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Sightseeing ContinuedSouth of BeauneThe Burgundy Tourism Office sent me a great guide for the
area around Beaune. It contains two suggested driving tours (north & south)
with all sorts of information about the towns you drive through. We picked up a
detailed map of the area from the Tourist Office (across from the Hospices de
Beaune). After fortifying ourselves with pain de chocolate and café au lait
from a small shop we headed out on the southern route. You wind up and down
vine covered hills, through lovely old towns this was one of the highlights of
the trip. I forgot to mention all of the cyclist we had seen in the Loire
Valley (no not the Tour de France, we saw that later). There seemed to be
plenty of guys (and it was nearly all men) riding up and down these same roads
we drove. It made my thighs hurt just to look at them. I also think they are
pretty brave (or maybe just crazy). While the roads were in good condition the
only place we saw paved shoulders was on the autobahn. I would be afraid of
getting run into the ditch. Given the number of people we saw with neck braces
I'd have to guess that accidents are fairly common (especially in Paris). The
first town that really made an impression on me was Saint Romain. It's tucked
up against a sheer cliff. The guide said archeological digs had found artifacts
from the Neolithic period, 4000 BC. Saint Romain is also one of the centers for
cooperage (I can't remember the French term for this) in Burgundy. We drove
past a huge lot with
DijonAfter breakfast we hopped on the autobahn and headed north
to Dijon. We parked at an underground lot at Place Darcy and walked down the Rue
de la Liberte to the old city center. First we checked out the Church of Notre
Dame. The front is covered with gargoyles of all kinds. I bet they're really
creepy lit up at night. We walked behind the church to see the Hotel de Vogue
one of the town's many old mansions. This one has a colored tile roof and both
the façade and the interior courtyard have intricate stonework details. There
were also some old half timbered houses nearby. It is very evident that Dijon
was once a wealthy and important city. It is still an important city in
Burgundy It was raining a little more heavily as we drove south from Dijon on Route 74. It soon stopped but, it was still overcast. We toured the Chateau du Clos de Vougeot. The best part was the four gigantic wine presses. It took six monks to turn the screw that drove the press. There was also a very deep well. We can not figure out how the monks dug this. It was not wide enough for someone to swing a pick ax in. Maybe they had some sort of medieval drilling rig. While the building is not much to look at its location among the vineyards makes for some nice pictures. Since no tastings are offered at the chateau we decided to check out Aloxe-Corton. We visited the Chateau de Corton Andre caves and tasted two wines. It’s a shame they don't offer tours of the building because it looked nice from the outside. We bought a bottle of red wine that was ready to drink and then hit the road. Back in Beaune we shopped for mustard and Crème de Cassis (by now I was a big fan of Kirs). Continued Photos |
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To book a trip or get more information send an email to
kelly@apostcardhome.com or call (281)334-0427
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stacks of oak (I assume) slats drying in the sun. Next we
stopped at the Chateau de la Rochepot but, unfortunately it was closed on
Tuesdays. After taking some pictures we continued on to Saint Aubin. Using a
guide (again from the Burgundy Tourism folks) of wine growers and wine merchants
we were able to locate places that offered free tastings. The guide lists the
types of wines, the hours (though our knock went unanswered at a couple of
places, must have been out among the vines), what languages are spoken and an
approximate price per bottle if purchases are possible. In Saint Aubin we
visited Domaine Roux Pere et Fils a wine-merchant. We tasted both a white and a
red wine. The white was better but, we found it nearly impossible to find ice
in France so we bought a bottle of the red for our picnic lunch. The woman who
offered us the tasting spoke very little English but, she also spoke German so
we were able to patch together a conversation. In Nolay we stopped to see the
restored covered market and pick up some bread, cheese and pate. We stopped at
a little park in Change and had our lunch. There was no one else around, the
sun was shining and I was with the person whose company I most enjoy. I'm not
sure life gets much better than that. After lunch we started making our way
back to Beaune. In what had become a reoccurring problem we arrived at the
Chateau de Philippe le Hardy in Santenay only to find it closed for lunch. No
problem, if there's one thing Burgundy has got besides wine it is charming
villages to explore. We decided to pay for a tasting to see one of the really
large caves. It cost 15 Euro to enter the Chateau de Meursault but, it was well
worth it. They have a small collection of art, a short film (in English) on the
grape farming process and a vast cave filled with bottles and casks. At the end
we tasted eight wines, some really good, some not so good. There was a
gentleman on hand to answer questions and we talked to a French couple a
little. We bought a bottle of chardonnay. This was the only bottle of wine
that we managed to bring home. After all of that tasting we decided to head
back to Beaune. We used the second half of our combination ticket to tour the
Wine Museum. This would have been better with an English guide but, it was
interesting still. 
but, I doubt its residents have the power they once enjoyed. We walked
through a back entrance into the Palais des Ducs. The Musse des Beaux Arts is
housed in one wing. Many of the works are by Flemish artists. I suppose this
is also the influence of Marguerite of Flanders. One of the things I like about
museums in Europe is that many of them are housed in historic buildings, usually
former palaces. This lets you see not only some great art but, some
magnificently decorated rooms. In the guard room the tombs of Philip the Bold
and his son are on display. The sculptures of the mourners that circle the
bases were unbelievable. Every figure was different and they all were so finely
detailed. We finished with a peak into the palace kitchens that contain six
massive fireplaces. I think it would have been more impressive if they'd
actually had fires going and food all about. It was definitely too clean. We
walked out to the Place de la Liberation to find that it was raining lightly,
not enough to keep us from seeing the sights though. We wandered around past
the Palais de Justice, the Convent des Bernardines, and some more mansions. We
stopped for lunch at a café on the Place Jean Mace. We both had the plats du
jour plus a coke and a glass of wine for 16.80 Euro. We made our way back to
the Place Darcy with a stop to see the crypt under the Cathedrale St. Benigne.
We had a little trouble getting out of the parking garage. It turns out we were
supposed to use the machines at the top of the stairs to pay. The man at the
exit seemed frustrated with us but, lightened up when he saw that we did have
cash to pay with.