Beaune
a trip by Steve Whitwell
From: September 9th 2009
Until: September 18th 2009
Baked Beans to Beaune
From one extreme to the other. From a part of Spain where you wouldn’t know you were in Spain to a part of France which is very, very French.
Beaune is in Burgundy. It was once the capital of the Duchy of Burgundy and is now a centre for the wine industry. I believe it has a considerable tourist industry based around the its vineyards but I’m not expecting to see any stag parties there! The time of year I’m going is the time of the
“Vendange”, the grape harvest, and I’m hoping I might be able to get some casual work picking grapes {
not too much work, though!}
I’m visiting friends who have spent quite a bit of time there. Nick, who I’ve known since we were students together, has like me recently quit-his-job-but-definitely-
NOT-retired. He and Anne have moved to Beaune to try and make a go of living there. Nick is trying to work from home as an indexer. He also trying to become qualified as a proof-reader and delights in pointing out the mistakes in the first line of my travel blog! Anne has more regular income teaching English and is also hoping to get some work on the Vendange.
I’ve decided to drive down. It’s years since I’ve driven in France and I’m quite looking forward to it. I would have liked to have gone through the Channel Tunnel - something I’ve never done - but feeling a pit poor and unemployed I decide on the cheaper option of the ferry.
I load up my car with emergency supplies for Nick and Anne - in this case baked beans, curry paste, peanut butter, a jar of Marmite {
that’s for me} and some English beers. I’m told that baked beans are a luxury item in France, only found in the exotic foods section at Carrefour and costing a couple of Euros per tin. It’s nice not having to worry about baggage allowance and just to be able to pack everything and throw it all in the boot of the car. For example I can’t decide which shoes are best to take for the Manky Foot so I end up travelling with more shoes than Imelda Marcos.
Trip Length: 9 days
Blog Entries: 9
Photos: 45
Words: 6696
Blog Entries
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