Santenay / Montceau-les-Mines

Leaving Santenay, with lovely views of vine-covered hills spurring you on, this EuroVelo 6 stage leads you gently along beside the Canal du Centre. You’ll encounter anglers and boating parties, perhaps exchanging a friendly wave. You cross through a traditional, unspoilt, rural part of Burgundy heading for Montceau-les-Mines. The way is calm, dotted with little locks and picturesque villages. Although you may spot the odd vestige of an industrial site recalling bygone days, today this is a really delightful stage that provides a mix of countryside, industrial heritage transformed, and wonderful tranquillity. Montceau-les-Mines, as the name implies, was a town built to serve local mining; now, its cultural dynamism and dedicated canal-side facilities come as a nice surprise.

The Route

First, a stretch of greenway beside the Canal du Centre leads you from Santenay to Saint-Léger-sur-Dheune. Then, from Saint-Léger-sur-Dheune up to St-Bérain-sur-Dheune, much of the way is along further greenways, except where you enter and exit the two villages, where you have to ride along stretches shared with motorized traffic. 
After St-Bérain-sur-Dheune, there’s a very well-shaded stretch of canal, taking cyclists through the countryside, up to the Forges de Perreuil. EuroVelo 6 temporarily distances itself from the Canal du Centre, which it rejoins some 2km further on, before St-Julien-sur-Dheune, to follow a stretch on greenway up to a lake, the Étang de Montchanin. 
At the level of the watershed dividing waters flowing off to the Atlantic from those heading south for the Mediterranean, you join the D974 road running beside the Canal du Centre up to Blanzy. 
To reach the centre of Montceau-les-Mines, follow the signposting in place. 

Links
On the Itinérance Verte in Autunois-Morvan near Santenay
On the Tour de Bourgogne à Vélo near Santenay

Don't miss

• Santenay: the elegant Burgundy village; the thermal spa; a dozen wine climats (very specific Burgundy geographical, graded, small-scale wine areas) classed as premiers crus (producing top-notch Burgundy wines); the Moulin Sorine, a mill; the Mont de Cène hill; the église Saint-Jean de Narosse (a church)
• Saint-Léger-sur-Dheune: halte nautique, with all the facilities for boats, plus facilities dedicated to cyclists 
• St-Bérain-sur-Dheune: two shaded picnic areas 
• Ecuisses: the Villa Perrusson, an opulent 19th-century manufacturing family’s home, decorated with ceramics and tiles that their company produced (close to the train station)
• Blanzy: Musée de la Mine, covering the long coal-mining traditions in these parts
• Montceau-les-Mines: the Parcs Miniers Maugrand et Saint-Louis, two adjoining public gardens created over former mine shafts; the Musée de l’École, on schools of yesteryear; the Lavoir des Chavannes, an industrial coal washing house being restored