Why I Love France, Part 1: Burgundy is Beautiful

My plans for blogging every day were dashed, first by the lack of internet connection in our 16^th Century apartment in Beaune, and then in Paris, where I was thwarted by my non-working PC and an old Mac with a French keyboard. But I now think it was a sign from mon Dieu: Step away from the computer sister.  And I did and was blessed. I needed to breathe some. And to enjoy this:

And so, instead of a play by play record of our trip, my posts will be more reflections of my visit to my favorite place on the planet. Not that I’ve been everywhere on the planet.  But so far France and Paris have captured my heart and my soul. I breathe deeper when I’m there. And I sigh. A lot. Hopefully I can capture those feelings here, and hold onto them so that I remember the smells and sounds and tastes and feelings.

So here are my jet-lagged reflections, two weeks removed.

We arrived at CDG pretty early and set out for Burgundy in our spiffy little green-friendly Euro car.

Rut Row! We’re in France!
Our first stop was in Auxerre, a town in the Yonne, northern Burgundy. Very medieval.

Jim already happy at the thought that it’s not THAT Goddard…

We walked around the town and made our way to this imposing cathedral that was built between the 11^th and 12^th Centuries. Incredible to me. How did they do it?

After lunch, we got back in our car and made our way to Beaune, When I think of Burgundy, I think of quiet, and beautiful landscapes covered in vines (I also think of wine, but that will be a post all by itself). And lovely Beaune, where we spent the week in a building built before the Europeans invaded and conquered the good people of our land. It’s also full of medieval buildings and churches and windy little streets, like this one where we stayed:

But what really stays in my mind are the towns and villages surrounding Beaune. Where they grow the grapes that make the wine. Towns like Meursault.

And Volnay

And Pommard

And Savigny-les-Beaune

And my favorite Pernand-Vergelesses.

We walked in the vineyards at least once a day, sometimes twice (before and after lunch). It was SO quiet in those gentle hills. No noise. Just quiet. Breathe.

One day the sun actually came out (it rained quite a bit on our vacation, but never on our parade), and we decided to rent bikes and ride rather than walk through the vines. Such a wonderful day, riding the Route des Grand Crus.

All that activity made us hungry. And thirsty. But I will save the wine and food report for another day.

So much wine, so little time…