We are in the heart of Burgundy with a day off the bike. What a pleasure on many levels! We needed a rest, and Beaune is an absolutely beautiful town in an absolutely beautiful area that is covered with vineyards.
So for the day-off blog, we're really breaking new ground here with a "He Said" and "She Said" colloquy.
Me First: He Said:
I slept in this morning but was rudely awakened at 0530 by our friend Jon's text: he is still stuck in London because British Airways is a mess and has canceled his flights to Geneva for 2 days running. Traveling stinks these days and there is no doubt about that. But he'll sort it all out, I am sure, and we'll be whining about riding up the steep hills in the Pyrenees in a few day's time. On to the better stuff.
This morning we visited the Hospices de Beaune. This is a 14th century hospital built by some very rich guy who, apart from putting his name on everything, did a tremendous service to the poor of this area by building a state of the art medical facility. It is a beautiful building with a ton of Flemish architectural influence (had to do with an inter-country marriage, oh my). We very much enjoyed walking around the restored buildings:
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| This is the hospital interior |
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| 30 Beds |
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| The roof lines are Flemish; the tiles are Burgundian |
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| We went early to avoid the crowds. The heavy rain helped our efforts! |
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| A famous painting over the alter from a Flemish artist, Roger van de Veyden. |
After that, we wandered back through town. I'll turn over the podium to Lorie:
We have noticed in our visit a definite lack of cheese shops--fromagerie--in the small French towns. We both remember the strong somewhat overwhelming scent of wandering into a cheese shop and have somehow missed that experience. Well today that was remedied. Happily, we found a fromageriae with a distinctive scent and beautiful cheese- even better thatn the cheese we've found in local markets. We opened the door and the wonderful overwhelming smell nearly knocked us off our feet. It takes a moment to get used to, but wow!
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| First cheese store, madame? |
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| I wish we could do smells over the internet... |
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| Hmm, which one looks and smells best? |
He Said:
We bought some good stinky stuff and went back to our little Air BnB so I could do some bike maintenance. Cleaning, derailleur adjustment, bolt tightening (too many damned cobbles!). Then, out to a moutardarie -- a mustard making place. Beaune is right next to Dijon, of mustard fame. So we stopped by a mustard "museum." I asked the woman "parlez vous Anglais", and in perfect English she said "well of course I do." I blushed but we talked a bit and it turns out that she was born in Portland, of Oregon fame, and she has an Ooma and Opa who still live there. Her older sister is at university there. Anyway, she showed us and let us taste all the wonderful mustards that are made locally. They are outstanding. We bought two small "pots."
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| This stuff is good. I'd give up Frenches for it (except on hot dogs!) |
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| They make mustard. |
Back home for a rest, and a short while later it is off to the highlight of Lorie's trip, the Joseph Drouhin winery.
She Said:
My whole dream of coming to Beaune was based on the Joseph Drouhin winery. You may know that my daily go to wine is from Joseph Drouhin - commonly referred to around our place as "Joey". I often ask Doug - do you want to drink a bottle of Joey? And here we are in the the home of the Joseph Drouhin vineyards.
Of course I scheduled a tour and wine tasting for us. The Drouhins have been winemaking since 1880. Maybe you heard of Domaine Drouhin? The Drouhins bought 100 acres in the Willamette Valley in 1987. That's where I first discovered their French version of wine - "Joey".
At the Drouhin gathering area the have a comparison of the Beaune soil and the Oregon soil and they sell some of the Oregon wines, The same person - the sole female sibling from the current generation - makes the wine in Oregon and here in France.
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| Terrior. |
I read the book Wine and War and enjoyed the description of Maurice Drouhin and his role in the French Resistance. So I was excited t tour the underground caves and see where Maurice escaped the Gestapo by traveling through the underground caves to the Hospices de Beaune where the Sister hid him for 4 mouths until the end of the war.
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| The Drouhin caves, from the 13th century |
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| Part of the Drouhin family collection of 50,000 + bottles (a few 1945s sold recently for $500,000 per bottle!) |
Of course the best part of any tour is the group you are with and the wine tasting. We shared our experience with 2 guys from Israel and a couple from Chicago celebrating their 10th anniversary. Moti from Israel shared his pictures with me because he is fortunate enough to have an Android that takes wonderful pictures in the caves,
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| Deep in the Drouhin caves |
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| Time to taste! |
Finally, He Said:
They had a 900 year old grape press in one of the buildings. It still works and they last used it in 2005 when their first female wine maker retired. It is really cool.
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| Made nearly 1000 years ago by a bunch of (drunk) monks |
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| And it still works just fine, thank you. |
What a wonderful day! We bought a modest bottle of a fine wine and took it "home" for dinner with a board of charcuterie.
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| I am a lucky man. |
Tomorrow we are off for Jura, a far more remote portion of France but one that holds lots of delights in terms of wine and, from my angle, bike riding.
Ciao!
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