Montbard

Attractions in this modest town on the banks of the Brenne River include an Ursuline convent that’s been converted into a Musée des Beaux-Arts and the lovely Parc Buffon. The gardens of the latter were planted on the site of an ancient château by Georges-Louis Leclerc de Buffon (the Count of Buffon), an important scientist and naturalist who influenced Charles Darwin. Just outside town, the work of another man—St. Bernard—draws visitors to the 12th-century Abbaye de Fontenay.