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.