Athens

This week I was in Greece again for work. Unlike during my first visit in April, though, I unfortunately didn't have any free time to explore.

The hotel where we stayed was in a small town on the coast about 45 minutes outside of Athens. It was actually more of vacation resort than a hotel, and I guess we got a good deal since it was the off-season.

The hotel's location wasn't ideal for working given that every room seemed to have incredible views of the ocean. And while it was technically Fall, the weather definitely still felt like summer by Swiss standards.

I took some pictures from the balcony of my room, but inadvertently deleted them from my camera before saving them to my computer. Hence my reliance of the pictures above that I lifted from the internet.

Bourgogne - Part III

The hotel where we stayed outside Beaune is probably best described as a B&B, which was basically converted from a 18th century mansion by the current owner.

There were probably 3-4 guest rooms and the one that we had essentially gave you the impression that you were sleeping in someone’s bedroom (albeit someone’s bedroom from a long time ago).










On Sunday morning we had breakfast at the hotel. It was served in the dining room, which was literally a dining room as can be seen from the pictures below. It was nice to have a home cooked meal and simply eating there rather than eating “out”. Particularly since the owners were so nice.










After breakfast we went to the center of the small town where we were staying outside Beaune (the name escapes me). The architecture of the city hall and some of the other buildings in the main square were nice.










We then drove up to the Chateau du Clos de Vougeot, which is north of Beaune on the way to Dijon.



















The chateau was built in the 1500s and is situated within the Clos de Vougeot vineyard.










The chateau has a number of wine related exhibits, including a section that allows you to smell the full range of smells that the so-called experts refer to when describing wine. The most interesting aspect of the chateau, however, was the collection of medieval wine presses. The sheer size of them was incredible.










Following our tour of the chateau we grabbed lunch and then began the trip back to Switzerland. I had an evening flight to catch in Geneva for work, so we were unfortunately facing a strict deadline for the return.

Bourgogne - Part II

After walking around the city a bit more, it was time for our winery tour. The tour began with the guide driving us north across town and through a number of the vineyards.










During the drive, the guide took the opportunity to provide a lot of background information on the area, the wine-growing process, the wine itself and other areas of interest. Given my general ignorance on the subject matter, I found the information very interesting.

Here are some of the things that I learned:

-- Burgundy wines are only made from two grapes: pinot noir and chardonnay
-- Wines denoted by the “Clos” moniker are those whose vineyards are completely enclosed by a surrounding wall
-- The vineyards require no artificial irrigation – natural rain provides the optimal amount of water
-- There are strict rules governing every element of the growing and marketing process with an official governing body that seems very totalitarian
-- Burgundy has the highest number of appellations d'origine contrôlée (effectively wines that meet specific quality criteria based on their growing conditions) of any wine region in France
-- There is archaeological evidence of wine growing in the Burgundy region dating back to the 2nd century AD, though it likely dates back to centuries earlier during Roman control of the area
-- Monks and monasteries of the Roman Catholic Church played an integral role in the history of Burgundy wine
-- Due to inheritance practices, the vineyards are generally going through an ongoing subdivision over time as properties are split between heirs

After a while we stopped in one of the vineyards for a break from the drive and to sample a chardonnay from the area. It was neat to walk in the middle of the vineyard and the chardonnay was very nice. I won’t bore / annoy you with a snobby description of the various smells, tastes, colors…though I probably couldn’t provide one even if I wanted to given my untrained palate.

The following is a picture of Emilie and me that was taken in the vineyard.

We then headed to a winery and the vintner walked us through the wine-making process and told us the history of the vineyard, which has been in his family for seven generations. It’s pretty incredible that his family had been making wine there for the past two hundred years or so.

The vintner was a pretty quirky guy – very tiny and with a perma-smile that made you think he continually sampled his product throughout the day. He had tons of stories but did not speak a lick of English so I had to do my best to follow his detailed (and often technical) explanations when the guide wasn’t around.

We weren’t able to visit the wine cellar since the harvest was in process (at least I think that was the reason he gave), but we were able to visit the room where the wine was literally being made. It was pretty interesting – particularly when he let us climb up a ladder to look inside the giant barrel-shaped vats where the wine was fermenting.










At the end of the tour the vintner walked us through a tasting of a number of his vintages. It was interesting to taste the distinct differences that were simply due to the various vintage years of the grapes. Like I’ve written before, I definitely don’t have a seasoned palate and probably couldn’t appreciate the tasting as much as others. Nonetheless, I could definitely taste what I like and what I don’t like, and perhaps that’s all that counts in the end.

For dinner we ate at Le Jardin des Remparts, which is in a beautifully renovated house from the 1930s.

The ambiance, the food and the service were all excellent and in a way gave you the impression that you were really eating at someone’s home.

For the appetizer I went with the specialty: the charolais steak tartare with gillardeau oysters. I’m not a big tartare fan, but it had been recommended by a ton of people so I decided to take a leap of faith. It turned out to be very good, and the foam on top tasted like the ocean (in a good way…).

The following are some of the other courses. They were all very good, but nowhere near as memorable as the tartare.











After dinner we headed back to the hotel. It was a beautiful night, with a bright, full moon.

Bourgogne - Part I

...This weekend I went with Emilie and her friend / colleague Nina to the Bourgogne (Burgundy) wine region in France. We left after work on Friday and spent the night at a tiny hotel in Arbois, which is in the Jura region of France roughly halfway between Lausanne and Beaune (where we would stay for the balance of the weekend).

We were up early on Saturday and ready to tackle the ambitious plan that Emilie had prepared for the day. Upon arriving in Beaune, we were scheduled to rent some bikes and then spend the day riding through the Bourgogne countryside, touring the towns and stopping along the way at various wineries.

One problem – as we began the car ride, it became clear that the weather was not going to comply. And despite some targeted pleading to Dionysis, our prayers went unanswered. As we arrived at our hotel in Beaune (more on this in a later post) a downpour ensued. Any thoughts of taking a chance and sticking with our bike tour were quickly disregarded, particularly since there was a lingering chill to the air that made the thought of biking (even sans rain) even less appealing.

We thus were forced to quickly come up with a Plan B, though fortunately there were plenty of options. We ultimately decided to start with lunch, then tour Beaune for a couple of hours, and finish with a guided wine tour for a couple of hours in the afternoon. We would then return to Beaune for our dinner reservations.

The following are some pictures that I took on the way to lunch. The pictures basically sum up what you see everywhere – vineyards, vineyards and more vineyards…










While the weather hadn’t worked out in our favor, the timing was actually perfect because the grape harvest had just begun and we got to see it in process.










Lunch was very nice – traditional French fare – with the most memorable selection being Emilie’s escargot appetizer. I don’t believe that I’d ever eaten snails before and I’m not specifically in a hurry to do so again soon (Ils n’étaient pas mon truc…). All that I could taste was butter and garlic, with the snail itself simply providing a weird feel in the mouth.

After lunch we began the tour of Beaune. The setup is really interesting, with the perimeter of the old town basically enclosed by a medieval fortification of which nearly half remains in good condition.










Our first stop was the Hospices of Beaune, which was founded in the 15th century as a hospital for the poor and otherwise needy (e.g., orphans, disabled). It is renowned for its classical architecture and was a surprisingly popular tourist destination (at least based on the line to get in).










The main hall where the patients were housed was massive and had interesting architecture and décor.











Our next stop was the Notre Dame, a Romanesque church with a largely gothic exterior that supposedly evolved over the years due to gradual extensions.










There were a number of interesting internal sights -- such as the frescos and stained glass windows -- though the ones that most appealed to me were the 15th century tapestries on display.