Beaune, France

What a cute little slice of French pie! Or croissant, whatever. Beaune was adorable.

Beaune, France Wins the Award For: Foodie's/Wino's Paradise, Tied for Most Friendly

Day 5: After a quick train ride southeast of Paris, we arrived in the heart of the Burgundy wine country. We got in later in the day, so we had just enough time to walk around the city center before going to get charcuterie, cheese and wine at a cute little wine shop, Les Vins de Maurice. After this, we went to the most INCREDIBLE dinner at Caves Madeline. Everyone here was so nice!

Day 6: The next day, we woke up early to start our adventure of biking along the Route des Grands Crus - The Burgundy Wine Road. We choose to bike along the picturesque Cote de Beaune section of this 60km road. So, you can see below that the roads are very well-paved and very easy to follow. I definitely think the California wine country needs to take note of this. Also, we had incredible timing as it was the start of harvest season! We got to see the workers carrying the grapes down the hill after they had collected them. It was surprising how labor-intensive the process was - it felt like the whole town was out collecting grapes.

We made our way through the towns of Pommard, Volnay, Meursault and Puligny-Montrachet making a few stops along the way. In Pommard, we literally got off our bikes and walked into a 300 year old wine cellar. Talking to the man (thanks to John and Mallory and their French!!), he told us it had been in his family all of those years. He then let us taste the wine and showed us the cellars...FOR FREE.

We kept biking along and ended up in Mersault. By this time, our butts were HATING us for putting them on the tiny bike seats, so it was a good time for lunch!

Those colorful rooftops are typical in the Burgundy region.

This meal was incredible. Jason's first course was the most interesting I think - eggs poached in what else? wine :)

Those potatoes were to die for, mmm!

After eating this amazing meal, it was a little difficult to get back on our bikes. We continued on and made our way to the last town of the day, where we sampled some amazing Pinot Noirs and Chardonnays. That is what the area we were in was known for. We then began the exhausting trek back. What was previously a fun, downhill ride, was uphill hell. Good thing we had some amazing views to look at!

If you look closely, you can see those white buckets. Those workers are carrying them and they are FULL of grapes.

We ended our night with a stroll around Beaune to see the Hospices de Beaune. This was former hospital for the poor and needy - and also what Beaune is known for besides wine. It is still used as a hospital today! We were walking around and heard singing, so of course we stopped by to see what it was. We think it was an ode to Beaune of some sort? Only in Europe :)

That night, like good Aggies, we stayed up (for most of the game) and watched A&M BTHO SMU! What a great little town - we definitely enjoyed our time in Beaune.

Up Next: Geneva, Switzerland!