the engine had locked up. So after several minutes of pushing the car around the gas station, the owner decided to take it to a garage.

Getting back into Paris was a little less hectic than getting out. We timed our return for before the start of rush hour, which we mostly missed. However, coming back into town, we did run into this large truck carrying some really weird cargo.