The rain was gone, the sun was out, weather predictions were positive, so we got out and did stuff today! First order of business (after breakfast from the boulangerie, of course) was finding a bike shop in Beaune, so I could buy some spare bike inner tubes. I exploded my extra tube last night, trying to repair my leaking rear tire, and distance cycling is best done with spare tubes on board. We found a likely place on the outskirts of Beaune, and dove in. What a bike shop! Big open warehouse-sized room filled with equipment for every variation of cycling you could hope to do. AND the guy carried spare parts for all forms, including the exact type and size of inner tubes I needed. He was not a talkative dude, so not much practice speaking French for Lynn or me, but no complaints: he had the correct goods!
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| See ya later! Bike trip drop-off at Beaune |
I changed into my cycling gear in the parking lot, and Lynn took me to the edge of town for a drop off. I took off toward the southeast of Beaune, with the aim of eventually cycling back up to Villers-La-Faye a few hours later. Lynn drove back to Beaune to explore the old town a little more, and eventually get some lunch. She is fearless, driving our diesel, 6-speed stick shift rental car all over France whenever she wants to.
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| Old waterwheel station at a building out in the country |
My ride was fantastic, but different from riding the vineyards. This part of Burgundy is NOT wine country! Most of the area is devoted to general agriculture, like raising charlois cattle, corn, and low-growing produce crops of every description. This time of year the farmers seem to be plowing fields to get ready for next spring, so everything smells good and looks tidy. I made my way through lots of tiny villages, most of which were unremarkable working villages on the edge of the tillable land. The exception was “Levernois”, the first town I came to after Lynn dropped me. This was a really upscale community, clean and with modern relatively new homes…I couldn't figure out what was up until I made it through the little town and found a huge, well-groomed golf course and parking lot filled with Mercedes, Audi and assorted other luxury vehicles. Ah HA! So, the Bourgonians are GOLF lovers, huh? Maybe this little town was the French version of our sterile but upscale golf course communities. Riding beckoned, I kept moving!
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| Villy-le-Metier water wheel at old millhouse |
The BEST part of the ride happened at “Villy-le-Metier". I saw a pretty waterwheel building from the road, and walked back to explore. it was lovely, an ancient stone mill house with a real old waterwheel revolving slowly in the river. After I took some pics, I saw the town’s chateau behind me, with a U-shaped courtyard filled with farm equipment. When i walked in to look, a young guy came out to greet me! I used the “bonjour” rule to begin, introduced myself to him, and we had a long talk about bikes, his work as a farmer, the Cote d’Or wine, the old chateau, and what kind of crops grow in my home of Florida. The best part is, he knew only a little English, and I know only a little French, but we connected and got our feelings and thoughts across one way one another. I LIVE for moments like this while cycling in France, or ANY foreign country. What a super afternoon it turned out to be, just from his kindness and interest in a stranger on a bike. Get out of your car and touch other people (well, not literally!) is what I recommend!
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| My new friend on a chateau farm at Villy-le-Metier |
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| Horizon to horizon agriculture, east of Beaune, just off the Cote d'Or |
The ride was fun and long. My goal was to stay away from towns I’d already ridden through until close to home. By doing that, I found a previously-hidden (from me) section of the Vois de Vigne bike path near our home! It was STEEP, a great workout, and sort of a shortcut back to VLF.
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| Marble quarry just up the hill from Villers-la-Faye, in Combliacen |
On the way, I stopped by our local MARBLE QUARRY to see how they do that stuff - yes, there is industry here that is NOT agricultural or wine-related! Lynn and I linked back up at home after 3 hours of riding, got cleaned up, and headed out for our next adventure of the day: WINE TASTING and TOURING!
Lynn researched the best winery for us to tour: the Domaine of Comte Senard…so we headed out. This is a beautiful ancient winery and vineyard in the nearby village of Aloxe-Cotone, which we’d tried to photograph from a distance often over the past 10 days. It is reputed to have the best white wine in all of Burgundy. Our hostess Sophie showed us the rare white grape vineyards inside the Comte’s Domain (the fenced area including the estate and vineyards). It turns out the leaves on the vines turn from green to reds and golds in the fall, and eventually fall from the vines. We’d noticed the vineyards turning color during our stay here, and it is beautiful to see. We also learned about the difference between the Cote d' Nuit, the Cote d' Beaune, and the Cote d' Or...and another Cote I forgot.
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| Sophie and Lynn in the cavern |
Next, Sophie took us into the wine-storage cave which dates back to the 13th century. Neat stuff! We learned about the storage of wines, and how the gross stuff sticking all over the old bottles, like thick spider webs, is actually a fungus which is GOOD for the aging wine. Go figure! Then, we had a formal wine tasting in the main building. We sat at our own private table, while our hostess explained the hierarchy of wines, and poured us samples of each of the various wines, starting with the lowest and ending with the most prestigious “Grand Crus”. We tried 5 different wines, and agreed our favorites were the last two…what a coincidence, they were the oldest and most expensive wines. It was an educational and fun afternoon, for sure! We bought a bottle to use in celebrating our trip, and headed out to find some supper!
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| Ageing wine, with fungus that is actualy good for the wine |
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| Very unclassy selfie-taking during wine tasting...this is the third round... |
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| Good night from Nuits-St.-George |
Sophie, our hostess at the winery, suggested a Nuits-St.-George brassiere/cafe run by her friend, for a simple but good supper. We drove into that town, found some parking, and went looking. What a find! The town center of this little town is precious, as Lynn wrote about a couple of days ago. This was my first time wandering around here. We entered the “Cafe de Centre”, and immediately upon mentioning Sophie were befriended by the owner, Pierre. This guy and his brother (the chef) run a wonderful small restaurant/bar business, with Pierre being the talkative front guy. He’s lived all over the USA for short periods of time, worked for several months at Disney’s EPCOT French Pavilion in Orlando, and he is NOT reticent to talk to strangers in French or English. We had a delightful evening there with great food, drink, and conversation. At the end, he gave us each a small goblet of a mysterious after-dinner drink we learned was “Ratafia de Bourgogne” brewed by a friend of Pierre’s from grapes and some liquors I’ve now forgotten. What an unexpectedly fun evening after a great day! We walked the small centre ville plaza, took a pic by the memorial bust of a famous guy, and called it a night.
Tomorrow we are heading out for a driving adventure, in a rented Citroen 2CV. We’re all excited and will report the results ASAP. Thanks for reading along!
MORE trip photos are here if you want to see them:
TRIP PHOTOS
My ride was fantastic, but different from riding the vineyards. This part of Burgundy is NOT wine country! Most of the area is devoted to general agriculture, like raising charlois cattle, corn, and low-growing produce crops of every description. This time of year the farmers seem to be plowing fields to get ready for next spring, so everything smells good and looks tidy. I made my way through lots of tiny villages, most of which were unremarkable working villages on the edge of the tillable land. The exception was “Levernois”, the first town I came to after Lynn dropped me. This was a really upscale community, clean and with modern relatively new homes…I couldn't figure out what was up until I made it through the little town and found a huge, well-groomed golf course and parking lot filled with Mercedes, Audi and assorted other luxury vehicles. Ah HA! So, the Bourgonians are GOLF lovers, huh? Maybe this little town was the French version of our sterile but upscale golf course communities. Riding beckoned, I kept moving! 
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