City of Beaune, France

We took some time to explore the old city of Beune, with it's typical midieval buildings and cobble stone streets, which we opted to do on foot. A highlight was the Hotel de Dieu, a hospital and hospice built for the sick and dying by a wealthy couple in the 1400s. The finest materials were used to build it, making the place extraordinary for its time. Interestingly, the hospital served people up until 1984! Of course, we did some (obligatory) wine tasting and found a place that suited our needs - a self-guided tasting done in a cool underground tavern. We enjoyed pouring our own (generous) servings of various pinot noirs and chardonnays, the regions specialties. Afterwards, our visit to a museum of someone's private Salvador Dali collection was a perfect way to end this day.

We also visited the oldest operating (currently still) mustard production company in Bourgogne, Edmund Fallot Moutardarie. Learning about the process and history was enlightening, but making our own mustard with three simple ingredients - mustard seed, vinegar and salt, was an added treat, not to mention the tasting of some of the 18 varieties of mustards at the end. We have been cooking all our meals at home, but did some research on Trip Advisor to find a recommended restaurant for a delicious French meal. With the sun setting around 9:30, evening strolls around the city have been a great way to finish our days. Beaune is a quiet, beautiful town to visit!

 Courtyard of the Hotel de Dieu - Hospital for the poor

Underground Cave wine tasting

In our Air bnb, planning out bike routes and other sites to see

Evening meals on the patio, sometimes only cheese, bread and fruit

We rented a lovely flat just inside the old city - very convenient!

Making our own mustard

Fancy night out, the food that is...not us!

Evening walks around the old city

Last Bike Rides in Bourgogne

2 km tunnel for bikes/ walkers only - may have been old railroad tunnel

Old train stations converted into commercial establishments and sometimes homes

Riding the canal with holiday boaters

Lovely homes along the peaceful canal

This huge barge-boat seemed to be charted by one family! Can you spot the little pool at the front of the boat?

Peg and Roger were troopers - they slogged up some pretty steep hills with us to arrive to some sweeping views

Just another charming French village in the countryside

Peg gathering holy hock seeds to plant in her garden at home

Traveling with my bike mechanic comes in handy!

Impressive, colorful tractor...no John Deer yellow here

Riding the Backroads from Beaune to Dijon

We have found that riding one direction and training back to our homebase is the way to go. There is not yet the wonderful Greenway bike paths between Beaune and Dijon, but Ian found and downloaded and very detailed country roads map. With the help of that and GPS, he was able to guide us through some twists and turns that avoided too much car traffic. At one point though, we were redirected from our route by the French Gendarm because the president was visiting one of the huge chateaus! 55km later, we arrived in Dijon and explored the medieval city on foot. Lots of tutor style buildings mixed in with the French Colonial made for an interesting melange of buildings. The city has an interesting tourist walk marked throughout the city called, 'The Owl's Trail' which highlights many of the special places to see.

Ian, our faithful navigator for winding through the backroads

Just a wee little vacation house - chateau

Familia Heathcote 

Grapevines even grow in the center of some towns!

Had to snap a picture of Ian with his college nickname, 'Couch' due to the frequency he crashed on friends' couches late night 

Peg rubbing the good luck owl

Rent-a-bike city bikes available to all