The snail of Bourg retains much of its mystery as to its use. Located in the middle of vineyards in the 1860s and 1880s, close to winegrowers' huts, this snail, which has now largely collapsed, had a unique feature: it was vaulted on the inside to form a shelter that communicated with the outside on the valley side through a small arched door. It is not impossible that this snail is the representation of one of the last vineyard burons, such as can still be found in the Aube region, embellished in the fashion of the time by an enveloping spiral on the outside. In this way, this hybrid building could have served both to protect the winegrower from the elements and to entertain him with its panoramic views from the top.
It stands at a place called "Sur les Roches Sud" on the edge of the plateau overlooking the Cherrey valley. In the past, it was reached via a steep path that climbed the vine-lined hillside known as "Devant Cherrey". Today, it can be reached either by the Morey farm road from the upper crossroads, or by the Morey road in front of the Chapelle St Nicolas, from the lower crossroads in Bourg.
Its diameter at the base is approximately 11 m and its height 4 to 5 m. On the eastern side, the base appears to be made up of gravel, while the western part rests on a bed of rock. The south side is pyramid-shaped, with a ridge to the south-west. The east and north sides are rounded. The north and west sides are crumbling. Large lava flows are found in the scree. They may have come from the summit of the Escargot. A spiral ramp can be seen on the east side. The whole is made up of large natural stones on the east side and cut stones on the pyramidal section. There is no apparent sign of any kind of shelter. However, l'Escargot has another name: "l'abri de Tonnette". The story goes that, in the 1850s or more, the caretaker of the Château de Bourg used to come there every day at midday, in his clogs, with his bugle, to tell the villagers that it was midday.
Escargot de Bourg
