Our first stop in France was the region of Burgundy, and what a perfect introduction to the country! Wonderful food, famous wines, beautiful countryside, and some of the best weather we'd had all trip. The first town we hit was Dijon - like the mustard, yes. Dijon is a charming town with lots of little squares covered with patio dining. We stayed in a small hotel just off one of the squares, built in what used to be a post house. The hotel's courtyard was covered by a stretching trellis of grape vines, making for a perfectly romantic setting. We spent our time in Dijon exploring the streets, visiting the Musee des Beaux Artes, and relaxing (with so much travelling, sometimes you just need to slow down a bit!). For dinner, we found a cafe on the square and ordered some Burgundy specialties - Boeuf a la Bourgignon and an assortment of terrines, all washed down with some great local wine!

The courtyard of our hotel in Dijon, and from our window looking down

The next morning, after our cafe au laits and croissants, we left Dijon and headed south through Burgundy to Beaune, one of the region's most famous wine producing towns. Surrounded by miles and miles of vineyards, Beaune is an upscale little town that definitely caters toward the wine-oriented tourist. Arriving early in the morning, we rented some bicycles (from the most friendly and knowledgable man in all of France), and found a great little campsite just outside the city center. After setting up camp, we hopped on our bikes and set out to do some bike touring of the region. Our plan was to spend the following three days biking around Burgundy between the towns, exploring the rolling hills of vineyards and sunflowers.

Our first day we rode about 50 km, from Beaune back north torward Dijon, following the Route des Grands Crus, the famous wine route. As we would find during our biking the next couple of days, we had the small roads all to ourselves, very rarely passing a car. They twisted through the vinyards and around hills, making for some great riding paths. Biking among all the grapes really got us into the wine mood.

Vinyards, and one of the many chateaux we would pass on our ride.

When we got back from biking late in the afternoon, we went into town to tour Beaune's underground wine caves. The town sits atop miles and miles of winding underground tunnels, stacked with thousands of bottles of aging wine (some vintages were dated 1904!). We toured the Caves of Patriarch et Fils, making our way through the dark passageways, admiring the sheer number of bottles. At the end, we were awarded with a tasting of 15 different wines (this can have quite an effect after a full day of biking, let me tell you!). That night, though tired from our first day of biking, we were very excited for the prospect of two more days of cycling and drinking great wine!

On our second day, we cycled from Beaune south in the direction of Lyon, spending part of the day following the canals and another part of the day climbing hills, finding ourselves in picturesque little hilltop villages. Once again, all around us were vinyards spotted with chateaux, making for breathtaking scenery. This day was a bit longer than the day before, so our legs were definitely feeling it after a few hills and about 60 km.

One of the hilltop towns

Boeuf a la Bourgignon

When we got back to town, we visited another of the underground caves, where we were able to taste 13 more wines. After drinking, we explored the Hotel de Dieux, the first hospice in France. During much of the past 200 years, the nuns here have provided free care to the sick and the poor. Under the beautifully tiled rooftop, rows of red beds housed the patients. Though the active hospice was moved to a modern facility years ago, it still houses a functioning home for the elderly. After our visit, we found a charcuterie, where we bought food for a picnic in one of the nearby squares.

Hotel de Dieux rooftop, courtyard, and patient beds. These rooftops started a Burgundian tradition.

Our last day of cycling took us northwest of Beaune, into a totally new territory. Here, we were faced with some long uphill climbs, roaring downhills, and one beautiful castle on a hill! We began the day riding through the vinyards, but soon turned off and began climbing through a light forest. We continued a rythmic ascent/descent pattern, cycling through pastures and forest, spotting lots of the famous white burgundian cows (they're huge!), and even running across one runaway horse (his unhappy owner was not far behind him). We stopped for lunch on the canal just before a big uphill and got to see a boat making its way through the locks. Near the middle of our ride, we found ourselves in a stunning, ancient hilltop town crowned by a dominating castle - very fairytale-like. After over 70 km of hills, we coasted downhill along a stream all the way back to Beaune. Exhausted and hungry, we treated ourselves to a couple of Salades chevre chaude for dinner, relishing our wonderful couple of days of biking through Burgundy. This now ranks as one of our favorite bicycling destinations!

Traffic was really an ass in Burgundy

Lunch on the canal

Hilltop Chateauneuf with it's castle

The next day we took the train from Beaune to Lyon, the so-called gastronomic capitol of France. We certainly found this to be true! Our hotel was in the Croix Rousse, a happening neighborhood up a steep hill from the New Town. Heading down the hill, we explored the small winding streets of the Old Town, before climbing up the hill to the Basilica. It's sturdy stone exterior belied the beauty that lay within - vibrant mosaics in greens and gold.

Basilica

After visiting the Basilica, we planned to return to our hotel to clean up for dinner. However, the subway was closed due to a gas leak, so we had to take the bus. I have never seen so many old ladies packed on to one bus with no ventillation - not fun. We finally made it up the hill just before the old ladies started screaming at the bus driver, and jumped out before it became ugly! Later that evening, we headed back down to the Old Town and found a local restaurant serving traditional Lyonnaise cuisine. Walker and I both ordered the menu - he had French onion soup followed by Andouille sausage, and I had liver salad followed by saussison chaud (another saussage). For dessert we had crepes and fromage blanc. Can't get much more traditional than that! After thoroughly stuffing ourselves, we slowly made our way back up the hill to our hotel.

The next morning, we visited the enormous food market on the square just adjacent from our hotel. Looking for a good cheese for lunch, we found a cheese lady who gave us samples of a few. We ended up buying more than we needed, and then because she liked us so much (we guess), she threw in an extra goat cheese for free because she had accidently squished it. We bought some bread, and enjoyed our sandwiches in the square. After lunch, we headed for the train station - off to Paris!