Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
blockbelowtheTIonRueVoltaire,tel.0380962493,mobile0611890466,
www.ange-
Eating:
La Grange
(“The Barn”) serves cheap, farm-fresh fare, including luscious
quiche, salads,
plats du jour
, fresh cheeses, pâtés, and delicious fruit pies (April-mid-Oct
daily 12:30-18:00; mid-Oct-Nov & Feb-March open Sun only; closed Dec-Jan; across
from church, look for brown doors and listen for lunchtime dining, tel. 03 80 35 81 78).
Le Restaurant de l'Abbaye,
located just above the parking lot, is a good choice
for traditional dishes, with pleasant indoor and outdoor seating and reasonable prices (€15
lunch
menu
, €29 for dinner, daily, Place des Fossés, tel. 03 80 96 27 77).
TheentireensembleofbuildingscomposingthisisolatedCistercianabbey,rated
▲▲
,has
survived, giving visitors perhaps the best picture of medieval abbey life in France. In the
Middle Ages, it was written, “To fully grasp the meaning of Fontenay and the power of its
beauty, you must approach it trudging through the forest footpaths...through the brambles
and bogs...in an October rain.” Those arriving by car will still find Fontenay's secluded
setting—blanketed in birdsong, and with a garden lovingly used “as a stage set”—truly
magical.
