While we enjoyed a gorgeous sun-dappled drive in to Beaune the
weather quickly turned cloudy and cold, with bouts of wind and
rain. Along with the many other (mostly European) tourists
in town we didn't let this deter us; upon checking into the
charming enough Hotel de la Cloche, we even "enjoyed" (it
was a bit chilly for Caroline's taste, if she's honest...)
alfresco drinks at a busy cafe on Beaune's main square. As
the sun started to set and the day gave way to darkness, we
wandered town looking for a restaurant for dinner. Getting
chillier and chillier over the course of our stroll, we chose
the place with the roaring fireplace, precisely for the warmth
of the fire. Luckily the food was every bit as wonderful
as the cozy atmosphere. At the charming and friendly
Piqu'Boeuf, we enjoyed a local Haute Cote Burgundy
wine along with a traditional 3-course menu that included our
first taste of the famed regional specialties oeufs en
meurette (poached eggs in red wine sauce), boeuf
Bourguignon (mmm, more red wine sauce!) and local
Epoisse cheese - oh la la, delicieux!Thoroughly
enjoying the hearty fare and charming country style - more
reminiscent of nearby Germany than of tres chic Paris -
of the town, we eagerly set out on a driving tour through the
Haute Cote de Beaune, the picturesque hillside towns
surrounding Beaune, on our first morning in town. Upon our
departure, it was cool and drizzly, but the day nonetheless
offered a lovely, if gloomy, drive along the Route des Grands
Crus and into the misty, vine-covered hills. Our main
hillside destination was a medieval castle overlooking a tiny
village in the middle of nowhere, La Rochepot Chateau, that while intriguing, was
closed for lunch as it was the off-season, so we merely lurked
around the exterior and were on our way.
For the remainder of our stay in Beaune, the weather continued
to be cold and rainy and a great number of the many other
tourists in town were dressed enviably in fashionable knee high
boots and warm-looking winter coats. Still, we managed to
enjoy our time with a visit to the very cool Marche aux Vins
- a tasting room and wine cave located in the basement
and main level of a 15th century church. It would have been
worth a visit simply for the candle-lit ambiance and interior
architecture, but the real draw was the collection of 15 or so
wines we were permitted to taste with our tiny silver
tastevins on a self-guided tour, for an entry fee of 10
euros a piece. As a bonus, by showing interest in shipping
some wine home we were spirited away to the sommelier's (i.e.
chief salesman's) imposing office to taste 8 or more additional
bottles of 'the good stuff' this time.
On our final day in Beaune, we yet again braved the cold and
rain in order to stroll the highly impressive outdoor Saturday
market, where we especially enjoyed the displays of seasonal
truffles and other edible fungi for sale. We also visited
the Hotel Dieu - a local medieval-era hospice where, for
centuries, ill townspeople simply went to die - that is now an
interesting museum. A highlight of the museum was the
charming courtyard surrounded by the beautifully colored tiled
roofs of the former hospital that are not visible from the
street.
After enjoying so many wonderful meals as well as the
friendly warmth of the locals, we were somewhat loathe to leave
the hearty, delicious food and country charm of Burgundy.
But on Sunday morning, we checked out of the Hotel de la
Cloche, grabbed a couple of quick cafes and
croissants and headed on the lengthy drive to the Loire Valley
in hopes of seeing some chateaux!
While not a focus of our trip, we couldn't resist the lure of
swinging through the famous and hugely popular Loire Valley on
our way back to Paris, in order to see what all the hype was
about and to determine if a return visit was warranted in
the future. After a somewhat boring and less scenic drive
than promised by our map, we arrived in the town of Amboise in
the heart of the Loire Valley. Surprisingly, the
historic center proved to be quite bustling on a Sunday
afternoon - there was a footrace going on, where the racers were
doing laps right through the turret of the local chateau (in
this case, something more akin to a castle) in town. After
Burgundy, our initial impression was one of significant
gentrification. There was a lot of residential remodeling
construction going on around town and even our hotel was much
fancier, more modern and renovated that any we'd seen in
Burgundy. The town was charming, but the real highlight
was the 8-course tasting menu we enjoyed at our former-mansion-turned-swanky-hotel, the
stylish and sophisticated
Pavillon des Lys. From beginning to end, each course
was decadent, creative and delicious, but it was the amazing,
incredible, to-die-for foie gras that Caroline still
dreams of, and the poached quail egg inside of a ravioli,
Scott's recurring dream...
After our best night's sleep of the trip, we sadly bid adieu
to the Pavillon des Lys and drove the short distance to
Chenonceau, one of the most popular chateaux of the entire Loire
Valley, according to our guide book. We planned to arrive
as early as possible, fearing great crowds at this
super-attraction. Upon arrival, we were pleasantly
surprised at the small numbers also visiting there, making for a
tranquil self-guided tour of the grounds and impressive
interior, where most of the lavish rooms offered lovely views
over the River Cher. In fact, we even had the elegantly
grand gallery all to ourselves at one point - quite a treat,
indeed! Huzzah, finally, our off-season travel pays off!
While we did enjoy our brief visit to the Loire Valley, we were
quite disappointed by the fact that virtually none of the
grands chateaux are visible at all without paying the
frequently hefty entrance fees, no matter how hard we tried to
sneak views from the exterior. It seems that one may be
able to see them at times from the bike paths that wind through
the region and we decided that if we were to return it would
have to be for a bicycling tour of the area, which is a popular
pastime there. After a final and pleasant lunch of
rillette sandwich (for her) and Croque Madame (for
him)back in Amboise, we began to make our way back to the Paris
area to catch our flight back to the States the following
morning.
With the national strikes taking place, we were a bit
concerned about finding gas for the rental car (not to mention
having fuel for our plane). Most stations were out of
diesel due to the fuel blockade, and we weren't able to find a
station open in the evening to fill our unleaded Chevy Spark -
but were able to return it half-full for a mere $90 convenience
fee! Between the strike concerns and a terrible night's
sleep in the slightly unsavory but only remotely affordable airport hotel
with a vacancy, we ended up being quite excited to board our
plane and return home!