Le Château de Bazoches sits magnificently on a hillside with views to Vézelay, 12km to the north. Built in the 13th century and visited by royalty including Richard the Lionheart, it was acquired by field marshal and military strategist Marquis de Vauban in 1675. The château displays a decent collection of 17th- and 18th-century paintings and furniture.
The real appeal for French history buffs will be the chance to see the very room where Vauban, the most acclaimed military architect of his time, drafted plans for 300 fortified towns all over France. The château is still owned by his descendants.
