Onwards we go to Beaune
Did we mention that Dijon is in the Burgundy wine region? Well, Beaune is considered the Burgundy wine capital, especially if you speak to a local! We are here for 2 nights and arrived at 1pm after a short and very comfortable 20 minute train ride. We had booked a half day bike tour of the vines starting at 2pm so we made a dash to our Ibis hotel right on the edge of Beaune's ramparts and just a 15 minute walk from the station.
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| Burgundy Vines |
A very efficient check-in, the usual bag drop and a quick change and we headed off to meet our guide Florian. What a fabulous surprise to find that we were the only people on the tour due to cancellations. A private bike tour for 2 - absolutely brilliant. We found Florian on Trip Advisor and he lived up to all of the reviews.
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| Off on our bike tour |
We got up and running and before we knew it we were riding amongst the famous vines of Burgundy. This was Caz's first time back on a bike since her "fall from grace" so we were just loving the fact that we were finally riding together again, the location was just a bit of a bonus really (yeah OK it was a huge bonus!!).
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| Views from amongst the vines |
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| Water logged vines after heavy rais |
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| Bike touring |
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| A little motor cross for us through some muddy roads....scenery is not too bad! |
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| Workman's hut - used to store tools, keep out of the weather etc |
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| Two happy cyclists :) |
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| Caves of local wine producer |
The sun was shining and the afternoon was all about the vine and the wine. Florian made some strategic stops on our tour to teach us all about the terroir, the appellations and the different classifications of the wine. He even pulled out a wine for us to taste along the way. We rode through 2 beautiful villages, Volnay and Pommard (amongst the world's most famous wine villages) and finished the afternoon with a tasting at a very small family-run winery where the grower, wine maker and cellar door sales are all handled by the one man. He presented 6 of his wines to us - all pretty yummy of course. A fantastic afternoon; another highlight of our trip. If you're ever in Beaune........
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| Burgundy vines |
The next day started off slowly with the luxury of breakfast at the hotel (brekkie has been a self-catering affair recently) then off to enjoy wandering the streets of Beaune on a gorgeous sunny day. Beaune is a small, walled town dating back to (at least) medieval times oozing with history and architectural heritage. Even though the French Revolution had a huge effect on the area (every single part of France has at least 2 significant historical eras - pre and post revolution!), much of the "old town" still stands, as do half of the ramparts and moats. This makes for a beautiful 'village', a joy just to walk the streets.
Highlights of Beaune
We felt that perhaps the people of Beaune begrudgingly tolerate tourists as they bring in so much money, daily and long-term, but you can tell they would prefer to just have a quiet lie without the inconvenience of all of the rubber-necked invaders! Didn't worry us one little bit though and we tried our very best to be apologetic non-French speaking, non-American visitors just appreciating our time there.
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| More vines |
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| And more vines...... |
We all headed for a walk amongst the vines for a few hours in the afternoon, which meant Caz felt she had earned a little local wine tasting afterwards. It seems she can adapt to the regional specialities quite easily! Many of the wine shops offer tasting of local wines for a small fee so Caz and Caron popped in to one for a generous tasting of 3 whites and 4 reds, the finest one being a 1991 vintage. All of the whites were Chardonnay and the reds Pinot Noir. You never see the grape variety mentioned on the label - you are just supposed to know based on where the wine comes from. Definitely worth learning more about the wine if you want to purchase so you know what you're getting!
Burgundy is also famous for it's love of food but vegetarians are a forgotten people. The shock of the day was Caz ordering lamb for dinner ("when in Rome.....") - and eating every last mouthful with great delight. Yummy apparently..
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| View from one of our dinner spots |
We made use of our last morning by taking another gentle stroll around Baeune's beautiful streets. We visited the Hospices de Beaune then a quick stroll around the Wednesday market.
Hospices de Beaune
Take note - when offered a 'tasting' by a market stall holder they may just want you to choose which product you're going to buy. We made a bit of a boo boo accepting samples from a fromagerie and when we didn't buy cheese her looks could've struck us down there and then!
The local market
We head a little further south to Lyon this afternoon, back to a big city for a few days to acclimatise ourselves for Barcelona.