Pernand-Vergelesses to Prémeaux-Prissey - Route des Grands Crus

Start: Car park in Pernand-Vergelesses.

(S) After parking in the central Pernand-Verglesses car park, on exiting turn left at the main roundabout then left and right up into the village past the former public washing place and into Rue St Germain heading up to the church.

(1) At the top in Rue du Paulant go right of the church and there you pick up yellow and red (YR) signs for starting this section of the Route des Grands Crus (RDGC). Soon turn uphill into the vineyards and continuing on Rue du Paulant you reach a grey metal gate for the cemetery. Here at a staggered junction go across the road and turn sharp right to begin your route anti-clockwise round the oval shape of the woods .

Note for those who did the section 4 to Aloxe-Corton via Pernand already you could take a short cut here to avoid repeating your steps by going left at the cemetery and doing a short clockwise walk round the top of the woods to rejoin the RDGC at the North end of the woods.

After a sharp right at the cemetery proceed anticlockwise around the woods on the RDGC and you will see a red and yellow marked left turn along what becomes a concrete road.

(2) Take this and proceed. Note the cross with views over vineyards. Continue past the cross then turn left at the sign-posted arrow to continue round the woods towards Magny-lès-Villers (not down to Aloxe-Corton as in Walk 4)

At the top of the woods you will see a yellow way mark sign to Magny, take this. Continue for ½ km on the track and then take the YR marked turn right into the woodland and combe area and follow regular YR signs - mostly straight on through the woods and then after a couple of right turns reach an unmarked fork - take left fork. Then go steeply down a possibly slippery section. Emerge eventually from the woods and follow signs; walk towards Magny past benches for snacks or lunch then a football pitch and reach a T junction.

(3) Turn left, following the YR sign (and ignoring a road sign for the RDGC to the right) keep following the YR signs through the village until you reach Chemin de Foigery and you will see a Private Road sign. Proceed through here and emerge into open fields to see Villers-La-Faye in the distance on your right and also over to your right is the main D115 route up Villiers on which is a tiny chapel – Notre Dame de Bonheur.

Follow the path from Chemin de Foigery North till a right turn takes you toward the chapel. Then follow the YR signs up into the village of Villiers via Rue de Chateau and (noting a YR sign) along Rue de l' Ancienne Cure, passing at various points the Chateau and Marie and briefly the Grand Rue close to Eglise Saint-Victor, eventually arriving at the village centre.

(4) There are several routes through the village from here - some up Mont St Victor and some along its side. The RDGC route goes up Mont St Victor from near the end of Rue de l'Ancienne Cure, climbing on a pleasant road through the trees, via the cemetery at the top and then down to the loop round the fields - see below.

Or you can go through the village of Villers in our route by going around the side of Mont St-Victor along Route de Corgoloin, briefly leaving it by looping round in fields and woods until you arrive again at the Route de Corgoloin at a Cross – the D115 road out east of Villiers.

(5) Go straight across the main road and follow the RDGC path North from here for about 1 Km, passing along the way Route de Comblanchien, joining Route de Chaux road at a fork with a Cross, and ignoring a small path to the right soon after the fork, continue to walk along this road between vineyards until you reach a turning point near woods.

(6) Turn right off the road into the woods and follow the path through the woods for about 1 Km South until you progress through the rock at the Combe, joining a road.

(7) Turn left onto the road and follow the route north of the quarry through the Forest of Comblanchien straight on for half a km until you turn right and after the path zig zags through several right-angled turns you emerge from the woods with vineyards on your right to come down to reach a T-junction at the bottom.

(8) Turn left at the T-junction and follow YR signs on the track, ignoring the right fork, proceed to the junction with rocks on the left and a wall on the right and walk straight on, following YR signs as usual. Proceed to the end point by reaching a junction with RDGC straight on but you take the right-hand route directly down into Prémeaux-Prissey. As you reach the bottom at the D974 turn left then right for the church and finish the walk.(E)

Access to start: Access is via car to the car park in Pernand-Vergelesses.

Transport:
Start: Bus to Aloxe-Corton or Ladoix and walk up to Pernand.
End: The return at the end to Pernand could be to retrace your steps, or take a bus from Prémeaux-Prissey, Aloxe or Ladoix-Serrigny down the D974 and then walk over to Pernand.

Note: This walk is part of the 8-walk series along the whole of the Côte d'Or and you can find more information on the Route des Grands Crus as a whole in the Walk 1 of the series including more about signage, wine tasting etc

Although the quarry itself is massive and one might argue unattractive you don't actually go through it and it has an interesting geology of pink veined marble / limestone which has been used extensively in many famous buildings , for example in the Paris Opera building