Judy's Journal - Day 9
Friday, September 21st
Day Trip Number 9
Up & prepare with our usual routine, plus packing to leave Amboise & head to Beaune & the Burgundy area.
Tim & I walk uptown first before breakfast & buy a paper & bread & cheese for today’s travels.
Go to breakfast again at our corner patisserie. Breakfast American again for 10€. We go back to the hotel afterwards & pay our bill 216.60€ for 3 nites.
We leave Amboise & head east towards Sancerre at the far end of the Loire Valley. We saw gorgeous tan, brown & terra cotta colored plowed fields, many miles of vineyards & gorgeous old bldgs, Sancerre is a town perched on a hill overlooking the Loire Valley. We stop at the TI in Sancerre & ask about restaurants & wine tastings. The panoramic views of the valley below are gorgeous.
approaching Sancerre
panoramic view from Sancerre
our wine-tasting spot in Sancerre
Vezelay, on our way to Pommard
We head to the town Square, where they have a red line you can follow to discover the history of the town. We settle on an outdoor café for lunch – Cafe des Artes. D, D & I have a salad w/ local goat chs. – toasted & placed on a small crust of bread. Delish! Tim a chs. & ham panini. Afterwards, fabulous ice cream sundaes. – Deb & I “Nostalgic” w/caramel ice cream, crème brûlée ice cream & caramel sauce & Tim & Don – “trois chocolat”, w/ 3 types of choc. ice cream including white & bitter & choc. sauce w/ a cookie & whipped cream.
Deb & I walked thru a French shop while the guys paid the bill. The shop actually had Yankee candles for sale.
We then had trouble finding the winery we wanted to go to & eventually ended up at Pierre J Fouassier. The woman spoke little English. (We are in Sancerre still.) She has good whites & a few good reds. Don & Tim buy a red.
Afterwards, we head east toward our apartment in Pommard, outside Beaune in Burgundy. It’s about 2½ hr. ride from Sancerre.
We go thru the gorgeous hill town of Vezelay, which used to be a pilgrimage stop. We saw it perched on a hill many kilometers away. Fabulous! We think Edna and Norman were here years ago.
More gorgeous rolling hills, neatly plowed fields in a variety of shades of brown & many kinds of vineyards.
We hit rain – light at first & coming down hard as we get into Pommard. Twice today the GPS takes us down one way streets, & entering Pommard is one time. We have to go into our apartment road over a very narrow bridge. A French man who speaks a bit of English helps us. We have to punch in a code, find a key, wave it over an eye thing, open a gate & then find the apartment & unlock it. Thank goodness for the Frenchman who pushes the gate open.
The flat is absolutely lovely and charming. Old stone walls incorporated into a new apartment. Large modern kitchen, small bathroom, office area, dining room, large living room, 1BR & full bath down & 2 BR & a full bath up. Deb gives us first choice since they had the pick on the 2 previous hotel rooms. We take one of the upstairs rooms. We all settle in. Have wine, a small snack, figure out the internet & tv w/ no English speaking stations. To bed at 10:00.