a path of faith to discover

“My mother was born on August 20,” explains Jean-François Grenier. This date, which is the day of the feast of Saint Bernard (1090-1153), was therefore familiar to me. When, in 2004, I settled in Châtillon-sur-Seine to teach in a vocational high school, I put my children at Saint-Bernard school. Passionate about the monastic universe, I discovered that this establishment had been built on the site of the house where Saint Bernard lived, then the Convent of Feuillants, where this saint studied. It didn’t take any more to get started! ”

The genesis of the route

Practicing hiking and cycling, Jean-François Grenier then had the idea of drawing a path connecting both the significant places in the life of Saint Bernard and his foundations (abbeys of Clairvaux and Fontenay). He spotted the existing hiking trails (notably the GR703 and the GR213), then started, with some friends, the recognition of the route. And to those who were circumstances, he replied: “Trust and pray, like Saint Bernard!” We also have a lot to learn from trees, he taught us … “

It was to these founding pioneers, helped by the community of communes of Châtillon-sur-Seine, that we owe the route called “Saint-Bernard de Clairvaux hike”, marked and arrow of the abbey of Clairvaux in Fontenay, via Cunfin (where Saint Bernard preached under a oak and made two mirales). This path, which is 87 km, can be carried out in four stages. “We have subtitled it: a path of humility,” says Jean-François.

Solidarity and continuity

In 2019, Jean-François Grenier, then president of the hiking association Saint Bernard de Clairvaux, meeting of the members of the ACCR-BFC (Association of the Paths of Compostela and Rome-Burgundy Franche-Comté), who emit the idea of extending this path to Vézelay, where Saint Bernard presented the second crusade, in 1146.

“This route, which totals 181 km and which can be carried out in 8 stages (1),” explains Claude Censier, president of this association, has thus become a connection between the Via Francigenafrom the abbey of Clairvaux, and the Vézelay route to Saint-Jacques-de-Compostela, which begins in Vézelay. ”

Little by little, the path is structured: improvement of markings, collection of GPX traces, hosting of accommodation and implementation of a pilgrims’ reception network. “It is with great motivation that the ACCR-BFC contributed to making this beautiful path known,” says Claude Censier.

Saint Bernard, path guide

As for the ambition of this route, which was to make the life of Saint Bernard better known, the bet is held. There are indeed the high places of this path which carry its memory.

The Abbey of Clairvaux, first of all, founded in 1115 by this saint, which became the first abbot. “I advise hikers to go to the Saint-Bernard of Clairvaux barn, a few hundred meters from the abbey, where the Convers brothers lived. Now it is the seat of Cistercian laity. You can sing the offices with them and see a superb exhibition, ”says Jean-François Grenier.

A second Cistercian barn (known as “de Beaumont”), very well restored, is also visible in a private property, in Riel-les-Eaux (Côte-d’Or). “But before,” notes Claude Censier, it is advisable to stop in the Saint-Maurice church, in Cunfin, where a statuary group recalls the two miracles operated by the saint: by making a sign of the cross, he returned to a young blind man and straightened a woman with a birthday. “

Other representations of Saint Bernard can also be admired in the form of statues (collegiate church in Montreal, Vézelay basilica), or stained glass (épisees church). Finally, we can meditate with the relics of the saint in the churches of Riel-les-Eaux (Saint-Bernard) and Châtillon-sur-Seine (Saint-Vorles).

“Nature, adds Jean-François Grenier, is up to the expectations of the pilgrim: from the Grange de Fontenay, we have a superb panorama on the forest which extends as far as the eye can see. The Touillon valley, where a beautiful dovecote stands, is another nugget: I even saw a black stork! ”

Ready for discovery?

You can, of course, walk individually in the footsteps of these track openers. But you can also join one of the programs they offer. Thus, Jean-François Grenier accompanies hikes for 5 or 6 people two weekends per year: one in mountain biking, the other on foot. As for the ACCR-BFC, it organizes steps for a dozen people every two years. The latter took place in 2021, 2023, and June 2025.

“Having done the entire route with this association, comments Valérie Rousselet, health executive, I was amazed by the beauty of the landscapes and the serenity of these moments. No doubt: we find his way in walking! Living in Dijon, I very often saw the statue of Saint Bernard on the place dedicated to him. Now I know him from the inside: he has become a guide for me. So why go get to the end of the world what we can find here? ”

1. These 8 stages are: Clairvaux – Cunfin (18.3 km); Cunfin-Chatillon-sur-Seine (33 km); Chatillon-sur-Seine-Vaugims (25.3 km); VAUGMAIM – Montbard via Fontenay (19.5 km); Montbard-Fain-les-Moutiers via Saint-Just (18.3 km); Fain-le-Moutiers-Guillon via Moutiers-Saint-Jean (20 km); Guillon – Avallon (28.6 km); Avallon – Vézelay (18 km).