Au Grand Saint Jean Beaune

Yes it is true. We worked our way up to Beaune, and just like in the Rhone, have not been dissapointed at all. We explored the tiny towns of Pommard, Volnay, Mersault, and Satenay, and got to try some amazing wine from all places. We even tried a place in Pommard and then headed over to his son's winery in Mersault (the son's was actually better than his Dad's stuff!) The only word of caution if you come wine tasting ...

... Dinner was very good and everyone was satisfied despite ordering in French (the restaurant didn't have any English menus...oops). We made it back to the hotel for most of the Florida/Georgia game. The woman was again not very helpful in helping me get connected to the wireless but eventually I got it figured out. Angela's mom and I broke into one of the bottles of wine she had bought that day and we all sat around my laptop watching the game until after midnight.<br ...

... been travelling another line and wasn't going to stop at where I needed to be. The hostel never bothered to tell me that the bus deviates from line 4 after 2000. This stop however according to the bus route map was only a street away from where I needed to be. Phew! A little sweat on the brow there.<br>Then I spent an hour looking for some place to eat after being directed by the receptionist that there was Pizza 'just across the street'. Being at an intersection; there were ...

... distance. (Or anything else, come to that!).<br><br>18th July 09 Giffaumont-Champaubert 48.33'15"N 4.45'55"E<br>Free parking at a leisure park on a huge lake.<br><br>20th July 09 Piney, near Troyes 48.21'30"N4.20'05"E<br><br>21st July 09 Sens 48.11'53"N3.17'24"E <br>At last we have arrived in Burgundy. At the moment our intention is to explore the Bourgogne unti our return in October. However, plans can change....<br>Sens is a pleasant town with a ...

... town in search of dinner. Although the Bungundian cuisine was tempting, the sticker price of 25 Euro was enough to detour us. We instead found a lovely little Pizzeria with a cozy terrace, yummy food, and reasonable prices.<br><br>The next morning, we walked into town to visit the hospital, "Hotel Dieu". It is actually a medieval hospice, but they use the word "hospital" so as not to turn off any skittish ...

... impressive<br>88 mph while the temperature guage registered - Gobi desert. Despite being ridden hard the <br>old girl took everything Kev could throw at her leaving him spent but happy.<br> Somewhere along the way a turning was missed and an extra hundred km's were added to the<br>journey. So we thought we knew better than Dashboard Doris and decided to go native and <br>head across country. Turns out that Doris is a smug cow but we did see some lovely ...

... easy enough to get this right on the motorways, ********* junctions of smaller roads! But the mistake lasted only a few seconds and the surprised French driver who alerted us to the mistake was really nice about it, slowing down gently as I eased (well, lurched) to the right side of the road, and not even offering a corrective beep - very polite indeed in the circumstances.<br><br>The last stretch of our day's journey ...

... smoke smelling divine. Back in Epernay for Margaret to sample yet another glass of champagne (or 2) at Moet & Chandon. But at least she retained a lot of the tour and did consider worthwhile. I in the meantime had a charming experience sourcing my lens case as I had forgotten to bring it, trying to find an Internet cafe to sort out my access problem/the accommodation for the night and sitting with hot chocolate back in Le Progres with my Vogue magazine. 3 ...

... center where we sat underneath an awning, ate croque monsieurs (croque messieurs for two sandwiches?), watched it rain, and drank what turned out to be two glasses of Burgundy that were borderline terrible. We opted out of two more and headed home for some TV. Between my translations and Alli's lip reading, we successfully managed to comprehend an entire episode of CSI New York or NYPD Blue or something where an estranged son kidnapped his own sister in order to demand ...

... out of the way villages of France. If this first night was any indication of what to expect, I felt certain I could get quite used to these sorts of locales. I was up early the next morning to meet my guides for the next two days. I was feeling very proud of myself for having made it to the lobby by 8:30. I went outside to see if the red Land Rover that had been described to me via e-mail had arrived yet. It hadn't and as it was rather chilly out, I found a comfy chair in the ...