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Published: October 19th 2012
Monday October 15, 2012
We checked out of our hotel (Le Mas des Carassins) in St Remy about 10:30 AM and headed toward Beaune for our next adventure. If you want to visit the Provence area, we would recommend St Remy and even this hotel. The hotel is walking distance to town but not in the thick of the tourist area. It would be especially nice in the warmer months to take advantage of the pool and outdoor area.
The weather was cold, about 50 degrees and the winds were blowing about 30 MPH as we departed so we so agreed we had the best weather during our stay. We filled the car up with diesel, which again was another adventure since Jim’s French is limited to ordering food or beer but we managed. We discovered that most of the younger people we have met understand English fairly well and are willing to help us out, let’s just say we are not starving and have been eating very will even with the language barrier. Our trip to Burgundy is going to take four hours so we decided to stop for lunch in the city of Vienne, which
is located on the banks of the Rhone River. There are a number of Roman sites to visit but since it was so cold we opted for lunch only. We found a parking spot on the street but spent about 10 minutes trying to figure out how to pay for parking at a self-service ticket machine. The machine took $2 Euros of our money and we hoped that was enough while we searched for a spot for lunch and our rental car would not be towed. After checking out a few cafes we decided on a small place that had pizza on the menu. Our waiter was a nice young man who spoke English and we both ordered a pizza from the menu, four cheese for Lisa and Jim asked the waiter what his favorite pizza was and he said the chorizo, cheese, and tomato was his choice so that is what Jim ordered. In about 7 minutes our pizzas showed up and they were like what Jim makes at home, thin crust. The pizza Lisa ordered had about a pound of cheese on it, Brie, Emmenthal, Chevre, and Mozzarella, Jim was envious. His pizza was also excellent with large
Fromagerie in Beaune
Lots of wonderful cheese to choose frompieces of chorizo and lots of cheese. We ate as much as we could and had the waiter pack up the rest to go. Then we realized the pizza came with dessert and we could not say no, so Lisa had the chocolate mousse and Jim had the crème brulee. Another craving from home satisfied.
We arrived in Beaune around 4 PM and checked into the hotel. To our surprise the room we booked was the size of our last two rooms combined. The Hotel de la Post in Beaune used to be the post office many years ago and has since been turned into a hotel. We even had our own parking space with our name on the wall and the man at the front desk knew who we were. He offered to take our luggage up to the room but considering his size we knew he could not do it alone so Jim took one of the bags and he took the other. After we checked in we took a walk into the city to get our bearings. We had been here before in 2000 but nothing looked familiar to us since we had only been here
one day. Right across the street from our hotel was a pub. Jim was eager to find a decent beer but the pub doesn’t open until 5:00. We wander around some more staring at all the wonderful places to get cheese, meats, breads and chocolates. Jim has been in heaven because in every town or city we have been in so far there have been shops with cheese, dry cured meats, and other local specialties and if it were up to him we would buy loads of it to bring home but we know we cannot because of US laws. There was a fromagerie, cheese shop, so we stepped inside and Jim ordered three cheeses for us to have later, a blue, chevre, and an Emmenthal. The young man working behind the counter spoke some English and Jim explained he makes cheese. The young man wrapped up all of our cheese and we were on our way.
We head back towards the pub around 6:00 to find out that it is still closed. There were 6 days listed on their hours of operation sign and we didn’t know which one was Monday. We got out our translator to discover
Beaune Cathedral
At night projectors light up the front of the cathedral with different scenes. that they are closed on Mondays. Many of the businesses in Beaune are closed on Mondays. Considering our long day, that is fine with us. We head back into town for a bite to eat and then we settled into the hotel for the night.
Tuesday October 16, 2012
The weather forecast called for very cold weather so we did not leave the hotel until about 10:30 AM and since we drove so much the past couple of days we decided to walk where we needed to go. Lisa had discovered where the local laverie, laundromat, was located so we packed our dirty clothes across town. When we arrived all but one of the three small washing machines was in use so we put about one third of our clothes in the washing machine and then tried to figure out how to get it to work. The first thing we need was to purchase soap from a machine, so Jim put in the .50 Euros to get the soap but soon discovered there was supposed to be a container to catch the powder as it came out of the machine. Well there was .50 Euros lost. There was
another couple in the place from England who chuckled at first at Jim’s blunder and then offered a plastic up to catch the soap needed for the washing machine. We finally got the first load going but need two more machines to complete our washing needs. The washing machines in Europe are very small and we should have known better. While we were waiting Jim went in search of some breakfast for us. He could not find coffee “to go” anywhere. They love their coffee here but we have yet to find any to go or seen anyone walking around with coffee. He did come back with croissants (of course) and milk. The croissants here are very good. So after about two hours we had clean clothes and a good breakfast and headed back to the hotel.
As we said the weather was very cold so we decided to take a nap in our room since we have been going almost non-stop since we arrived in France and Jim was feeling a little under the weather. Before heading back we stopped at the pharmacy to get some medicine. After exchanging French and English descriptions with the pharmacists and making noises and hand gestures, we head out with some medicine. After a short nap we asked the young man at the front desk where to get the local specialty, Beef Borgonoune, at a restaurant close by. He called the restaurant for us and we walked from the hotel to the restaurant. It was about 7:30 PM so of course we were the only people in the restaurant. We ordered dinner and a glass of wine and enjoyed a wonderful dinner.
We took a walk through town and were surprised to see the church with lights of all different colors shining on it. We too were lit up at first but then we walked away from the church and turned around to see a great display. Every 2 minutes or so the lights would change and the church would look like it was a large stained glass or a waterfall or just some unique pattern of lights. It really is difficult to explain. We took videos but also have a photo here. When you look at the photo, keep in mind that the church is a solid grey. It is hard to tell based on the pretty colors in the photo. We discovered the church was lit up from a kiosk type of structure with two projectors that provided the images. We decided that our feet have taken all they can for today and head back to the hotel for a nightcap and a good nights rest. Whisky of course as there is still no decent beer to be had.
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Rachel
non-member comment
It sounds as though it is a great trip you both are having...Love the pictures and enjoying the blog.