Last post of the trip! Beaune, france

We’re back on the train heading to Paris, on our second to last day.  This morning we left Beaune, drove 40 minutes to Dijon, and dropped off our rental car.  I’m happy I was able to drive competently in France, and got us everywhere in one piece.  Allison is very proud of me as well, ha ha.  Let’s discuss Beaune, shall we? 

Beaune is the capital city of Burgundy.  As you know Allison and I really like wine.  Despite how hard we try, in the scheme of things we know little about it, especially French wine.  It seems all French wine is labeled by region and town.  It’s assumed by said region what varietal the wine is.  In Burgundy the varietal is typically either Chardonnay or Pinot Noir.  With that said, Burgundy is very proud of their wine, and rate them by levels, which I’m not going to get too deep into, but figure, good, better, great, the Beatles!  We didn’t have any Beatles, because that shit is owned by Michael Jackson, and we can’t afford MJ’s prices!  We did have some pretty great stuff and learned quite a bit from the few tastings we did.  All of the Burgundy white we had was very good. I suggest if you like wine, pick up any of their whites and you will like it, even if you don’t like California Chardonnay.  The reds are a little more tricky.  Here are a few towns we liked for red; Beaune, Auxey Durresses, and Pollard.   That’s about all I can type about that, maybe 10% of it was correct, but who cares.

Here’s a little about the town: it’s spotless and gorgeous.  And I mean spotless.  France has a dog poop problem.  In fact, as you get familiarized with a town, you learn where all the dog mines are and naturally step over them.  It’s everywhere, except Beaune, not one piece of dung.   All the buildings are much more uniform, mostly grey, with nice shutters and flower boxes.  It’s a fortified city and you can actually drive/walk around on the Ramparts, which make for really nice walks and views.  There is a wine shop at every turn, sometimes two or three side by side.  There are also a lot of bakeries.  On a side note, we have learned all the French names for different types of shops, but I’ve decided to keep this simple.  Vineyards surround the town.  When I say surrounded, I mean as far as the eye can see in every direction.  Yesterday we bought some sliced ham, cheese, wine, olives and a baguette, hopped in the car and started driving through the surrounding towns in search of a nice place to have lunch with our spread.  At a little intersection in the middle of slope side vineyards, we found a nice little area with a statue and picnic table.  No ordering, or attempting to use the very little French we know.  It was just nice to enjoy each other in the piece and quiet without distraction.  With all of the grand dining and sites we have experienced, that picnic was nice and low key and will be very memorable.

In closing, we went into Beaune with high expectations of wine tours and tastings, although we only did a few and felt a little overwhelmed (and very underprepared), we had a great experience there and learned some new info about French wine and how to choose a bottle.  We also had a nice romantic picnic, some amazing dinners and some beautiful sites.  We’re almost back to Paris, and we hope to end this honeymoon off with a few last days of relaxation and love, I’m not going to say anything else in fears of tempting the gods of chaos.  We miss everyone and look forward to sharing our stories in person, and hearing about what we missed while were we were away.  Thanks for following, and the feedback.  Thanks to Joe and Carrie for looking after the house and the fat cat, it means the world to us.   Thanks to Mom and Dad Boisvert for the rides to and from the airport.  I know it’s a pain even if you deny it.  Thanks to Mom and Dad Nigro for the amazing help with the wedding.  And thanks to everyone else who have been great friends and take as much interest in our lives as we do yours.  We’re so fortunate to have the friends and family we have.  Love you all…  

Au revoir!   

P.S. Thank you to my lovely wife Allison, you are the best travel companion.  You are extremely easy going and relatively low maintenance ; )…and you talk little trash about my poor grammar and spelling.  I appreciate your patience when I’m stressed out, or crabby about the locals.  You’ve been good about photography and mediocre at navigation…I love you and look forward to our next trip and the rest of our lives!

P.P.S. Get over it Jen Boisvert and anyone else who hates my sappy stuff ; )