Sunday 20th September
Two days in Beaune and so much to tell!
This delightful French town and its surrounds have kept us well and truly entertained for the last couple of days. Really the pictures tell the story: it's very picturesque and townlife is fascinating.
The highlights have been:
1. The daily walks around the ancient ramparts. At every turn another irregular stone wall, topiary garden, huge tree, cobblestoned pathway or faded wooden door.
2. The fabulous food. Yesterday we went to the local Beaune market which was full of fresh fruit & veggies, handmade cheeses, smoked sausages and meats and plenty of other delicacies. There was a bit of -"what is that? " so we tried to be adventurous and to try something new. The lady selling the olives insisted that Graz try some pickled crunchy garlic cloves, which we weren't too sure about! But they are delicious - and you don't smell of garlic forever! - and now we are all converts.
We've eaten lots of fresh crusty white baguettes at every meal: defintely the staple diet of the French. At any time of the day you can see someone walking down the street towards home with a long baguette tucked under their arm. The pastries that come from the Boulangeries (bakeries) are freshly baked and fabulous too: croissants (obviously! ), escargots (spiral pastries with sultanas) chocolate croissants. ....and many more.
The cake shops have cakes that are absolute works of art. As the only sweet tooth in our group I seem to be the only one of our group interested so I am going to have to purchase at least one!
Today we went to a very nice restaurant (in our best clothes, such as they are! ) called La Montrachet (1 Michelin star) which had really superb food. And many more courses than we paid for on the set menu: exquisite hors d'oeuvres, zucchini veloute as a pre- entree treat, and even better - a pre-dessert before the real dessert! And all of it was divine. The wine was exorbitant despite being in the Burgundy region. We managed to resist buying a bottle of red wine worth 4,800 Euros ( about $7-8,000!). It was a special dinner to celebrate the 60th birthdays for 3 of us this year.
Yesterday lunch was at a more modest Auberge, but again was lovely: coq au vin, terrine, cheeses and chocolate mousse/cake.
Not to be outdone Graeme produced his best ever Beef Bourgonoine, and Merry and Bruno contributed an almond cake brought from Spain where they had completed many weeks of the Camino Trail. The cake had a special cross on the top so we all felt blessed to be eating it.
Will definitely have to increase the daily walks or end up looking like a Michelin man myself!
3. The tiny ancient villages dotted all over the countryside, mostly surrounded by acres of grapevines. They are all very small, and seem almost uninhabited but very charming, and of course every one has its own church. Yesterday we all breathed in as Andy drove through the very narrow streets of Saint Roman La Haut to reach a very simple 6th Century church and Cemetery, and the ruins of an old castle.
As we were looking into the church, a man drove up and seemed to ask Graz for directions to the church, but eventually we worked out that he was the Mayor and was coming to TELL US about the Church. As you can see it was stunning because it was so simple, and the plain carvings included a beautiful grapevine - the tree of life - and carvings of the pests (as you can see in the photos) - the evils of life - all leading to God apparently . The old graves were fascinating and the views across the vine filled valley were gorgeous.
Then on to the next petite village, Lusigny sur Ouche, which had a very green brook babbling through it and almost through the front doors of some of the old houses. Very peaceful and quiet, but we all decided that after about three days so much peace and quiet might make us crazy!
When Andy and Graz depart tomorrow for Saint Tropez to work on improving their suntans lolling around by the pool, Ewan and I will have a week to get to know Beaune better, guided by Jude and Graeme.
Quirky fact about France No. 1: The dog poo bags available in the park are clear plastic. Yuk!
Au revoir from your franglais correspondent
Dianne
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