Les Paulands Chateaux Et Hotels Collection Beaune

... is that everything closes for lunch from 12 to 2. They are serious on their lunchtime here, and when its raining and there's not much sightseeing to do in the small towns, well, lets just say we were lucky to have enough wine to get us through it. We also tried a proper french dinner in the town of Beaune, a 4 course meal for 12 Euros. Caity got Rabbit and Tom got Veal, or so we thought. We still aren't sure ...

... was very nice and explained so many things to us that it was a bit overwhelming at times. I found it very interesting though as he related everything to our 5 senses. I didn't really buy the sound aspect buy the idea of taste (obviously), touch, smell, and sight all play a role in decoding a particular wine. We tested our sense of smell in one room while he discussed the numerous colors wine can take depending on age in another. Along the way we got to taste a few ...

... hours. <br>I got to Dijon at about 1840. My guidebook said the tourist office would be open until 1900 so I could get a map but it closed at 1830. Luckily I had copied down the directions to the hostel from the internet just in case. I had to take two buses. However, the second bus' monitor wasn't working and it was only by chance that I turned to look at the name of the next stop which I thought was mine, and so got out. Lucky I did though because I found that the bus ...

... the next hour (this was late afternoon) two more vans had stopped. One also collected three cases whilst the other settled on one case. So much for our poor single bottle.... Chablis is, of course, lovely but mainly very expensive hotels, restaurants and bars<br><br>27th July 09, Precy-Sous-Thil 47.23'06"N 4.18'37"E<br>An 'Experimentale' aire, whatever one of those is. No facilities but a peaceful overnight stop.<br><br>28th July 09, BEAUNE - at last.<br><br>

... There we met a lovely French/Hungarian family (Attila makes a point of talking to everyone he hears speaking Hungarian... except in Hungary, of course). The gentleman was from France and spoke English so he helped by clarifying what the extremely-fast-speaking tour guide was showing us.<br><br>After leaving the castle we finished our drive through the vinyards of Burgundy and headed back to Beaune for dinner.<br>

... 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 ...

... Dole - Beaune and try to keep clear of the larger towns, though we did (foolishly) go into Dole then found it almost impossible to get out again. The roads, go round and round in circles. Beaune is a pretty town with a medieval centre surrounded by a huge ancient wall. We were lucky and were able to get accomodation in the old centre so the car was parked for the next few days and it was back to foot slogging again.

... which had been, rather oddly I thought, staged with old wine making equipment in the center of the floor. It looked more like a still-life than an actual working vinification sight. And indeed, that's what it was. Next we crossed into a dusty space with a large tasting table, made out of an old barrel, at its center. But we didn't actually taste any wine here, though it looked to me like the perfect location to do so. Just another bit of theater for the tourists. "Oui, Francois. I ...

... off rain and it really started to grind us down. The first days rain wasn't so bad... until the tent broke. We still can't figure out quite what happened. The tent was fine, we went away to clean our teeth and by the time we got back the centre pole had snapped! Keeping the water out was a real challenge. (Almost as challenging as keeping Liz in a good mood.) In the morning Jonny worked wonders and fixed the tent (with a hacksaw and the help of ...

... d veinid m*itsesid p*lju p*remini, st neil oli isegi m*itse j* el*mus oli meeldiv*m kui eelnev*lt keldris. Muidu on Be*une üsn* komp*ktne, ligipääset*v j* rohkete ühesuun*liste tän*v*teg* linn*ke. Sel päev*l toimus se*l p*r*sj*gu v*n*kr**mi l**t, mille nägemiseks pidi pileti lun*st*m*. Täiesti mõistm*tu, miks pe*ks millegi ostmiseks veel eelnev*lt pileti ostm*? Ig*t*hes meie sed* v*j*likuks ei pid*nud j* pe*le ülev**tlikku j*lutuskäiku sõime p**r jäätist ning läksime hotelli är*.