Our office in Burgundy Our office in AutunWho are we
   

Agence Prunier
13, avenue Charles de Gaulle
71400 AUTUN
Phone.  03 85 52 30 47
Fax  03 85 52 68 16
Email: info@maisons-bourgogne.fr



Burgundy, a land of welcome


Burgundy, a region well-known for its vineyards and world-famous wines, extends from Beaune to Nevers, from Macon to Sens if one is obliged to give it borders, but as Canon Chantre said, "Burgundy has a centre but no periphery." It is a land of welcome: "one is not born Burgundian, but becomes so."
It includes numerous classified sites, four natural reserves, and five biological reserves. It contains a rich diversity of plant and animal life. Burgundy owes its name to the Burgondes, from the Baltic coast, who invaded and settled in the region in the 5th century A.C.


The Morvan, a climatic crossroads


The Morvan, which means "black mountain" in Gaelic, is a granite range at the heart of the region, spanning all four administrative departments of the region: Saône et Loire, Côte d'Or, Nièvre and Yonne.  From Avallon in the north, the Morvan range rises progressively towards the south until Mount Beuvray and Mount Haut-Folin.  Its height ranges between 400 and 600m, reaching a maximum of 901m at Haut-Folin.

The climate is oceanic in the west and the north-west.  Rain is stopped by the peaks (Mount Haut-Folin 901m, Mount Prénelay, 855m and Mount Beuvray 821m).  The climate undergoes a Mediterranean influence in the south and the south-east, but is continental in the north-east.

The well-known "roof of the world", dear to Henri Vincenot, famous Burgundian’s writer, is in the north-east.  In fact the sill of Burgundy is in the region of Pouilly en Auxois, at an altitude of 450m. From this point, water flows towards the Mediterranean by the Ouche, the Saône and the Rhône; towards the Atlantic by the Arroux and the Loire; and towards the Channel by the Armançon, the Yonne and the Seine.

The Morvan regional nature park was established in 1970 and includes a total of 72 thousand inhabitants in an area of 289 thousand hectares.  It includes 106 "communes".

Houses are often of dark granite, with slate roofs. The fronts of stable-barns are protected from rain by projecting roofs.  Dwellings are grouped in small hamlets, known as "huis".  A typical house of the region consists of one communal room above which are the barn and the hayloft, access to which is by means of an external stair.