A slow start this morning after a restless hot night……hotel admit this morning to some air conditioning problems. We had yoghurt and fruit for breakfast, which we have been buying from the small supermarkets. Much cheaper and more enjoyable than the standard fare offered at hotels or at the food outlets.
We pack and move our luggage to the carpark and load the car, finding the cases do not fit without the back seat uprights being dropped down. Then we attempt to leave negotiating the very narrow and curving up ramp……..much stress on both driver and passenger.
We leave Dijon, narrowly escaping going down the tram route only, before picking up the Burgundy Grand Tourist Road to Beaune. The initial villages encountered have very narrow streets with really no where to park so we keep driving. Outside the villages the grapes are in full harvest, with teams of men and farm machinery moving everywhere. Dot was seeing many of the sites more so than Michael. In one of the early villages, we thought we recognized some landmarks including the town church that was in the film Choclat,
In another very narrow streeted village, we somehow finished out of the village off the main road and driving up to the top of the “mountain” overlooking the whole valley and plain below. Three gendarmes appeared to be training their dogs up there. We turn around after attempting to re-set the GPS in the car.
We continue on through the small villages, unable to stop either because of lack of parking or a petrified driver who was not game to go left or right for a parking spot with vehicles right on his tail.
We arrive at Beaune around 11.10am, so manage to find a parking spot, to enable us to go wandering. We are parked in the newer area of town and wander down to the magnificent old section, through a grand ancient arch. The further we go down the narrow cobblestoned streets, we come across some very picturesque old buildings, including hotels, hospitals etc. There is an open air market with a variety of stalls covering processed meats, cheeses, truffle products and nougat blocks of immense size. We come across a number of wine museums or degustation where you can taste a number of their vintage years for a fee…..unfortunately due to driving responsibilities did not take this up.
We came across some Mt Macedonites who were doing a group tour of the Burgundy wineries…heard their accent in the market!!!!!
We have a small lunch from one of the patisseries, with Michael having the compulsory sweet for dessert. We decided to buy something for our evening meal to save driving back into town, from a delicatessen which had many delectable items on display. We decide on a couple of rice and celery salads, plus some terrine to go with a baguette we purchased earlier.
We head off to a small village some 5klm from Beaune – Bligny-les-Beaune, where we have booked a small apartment opposite a small winery. We arrive around 2.15pm, but the owner who had emailed us earlier, but which we missed, was not on hand. Dot tried communicating with some neighbours with out much luck, but establishing that we are at the right place. Dot is doing a fantastic job with the language, and was often called upon by the Americans to help at shops!!!
We take a walk in this local village, but there is very little in the way of shops, but they are not open. Discovered a free range chicken farm, that also had geese, a couple of pheasants and a sole turkey. Much taller chickens than our breeds. We decided to take a drive around surrounding villages to see if we could buy some cold drinks. Finally find one village, but supermarket is closed between 12.15pm and 3.00pm, along with the fast food outlet. We wait for 3.00pm to buy some cold drinks plus yoghurt for breakfast.
We then head off to a lake system to find a shady tree for a bit of a siesta for an hour and a half, before heading to our booked accommodation. We meet Marielle, who is just setting up the apartment,,,,,apparently she lives here, unless she has paying customers like us, where she sleeps elsewhere. It is a very comfortable small apartment, with an upstairs bedroom and bathroom. Very good value for AUD $93.00 for the two nights.
We enjoy our evening meal and knock off the champagne provided by the Amboise winery and then go for an evening walk through the village.
Several times today we have heard the church bells – lovely.
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