Biking Burgundy
June 25 - Sunday in a Small Town
Our train route on Sunday took us from Konstanz to Zurich to Dijon and finally to Beaune. We walked through town from one side to the other to check into our Airbnb, about twenty minutes in total. Our place is a small apartment above the hosts main house (it was nice to have a place to ourselves again!). After a day of travel our main thought was, where can we get food, a task made more difficult due to the fact that it was Sunday. In the U.S. there are plenty of stores that close on Sundays and holidays but we've seen entire towns shut down here in Europe because it was Sunday. Luckily our host listed a few good places he knew of open on Sundays so we went to a great brasserie for dinner and planned the next day of touring wine country.
June 26 - Biking the Vineyards
Burgundy is a very beautiful region known for pinot noir and chardonnay. Our host told us about a bike trail that runs from Beaune through a few other small towns and through the surrounding vineyards. We found a bike rental shop literally half a block away from our Airbnb, grabbed some snacks, and headed down the wine trail. Very quickly we were among the grape vines and experiencing the amazing views of the vast fields dedicated to making wine.
Beautiful day for biking! |
2016 vintage, waiting to be bottled |
1865 vintage: Decoration only, not for drinking |
We purchased a bottle of 2015 Volney pinot noir and bid him adieu. We biked some more before breaking for lunch and then headed back to Beaune. It was another hot day so we rested back at our Airbnb and enjoyed our new wine before it started to rain a bit. Not only do we have a great place to stay but our host is selling some of his personal wine collection and we'll be able to head to Paris already equipped with wine.
At dinner we met another American couple from Texas who commented we were the first Americans they had run into in Beaune. On the contrary, we noticed a lot of English speakers, mostly British but definitely some Americans, in Beaune. The tourists didn't feel overpowering, however, and Beaune and the surrounding towns proved to be a fantastic experience and a great look at French wine communities. Tomorrow we leave the countryside for the city of lights. See you in Paris!
Great pic!
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