On the Paris–Sens–Dijon train route, TONNERRE is a useful, though not that inspiring, starting point for exploring this corner of the region. A run-down little town that has clearly not enjoyed the same prosperity as its neighbour Chablis, it has as its principal sight the vast and well-conserved medieval hospital, the Hôtel-Dieu (hourly guided tours: June–Sept daily except Tues 10.30am–12.30pm & 1.30–6.30pm; April, May & Oct Sat & Sun only 1–6pm; €3.80), right on the main road in the middle of town. The late thirteenth-century building is dominated by the staggering curve of a huge boat's-keel roof in pale oak, but it's otherwise mostly empty, apart from occasional exhibitions. A gnomon line traced on the floor allowed the calculation of astronomic time, but the real draw lurks in the small chapel at the far end, where there's an expressive and realistic Entombment of Christ in the Burgundian style pioneered by Claus Sluter.A couple of blocks from the hospital, the Hôtel d'Uzès saw the birth of Tonnerre's quirkiest claim to fame, an eighteenth-century gentleman with the fittingly excessive moniker Charles-Geneviève-Louis-Auguste-André-Timothé Déon de Beaumont (b.1728). He tickled his contemporaries' prurience by going about his important diplomatic missions for King Louis XV dressed in women's clothes. His act was so convincing that while he was in London bookmakers took bets on his real sex. Oddly enough, he was also a fearsome swordsman, though history does not relate what he wore to fight in. When he died, the results of the autopsy were eagerly awaited by the gossip columnists of the day. A pleasant stroll up to the top end of town takes you to the Fosse Dionne, a curious blue-green pool encircled by an eighteenth-century lavoir, or washing place. A number of legends are attached to the pool, one of which holds that it was the lair of a ferocious serpent slain by a local saint – a tale which may refer to the draining of the malarial marshes. The alarming hole at the bottom is popularly supposed to lead to hell, and divers have penetrated 360m along a narrow underwater passageway with no end in sight. Further exploration is now banned as three divers have been killed in exploration attempts. The tourist office is at 12 rue François Mitterrand (April–Oct Mon–Sat 9am–12.30pm & 2–6.30pm, Sun 10.30am–12.30pm & 2–4pm; Nov–March closed Sun; tel 03.86.55.14.48, [email protected]). The least expensive accommodation is at the Hôtel du Centre, 65 rue de l'Hôpital (tel 03.86.55.10.56, fax 03.86.51.10.63; €30–40), an old-fashioned provincial hotel with a reasonable little restaurant (menus from €12). For real luxury, try L'Abbaye Saint Michel, montée St-Michel (tel 03.86.55.05.99, fax 03.86.55.00.10; €125–150). Overlooking the pool, the Ferme de la Fosse Dionne, 11 rue de la Fosse Dionne (tel 03.86.54.82.62, www.fermefossedionne.com; €40–55), offers spotless chambres d'hôtes. The local campsite, La Cascade (tel 03.86.55.15.44; closed Oct–mid-April), is between the River Armançon and the Canal de Bourgogne.
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