Beaune, France – August 25 to August 30

A two hour train ride from Lyon takes us to Beaune, a really cool town in the Burgundy region of France.  We’d been told by various people, including Butterfield & Robinson tour leaders that Burgundy was an awesome place to visit, so we were very excited to get there.  And even better, our great friends Tim and Lucie Walsh were meeting us!

We spent our first night at the Hotel LeCep.  This is a very nice hotel – actually a five star boutique – but our room, the cheapest in the place was tiny.  But more than adequate for a one-night stay.  The bar and lobby areas are really nice.  There’s also a Michelin star restaurant at the property. 

Beaune, we learned is the center of wine production and business in Burgundy and is considered the “capital” of Burgundy wines.  It’s surrounded by some the most famous wine making villages like – Mersault, Puligny-Montrachet, Pommard and Volnay.  It’s a quaint town, with great architecture and lots of fantastic restaurants. 

The main landmark is the Hospices de Beaune, which is a fully restored 1400’s hospital that was created for the needy.  It’s a very cool historic site to tour.

On the second day of our visit the Walsh’s showed up and we checked into our two bedroom apartment at “Beaune Sweet Home” [https://www.bedandbreakfast.eu/bed-and-breakfast/beaune/beaune-sweet-home/2234716/].  This was one of the best apartments we’ve rented on our entire trip.  Old on the outside, but super clean and modern on the inside with plenty of room for two couples.  Two en-suite bathrooms, a nice full-size kitchen, laundry room and bikes.  Also a fantastic location – just adjacent to the center of town.

The biggest attractions here, of course, are the amazing vineyards.  We took the apartment’s bikes out for a ride, followed some “velo route” signs and ended up at an incredible bike path called the Le Voie des Vignes.  This is a bike path that runs directly through the vineyards to each of the major villages of the Cote de Beaune.  We also hit some great weather – warm sun with cool air.  Was about 70 degrees and, because it was the end of August, the harvest had just begun so there was a lot of action.

Great fun.  Stopping in a number of the villages for great Burgundy wine and plates of fromage and charcuterie.  So French.  

We did almost the same thing the next day, but this time on e-bikes that we rented at a local shop [https://www.bourgogne-randonnees.fr/bikes/]  So much fun and on the e-bikes, we could cover a lot more ground.  

It was so nice that we also took a bike tour on another day.  This time we were ferried up to the top of the slopes that define the Burgundy geography. 

Then we rode – mostly downhill – through the pristine countryside.  Took a tour of Chateau de la Rochepot (pronounced “Roosh-poo”), a mostly restored castle on a major Middle Ages trade route that used to collect “tolls” for travelers and traders that needed to pass.  Good way to get rich!  

And then went to two wineries for some great tastings.  First at Chateau Chassagne Montrachet and another at a very small producer called Guillame Baduel in Volnay.  Also had a really terrific lunch at Olivier Leflaive in Puligny Montrachet.  One thing to remember about Burgundy wines – reds are almost always 100% Pinot noir and whites are almost always 100% Chardonnay.

Beaune is also home to some fantastic restaurants.  We can recommend Relais de Saulx – a very small restaurant with only 6 tables.  Not Michelin starred, but probably should be.  Also, Le Conty, a nice bistro in town.  If you go there, ask to sit in the cellar.  Super cool underground dining room.  Also, the Michelin starred Le Beneton – which was actually really good.  Sometimes these restaurants can get a bit to “Avant grade”, but this one kept it simple and was great.  One tip – if your eating with four people – is to look for magnums on the wine list.  Most people don’t order them so they are usually older than normal bottles.  We did that at Le Conty and got a great, aged wine at a really nice price.

We also took a road trip up to Dijon.  Yes, it’s where the mustard comes from.  It’s about an hour from Beaune by car and is a very nice, elegant town.  Much bigger than Beaune.  We made our way to the Maille mustard boutique.  Tasted a bunch of specialty mustards – which were surprisingly good.  Cool town to visit, but think Beaune – which is much more quaint – is a  better place to stay.  

Overall, we had a great stay in Beaune and a really fun time with the Walsh’s.  It’s so fun to have friends visit on our trip.