Location & Local Info
Nearest airport: Lyon (150km).
Nearest train station: Beaune (13km).
Nearest town: Beaune (13km).
Nearest port: Calais (600km), Le Havre (500km).
Apart from the major Cote d’Or vineyards, within a 20 minute drive from the house are a golf course, a sports complex (including horse riding, tennis and archery), swimming and boating lakes, and several major canals and rivers. Beaune-Challenges airfield has micro-lites and helicopter rides (not flying near us and not at all intrusive) and Beaune is a major hot air ballooning centre.
An hour away the “Morvan” (an enormous National Park of mountains, forests, lakes and rivers) has everything for the watersport enthusiast and nature lover. The drive there has spectacular views and many hidden treasures of chateaux, small domaines and picturesque villages waiting to be discovered. The “House” book on your arrival, together with our Burgundy library and local maps, are there to enhance your local knowledge.
Corberon is a small village only 10 minutes (13 kms) east of Beaune, the capital of Burgundy wine. The village has a boulangerie, a bar restaurant, and post office. It is a thriving mixture of Beaune commuters, farmers, and local villagers. Corberon is an easy 3-hour drive from Paris, 400 miles from Calais (motorway all the way), and only 10 minutes from the Autoroute de Soleil A6 (exit Beaune).
There are daily flights from Stanstead to Lyon, St Etienne, and Geneva (all about 2hrs away) and frequent TGV trains from Paris or Lille to Dijon. All the major Grand Crus vineyards of the Cote d’Or, Challonaise, and Maconnais are within an easy drive. Lyon, Geneva, and the ski slopes are less than 2 hours away.
Beaune is the capital of Burgundy wines, and is rightly world famous for its “Hotel Dieu”, the medieval infirmary with its characteristic patterned roof. It also has a splendid “Musée de Vins” housed in the old Ducal Palace. A picturesque, ramparted town, it has retained many of its cobbled streets and hidden courtyards, and an unmissable Saturday morning market. During the third weekend of November the “Fete de Vins” is held in Beaune when, for 3 days (Les Trois Glorieuses), experts from all over the globe bid at auction for the new wine. Although Beaune is touristy during the summer it still retains a charm and friendliness now becoming rare. Unlike so many seaside towns, Beaune (out of season) still has as much, if not more, to offer its visitors.
Most people know Burgundy because of its justly famous food and wine; some have even passed through it on their way south or to Switzerland or Italy, but very few actually stay and get to know this wonderful region. It therefore remains one of the few areas of France undiscovered by the tourist masses. It is probably true to say that Burgundy is the prettiest of all wine-producing areas of France. The region is crossed by a network of waterways, both natural and manmade, which wind between the woods, vineyards and rolling hills, studded with wonderful buildings that serve as a constant reminder of Burgundy’s rich and influential history.
The Duke of Burgundy’s Palace in Dijon, the fine Roman remains at Autun (reputedly the largest amphitheatre in all Gaul), the superb basilica at Vezelay, and the Abbey of Fontenay are just a few of the magnificent sites revealing a glimpse of Burgundy’s past. The various wine festivals held throughout the region have to be experienced to be believed. The two most famous are in November (Fete de Vins) and January (Tournante St Vincent), the latter being held in a different wine village each year. Good food and wine are synonymous with Burgundy.