A view of the Arrière-Côte de Nuits from the start at Étang-Vergy

Head to Étang-Vergy. Park in the car park of the old station, at the junction of the D35 and D116a, at the north-north-eastern entrance to the village.

(S/E) Set off with your back to the station to reach the junction of the D35 and D116a. Enter the village via the Grande Rue. When you reach the junction of Rue de Beaune and Rue de Bévy, turn right onto the D109b towards Bévy, following the^GR®7, marked in red and white.

(1) Walk up to the church. In front of it, turn left onto Chemin de la Croix. At the last house, after a right-hand bend, the road turns into a stony track. Pass under a medium-voltage power line. Continue straight ahead along this path, then the^GR®-marked track, until you reach the D109b. Turn left.

(2) Walk carefully alongside this road to reach Bévy and Rue de la Vigne au Roy. Go a few metres past the Route de Messanges, at the crossroads by the Town Hall, then turn left.

(3) Head down the dirt track to pass to the right of a building, next to a sign prohibiting all motorised vehicles and motorcycles. The path then becomes a track that descends and climbs through the undergrowth, keeping to the right. It emerges at the edge of fields and then runs alongside blackcurrant bushes. Head towards the bell tower of Collonges-lès-Bévy to reach the village.

(4) At the junction with the D109b, turn left onto the road to Bouloy and continue to the crossroads with the D109. Turn left onto Rue Haute towards Messanges and Nuits-Saint-Georges. You will arrive at Place du Tilleul, where a lime tree planted in the late^16th century stands. At the next junction, keep left, continuing in the same direction. Position yourself facing the château.

(5) Walk back a few steps to the previous junction and turn left onto the D109b towards Meuilley via Rue Basse. Leave the^GR® and the D109b here and go straight on into the cul-de-sac of Chemin de la Croix du Bois. Follow the white gravel path up to the last house and continue straight ahead along the path until you reach the D109 at the top of the hill. Keep left.

(6) Turn around to admire the view. Further on, in a slight right-hand bend, on the left-hand side of the road, there is a megalithic cist. Continue along the road. Take the first path on the right, line 19, which climbs through the woodland, then turn left immediately afterwards. Follow this path all the way to its end, a wide, open crossroads of tracks. Turn left.
At the next junction, just a short distance away, keep to the right to continue through the woodland. At the following junction, turn sharply left to go up a path, line 8, and reach a picnic area situated around the Chêne Marchand.

(7) Cross the D109 and take the woodland path leading off to the right of the car park. It curves slightly to the right at a crossroads of tracks, then crosses a narrow path and a wider track. Cross the latter and head straight ahead along a path. A few dozen metres further on, it joins a track suitable for vehicles. Continue along this track. It crosses a path and then curves to the left at a clearing to pass between a spring and a pond.

(8) In an open area, on the left a spring has been walled in and channelled by a fine structure made of lava stone; on the right is a semi-circular pond enhanced by a structure of the same style. Follow the stony path until it joins a local road. Turn right, go round a wide bend to the left and take the second path on the left, heading towards the forest. After crossing a clearing, it leads into the woods. Go round the obstacles on the left to reach a wider, clearer forest path. When you reach a stone marker on the right, turn left, line 4.

(9) After a few metres, you’ll reach a hunting lookout; turn right here. Continue along this path, which curves to the left and then runs alongside the village road (guide on the right). It crosses a woodland path very close to a second hunting hide and ends after a third hide on a path that branches off to the left and heads deep into the forest. Continue straight ahead, ignoring the side paths, until you reach the D25.

(10) Cross the main road in a straight line to find the path continuing from the previous section, behind some hazel bushes. Follow it down to a T-junction of tracks. Turn left. Head down into the valley floor. Keep to the left on the same path. After a junction of tracks, it climbs slightly. When you reach a fork, continue to the left, ignoring the yellow markings. It eventually leads out onto the D25.

(11) Turn right onto the main road, taking care. It forms a wide left-hand bend, then a slight right-hand curve. At the start of a second right-hand bend, after a field on the left, turn sharply left onto the white, stony track.

(12) A little further on, keep to the left to reach the edge of the field, so that you can walk up the right-hand side until you enter the woodland. The path then becomes a track. Continue straight ahead until you reach a sharp bend to the left. Then turn right onto a path signposted: Chevannes via the wash house.
It winds its way down quite steeply until it reaches the pumping station, then the Chevannes wash house.

(13) Restored wash house with a pretty stone arch bridge. Follow the white path towards the village centre. When you reach Place de la Margelle, turn left to head up Rue du Lavoir via La Hulottière.
Turn right at the junction with the D109b, then, once past the church, take Rue des Arnottes immediately on the left; this is the^GR®7again. As you leave the built-up area, leave the^GR® which heads off to the left, and continue straight ahead on the main road until the first junction with a white path branching off to the right. Turn right.

(14) Climb slightly to admire the 180° view to your left. At the next junction, keep right to pass between two vineyards. Another panoramic view, this time from the other side of the hill. After skirting the vineyards, the path enters the Meuilley forest and becomes a narrow track. Keep to the right and then head straight ahead downhill. As you emerge from the woods, vineyards reappear on both sides of the path. Continue in this direction until you reach a fork. Keep left.

(15) Continue along the vineyards, keeping to the left. At the next crossroads, go straight ahead, ignoring the main path which heads uphill to the left. At the end of the vineyards, before the woods, turn right onto a narrow path that passes under a pine tree. Head down the wasteland, then follow a vineyard on the left to reach a stony path which starts here from a road.

(16) Head up this path on the left. It continues to the first houses of Messanges. At the junction with the Route des Gamaires leading to the village, turn right to head down it and join the D35.
Turn left towards Sombernon, then right at the junction with the C10 towards Segrois to pass Le Moulin Chevalier. Halfway to Segrois, turn left onto a field path towards Curtil-Vergy.

(17) Follow this track up until it joins Rue des Frères Gauthey in Curtil. Turn left to reach the wayside shrine. Turn left again, then take the first right onto Rue de l’Abbaye Saint-Vivant, stopping at the fire hydrant (to the left of the road). Just past this point, head left up the steep slope (^GR® signposted) which leads into a vineyard; follow the vineyard to the right to reach the top of the climb opposite the ruins of the Abbey. Walk a few metres up the white path and turn left at the signpost towards Étang-Vergy via the^GR®7.

(18) The path overlooks a vineyard track on the left and, after passing a vineyard, joins a woodland path. Turn right (^GR® markings). You’ll emerge into open ground with a stunning panoramic view of L’Étang-Vergy, Messanges and Collonges-Lès-Bévy. Head towards the church steeple to descend towards L’Étang-Vergy. Cut across a stony path by heading straight ahead (^GR® signposting). When you reach the first houses, take the street on the left and then the first on the right. You’ll arrive at the junction of Rue de Beaune and Rue de Bévy.

(1) Turn right to reach the station car park via the Grande Rue (S/E).

Walking sticks are recommended for the ascents and descents in wet weather.
A picnic table under the lime tree in Collonges-Lès-Bévy.
Picnic area in the Collonges-Lès-Bévy forest, at a place called Le Chêne Marchand (3 tables).
Benches along the Myon circular route, in the Meuilley forest.

- Numerous panoramic viewpoints just before Bévy, on the heights of Collonges-lès-Bévy, on the heights of Chevannes (two slopes), on the outskirts of Curtil-Vergy, and on the descent on the return to L'Etang-Vergy.

- Sully lime tree in Collonges-lès-Bévy: planted at the end of the^16th century – estimated age 400 years – Height 30 m – Circumference 4.80 m. A remarkable lime tree whose origins are said to date back to a decision by Sully, minister to Henry IV and Grand Voyer of France, to have lime or elm trees planted in the villages of France in front of the church door or on the main square. Intended to provide shelter for the villagers’ meetings held after mass to discuss parish affairs. Note – Grand Voyer: a high-ranking officer of the Crown responsible for royal roads, urban planning, public squares and the beautification of towns.

- Château de Collonges-Lès-Bévy: dating from the late^17th century on the site of a little-known fortress. Built by Louis Georges de Massol. Covered with multicoloured tiles and featuring a terrace supported by a gallery pierced with large windows. Chapel and dovecote in^17th-century towers. English-style park.

- Megalithic cist: A type of small individual burial chamber in the form of a box or chest. Dating from prehistoric times, through antiquity to the Roman period. Also related to burial chambers capable of holding up to 30 bodies.

- Le Chêne Marchand: hamlet – picnic area. Remarkable tree.

- The spring and pond in the Chevannes forest:

- Chevannes wash house: restored wash house with a lava stone roof. Stone bridge spanning a stream.

- Chevalier Mill: Dating back to 1256, rebuilt four times on the River Meuzin (No. 1 from 1256 to 1410 – No. 2 from 1411 to 1499 – No. 3 from 1500 to 1709 and No. 4 from 1710 to 1910). Last milled in September 1983 by Georges Bonnard. Brought back to life in 1995 after restoration by family and friends. Open to visitors since 1999.
A 187-metre leat (a water reserve enabling the mill to operate independently of the river’s fluctuations).
At the junction with the D35, a wayside shrine erected by the miller of the time on 3 May 1864.

- Ruins of Saint-Vivant Abbey in Curtil-Vergy: A former^9th-century Benedictine abbey, dedicated to Saint Vivant of the Vendée. After its foundation by the de Vergy family, at the foot of their much-coveted Château de Vergy, it was under the authority of Saint-Bénigne Abbey in Dijon and later Cluny Abbey. One of the oldest monastic establishments in Burgundy and among the wealthiest (vineyards).