Ciao for Now

Paris was absolutely incredible, but after five action-packed days we were ready to slow things down a bit.  We found what we were looking for at our next stop Beaune, a small wine town in France’s Burgundy region.  With no metro to hop on or historic landmarks to check off a list, we spent our days strolling the town’s ramparts and popping in and out of its countless wine shops.  We toured Beaune’s largest wine cellar, Patriarche Pere et Fils, which dates back to 1780 and has miles upon miles of underground caves.  Plus they let you “self-serve” tastings of 13 Burgundian wines for a whopping €10.  We got our money’s worth and then some.

The weather warmed up some on our last day in Beaune, so we decided to pack up a picnic, rent some bikes and head out into the vineyards.  The instant you leave town you’re immersed in lush vineyards as far as the eye can see, interrupted only by the occasional chateau or castle.  We peddled through the tiny towns of Pommard and Volnay before finding a perfect picnic spot in Meursault.  Some red wine, a couple cheeses, a baguette and some cherries and we were ready for the ride back to Beaune.  Things were going along swimmingly until we got about 100 meters away from the bike rental shop (yes, I use the metric system now) and this tree came out from the middle of nowhere and ran smack into Anna’s mom’s nose.  Can you believe it?!  A helpful local called us a taxi, and Anna and her mom spent the next six hours (most of which waiting) at the hospital getting the wound cleaned up.  An emergency room visit and a four days supply of French pain killers cost us a grand total of €3.20, and even though Susan will spend the next couple days bandaged up like she just got a fresh nose job, it was nothing a couple more glasses of wine and some tasty beef bourguignon couldn’t fix.

Baguette + Blue Cheese + Prosciutto + Grand Crus = Taste Bud Explosion

Again we struck gold with our B&B, this time staying at Chez Marie.  Marie, her husband Yves and especially their baby Gaspar made our stay a memorable one.  Marie even gave Big Pete all that he could handle on the tennis court.  Every morning we had granola, homemade yogurt, baguettes, enormous croissants, homemade quince jam and fresh squeezed orange juice, and in the afternoons we would have wine in their garden surrounded by 300 year old stone walls.

Lunch break in the garden	Big Pete and Little Gaspar

And now we’re off to Avignon in the Provence region for some sunny weather, market days and, you guessed it, more wine.

Susan’s Post-Tree Makeover

Posted on June 3, 2011 at 5:31 pm in France   |  RSS feed |   Reply   |   Trackback URL