The best family-friendly hikes and walks in Yonne

We walked here from Asquins. Beautiful, peaceful, and green route.

View of the bridge and the village, take the small path to go down below and reach the small stone bridge

As in probably every other profession, there are a few so-called “black sheep” among the many honorable millers in the milling trade. The popular children's book author Otfried Preußler tells the following short episode in “The Flight into Egypt”: “And they didn't even get all the way to Klostergrätz that evening, but there was a mill on their way, the monastery mill - they stayed there until the next morning. At first the monastery miller was almost shocked when the k.k. Gendarmerie knocks on his door: There had been a certain dispute with a customer last week about a few sacks of milling material which had disappeared in the mill here in a completely inexplicable way […] but it could have been that he had been reported for it anyway – and now they’re coming to pick him up… then of course all the disputed milling sacks had immediately fallen from his mind, the monastery miller, just as [sergeant] Hawlitschek was now simply asking him for a place to stay for the night.”

The view from above of the old stone bridge is worth it. You have to stop on the upper bridge.

Great section, exciting bridge and great view of Vezelay

In addition to the history of the bridge, which is named after the third American president, it also offers one of the most beautiful views of the old town of Auxerre. This is bathed in a beautiful light, especially in the morning. And all without traffic.

The "La Coulée Verte" path runs along a former ban route. For this reason it is almost flat and slightly elevated. On the bridge here you can still clearly see its original use as a railway connection. This route also takes you to the island between the Yonne and the canal. There you will find a small forest and beautiful views of the water.

The skipper's patron had his natural place on the banks of the Yonne river, on the very spot where the port has existed since time immemorial. The oldest charters mention the Port Saint-Nicolas. The fountain of the same name, formerly the Saint-Germain fountain, sprang up in the middle of the square, at the time when the enclosure of the city walls existed, and in the middle of this same square stood a stone cross. We can still see, at the corner of the old house n° 2, the statue of the great bishop of Myre, raised by the brotherhood of Saint-Nicolas and having at his feet a tank filled with small children who serve as his attributes. In 1339, the Book of the Hôtel-Dieu tells us that there was a Maison des Estuves or public baths in front of the Saint-Germain fountain. In 1626, the port of Saint-Nicolas was the scene of a violent tumult caused by the high cost of grain. A lady Noubert, from Dijon, who was driving two boats laden with wheat to Paris, was arrested at Auxerre on July 26 by the populace, who loudly demanded the sale of wheat at the market price. The provost, not knowing how to stop the riot, sanctioned the demands of the inhabitants and had the wheat sold. But Dame Noubert assigned the aldermen of Auxerre to the Parliament of Paris. We do not know the outcome of this case. The fountain supplied the district with drinking water until 1783. In 1909, the stone basin which adorned the square of the large fountains (Charles Surugue square) was installed in this square where it can still be seen. http://auxerre.histoire.free.fr/Ville/quartier_saint_germain/place_saint_nicolas.htm