If you're travelling south from Auxerre and want a break from the main roads, head along the D163, a twisting minor road which follows the course of the River Yonne through a score of peaceful rural villages. Several have places both to stay and eat, making for a much more restful overnight stop than the towns.VAUX and ESCOLIVES-STE-CAMILLE, the first villages you come to, both have attractive Romanesque churches. VINCELOTTES and IRANCY, on the opposite bank of the river, are flower-decked and picturesque: Irancy produces the only red wine in this area, much loved by Louis XIV, while Vincelottes was the port for shipping it. a nice place to stay is Le Castel, a chambre d'hôte on place de l'Église in MAILLY-LE-CHÂTEAU, a further 10km along the river (tel 03.86.81.43.06, fax 03.86.81.49.26; €55–70; mid-March to mid-Nov), which offers an excellent table d'hôte for €27, including wine). The main part of the village is on high ground above the river, but there's also a lovely riverside quarter, with ancient houses huddling under cliffs. Half a dozen kilometres further upstream, more cliffs (the Rochers du Saussois) flank the east bank of the river. About 50m high, they are a series of broken rock walls, ideal for rock climbing – which is indeed what they are used for, with routes of all sorts of different grades. From here south to Clamecy, the river is at its most attractive, becoming more and more of a mountain stream.
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