Judy's Journal - Day 10
Saturday, September 22nd
Day Trip #10

Up in our new place after a good nite’s sleep. Nice thick down quilt & square pillows. A different version of our a.m. to the Shower in our new bathroom set up. Good shower even if Tim complains about the BR being down the hall.

            Breakfast at our place. Don went for a walk & Deb changed her quilt to a lighter weight one. They have toast & jam I have the steel cut oatmeal I brought – w/an apple.

            Off to town. Everything damp after hard rain last nite. In low 60’s today. Light spitting rain from time to time & just cloudy other times.

            We drive to Beaune. Pop. approx. 24,000. A gorgeous medieval looking town, where I visited w/Viking & Pat in June, 2011. (We actually see two Viking groups touring later in the day.)

            We park in underground public parking (7.00€ for 4-5 hrs.), go to the TI Office for info on the town, market & wine tastings. We walk on to town & to the outdoor Market. Despite the drizzle & clouds, it is a bustling place w/ locals & tourists. Meats, sausage, cheeses, fruits & veggies, tastes offered of cheese & a variety of sausages (charcuterie) – duck, ham, prosciutto, ham & mushroom, etc. We surveyed the whole scene & then split up – Deb for veggies & Tim & I for fruits – prune plums, oranges, bananas, potatoes, strawberries, etc. Deb & I bought olive tapinade together. Two tastes which were yummy! Tim & I walk the full length of the market which also includes clothes, shoes, coats, kids clothes, Peruvian goods (& music), music cds, etc.

our dining room table at the Pommard apartment

a tiny fraction of Beaune's Market Day on Saturdays

           We are in the market about 1 to 1 ½ hrs. Afterwards, the guys go back to the car to dump our bags of goodies. Then we enter Hotel Dieu, the museum at the hospital from the Middle Ages, started by a local wealthy Frenchman, w/ his wife – Nicholas Rolin. Audio guide is free. Thru room for poor & room for rich, chapel, pharmacie, kitchen, etc. I was also here w/ Viking & Pat. The highlite for me is again the Roger Van Der Weyden Alterpiece – polytych with multiple panels. They also show what it looks like folded up, which in the old days, was everyday but Sundays & relig. holidays.

            After the Hotel Dieu, we walk & look for a place to eat, & end up at Restaurant la Grilladene. What a fabulous meal! One of the best we’ve had in France. Excellent waiter too with good English. Don & Tim have a local pinot noir, & me – a cremant (local bubbly). Their wines are from Chateau de Meursault.  Deb – hot tea to chase away the cold she is still suffering with. Entrée (appetizer to us -- 22€ fixed price – me & Don – salmon marinated in oil w/ seasoning (poppy seed) accompanied by tomato/balsamic sorbet), Tim – local ham sliced; Deb – escargots in shells w/ pesto’ entrees – Deb, Don & Tim – beef stew w/ potatoes, mushrooms & sm. onion. Fabulous wine sauce. Me: white fish in red wine sauce (turbo?) w/ potatoes, zucchini rounds; Dessert – Tim – profiteroles (1 crème puff), Deb – orange crepes w. orange sorbet, Don – choc. mousse nestled in crème w/ 2 fruit sauces laced in. Fabulous lunch. 111€ total. Yum.

            We try to find 2 wine tasting places suggested by our waiter, but have no luck. Go in 12th c. Romanesque church instead. Notre Dame w/ 14th c frescoes. Wedding flowers (lilies) attached to front 12 rows or so – really for upcoming wedding later today.

            Back to TI, then to automated machine to pay for parking before exiting parking garage. Drive short distance to Casino supermarket to buy items to supplement our market purchases. 73.64€. To get a cart, you have to put a € in the handle & unlock the chain. You get in back when you return it. You also don’t get bags. You have to buy them!

Hotel Dieu's courtyard, world-known Bugundian roof

lunch at Grilladene, welcome respite on chilly, drippy day

David's Caveau Degustation - charming English spoken

grape-picking time in Pommard

            Home to Pommard to unload. We see people in the vines on our way to & from town – picking grapes for the grape crop/harvest.

            We go out to walk next door to a wine place for a “degustation” (tasting). They are harvesting so are not open. We walk a block further into town & end up at a place w/ a young vintner named David who is so charming & has only a very limited knowledge of English. We all have a fun time figuring out what we are all talking about. He worked / apprenticed in local wineries for 11 years & went to wine school in Beaune for 5 years. He sometimes uses the computer to translate too. Such fun! I taste 5 white & D, D & T – 5 reds. Supposed to be 5€ each for a tasting but we buy wine so it ends up being free. Wine is 27 €. David is the vintner on many. There is also a young woman with him, who types into the computer, and obviously is fond of him.

            Back to the apartment after walking past the Chateau de Pommard with its Salvador Dali sculptures.

            We hang out & Deb does wash. We have a snack, try to watch a DVD, but the machine spits it out (probably a different format) & finally have an English speaking TV station for news. Tim even gets to see a bit of Formula I.

            Our snack is cheese we bought at the market (5€), fresh baguette, olive tapinade from market (7.30€), plus fresh strawberries (3€ from Belgium).

            To bed around 10:00 after emailing.

A word about bathrooms:

            Much less smelly & more clean than Russia. So much urine smell there.