Next stop...Beaune!

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We rose early to pack the apartment as we are moving onto the next adventure. Jas took Mykenzie to collect the rental car and I took Edyn on a big walk to Notre Dame. It is actually only 1.7km from our accommodation but no direct metro line takes you there so I thought it would be faster to walk.

We had a great little morning just the two of us. We sat at a beautiful cafe overlooking St Michel square and Notre Dame and enjoyed a EUR6.50 coffee. In my defence it was a very good cappuccino with magnificent froth! We had a little shop and walked home in time to meet Jas on the doorstep ready to pack the bags for the next chapter of our French adventure.

Our next stop was Beaune, the capital of Burgundy in the middle of the wine region. It took around 4 hours to drive there and the girls were fantastic. They mostly slept but Mykenzie did watch some Wiggles and Edyn babbled and giggled.
We finally arrived in Beaune at dusk and the town was at its most magnificent! The town is within a wall and the street lights had just come on. It was so welcoming and homely that we instantly fell in love. We had a wander around the walking streets and took in all the joyous Christmas preparations.

This evening we had dinner at my friend’s house in Beaune. I meet Hubert and Michelle in 2008 through a home exchange and got to know them quite well. They have grandchildren themselves so I think they really took to the girls. Hubert is an ex wine importer so we always have lots to talk about and they are such an interesting and lovely couple to talk to. We had a beautiful dinner (with Mykenzie sleeping under the table) starting with a local terrine, then duck with poached pear and a local dessert of which I forget the name. The highlight of the night, besides the great conversation, was the 20 year old Louis Jardot red wine that we got to drink. So smooth and it definitely set a standard for the Christmas wine.

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