Beaune

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The morning started with a quick trip to Carrefour to pick up some cheese, meat, chips and Orangina. It i always interesting to see what the cost of items are at the local grocery store. I was surprised to find housewares and a few other things. The wine and alocohol selecToon may have exceeded our LCBO.

Shopping was followed by breakfast in the hotel. It was included with our room so....off to brunch. It was impressive. You could make your own egg, several types of breads (including pain au chocolat and brioche toast), meats, mmmmm......

Then it was off to Bouchard Aine et Fils. Waiting for us was a wonderful woman who gave us a personally guided tour (just us!). They have a "five senses" tour. We heard wine making (piped in sound), looked at the colour, smelled jars of items that represented aromas, touched materials to demonstrate texture of the wine, and, of course, tasted! We also got a peak at some of the private rooms that have original floors and decorative walls and ceilings. Sinclaire was very good at identifying the aromas and may have actually allowed a drop on her lips.

Later in the day we drove to Bouchard Aine et Fils. There were several other people on the tour from Sweden, England, and The Netherlands. After going through the cellars (not all of them, they have a kilometre of cellars) we had a tasting of their Pinot Noir.

Glenn and I took a quick walk to the Hospice de Beaune to pick up tickets for that evening. We took a quick tour of this historic hospital. It was quite remarkable with it's decorative roofs. I

Back to the hotel where we watched the end of the Tour de France. No surprise ending, but it was neat to see what would be coming up in the next few days for us. Dinner consisted of some amazingly fresh and sweet strawberries, soft brie, viande de pays, croissants, and cheeseburger flavoured chips (which no one liked).

Finally, we walked through Beaune to find sorbet/gelato (cassis, raspberry, and mango) - and off to the Basilica to the opera - Don Giovanni. With a start time of 9 pm and a 3 hour performance, we left after the first act. The program was to be performed outside at the Hospice de Beaune, but there was rain predicted around 1 am so they did not risk being outside. On our way in, we were given a libretto with a translation - I thought, "Oh, great", and then I opened it - there was the original Italian....and the translation to...French. Ugh. To follow the performance, I listened to Italian, and read the French. After a long day, I was pretty tired. One or two of us may have nodded off during the performance.

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Photos

Mercure Hotel
"Interesting" on the outside, modern and fresh on the inside!

Basilique de Notre Dame
Unesco world heritage site.

Basilique de Notre Dame
At night they light it up!

Carrefour
Yep, three more rows of these in the grocery store...no craft beers...

Our car.
Good thing driving standard is like riding a bike.