Beaune Market Day

Wednesday, September 23 -- It's market day in Beaune, and I have a fondness for the color, smells, and tastes of a French village market day. Beaune's market days are Wednesdays and Saturdays.  So, we set off after breakfast for the center of Beaune because the market takes place in the same square where we were on the previous Sunday, right next to l'Hôtel-Dieu.

Things were gathering slowly when we first arrived, but the crowds increased and more sellers arrived to display their wares as time went on. We had plenty of time to wander around, examining the various stalls and their wares. The jewel-like vegetables were, as always, spectacularly bright and clean in their boxes.

There was a display of mustard which might have rivaled Fallot. Perhaps not as photographically pleasing, but tempting nonetheless were the olives -- many varieties of olives. One enterprising fellow was selling a specially curved spoon that could be used to dribble chocolate or other colorful sauces on to a dinner plate, to make those artistic designs you get on your dessert plate in a fine restaurant.

 There was a man selling knives, all kinds of knives from kitchen blades to fishing tools and workman-like pocket knives. Another fellow had chickens, colorful metal chickens.Tablecloths and linens were on display, and Faye and Marcia did some serious study of their sizes and quality.

Truffles

We also saw the vendor of truffles and mushrooms, who had a dog which he said is a prime truffle hunter (I thought that pigs did that job?).

Having shopped all we could, and not needing much really, we wandered up the streets.  In France, even a simple butcher shop offers the passer-by an eye-pleasing display of products and humorous decorations.

Charcuterie artisanale

People were going to work, the shops were opening,and merchants were setting out their wares. We finally returned to our car which we had parked next to the "green theatre" -- an open air venue for music and plays where the terraces are grass.  Our guidebook says it was originally a public bath in medieval times.

Leaving Beaune in the morning sun, we aimed the car toward Les Falaises de
Saint-Romain or maybe it is better called the cliffs of Orches.  In any case we drove some winding, narrow roads to the southwest of Beaune, climbing higher and higher.  Eventually we found a nice pull-by on the heights with a great view over the valley.  Of course pictures of the valley never turn out very well, but we did snap a few of ourselves.

We headed back down from the escarpment, and we found a bottle bank on the way down.  There seemed no reason not to make a noisy deposit out here in the country.  Soon we rolled into the village of Rochepot, which seemed closed for lunch.  Knowing we were out in the country and far from a larger village, we thought we'd better be serious about any available lunch options.  We stopped at a well advertised little restaurant tucked in a courtyard, Le Monsegur.  Faye went over to look at the menu and came back with a surprise: the cafe is actually a charity operation that employs some challenged youth and immigrants, providing them work experience and some earnings. The three-course menu (only Euros 13) was plentiful and tasty. Our large salad at the start was so filling, we wondered where we would fit two more courses. The dining space is filled with colorful artwork by local artists; the tables and chairs are brightly painted and include whimsical depictions of a set table. And by the time we left, the place was full and several bike riders were waiting to get in.

Village of Le Rochepot

Medieval kitchen

It was raining, but we proceeded up the hill to the castle, Le Rochepot.  The Château de La Rochepot has been standing on its rocky peak since the 13th century. During the 15th century, the Château became the home of the Lords Régnier and Philippe Pot, both Knights of the Golden Fleece and counselors to the Dukes of Burgundy. We did the tour with the printed guide in hand because we had missed the English-language guided tour.  It is a true castle -- with drawbridge, battlements, arrow slits, a well, and a pretty well equipped kitchen -- so it is not hard to imagine life in medieval times.  
 
Just as we left Le Rochepot, the sun began to burn through and the day turned bright.  Driving up the road on the other side of the valley, we realized there were some good photographs of the castle from that perspective too.

One objective of this trip from the beginning was to taste some Burgundy wine, so we decided to return to the village of Puligny-Montrachet where we had seen an attractive dégustation au caveau opportunity.  It had been closed for lunch when we were last in the village on Monday.  

It was actually quite crowded when we arrived about 4 p.m., but soon a helpful fellow (the owner?) named Julien got us started on some tastings.  We tried six different wines at a cost of 30€ -- but it seemed worth it -- wines from Puligny-Montrachet are expensive to begin with, the pours are generous, and owner Julien has a font of knowledge to share. These are lovely, full-bodied wines; the whites are the stars (while in Pommard, just up the road, it's the pinot noir reds that garner attention).

On the way back to our little chateau in Pommard (with the reverse-in parking under the shed around the corner), we stopped at our favorite Hypermarché Carrefour in Beaune for supplies.

That evening we gathered around the computer to watch the 2000 movie Chocolat with Juliette Binoche, Johnny Depp, Judi Dench and Alfred Molina -- because tomorrow we're going to the village where it was filmed!

Chateauneuf and Vezelay

Tuesday, September 22 -- We awakened to a bit of rain and cloudy skies this morning.  Nevertheless Dick and I made a trip to the bakery for croissants, and things began to look better.  Undismayed by rain, we packed our umbrellas and departed in the direction of Auxois.

Before long you notice the relatively intact castle of Chateauneuf watching over the flat open country and the Burgundy Canal.  This castle and its imposing 12th century stronghold bear witness to the strategic position the village occupied between Dijon and Autun.

The medieval streets a lined with the stone houses built by rich Burgundy merchants from the 14, 15 and 16 centuries. and lead up to the viewpoints which offers splendid all-round vistas in most directions.  Rick Steves' said not to bother with paying for entrance to the castle itself, so we did not.  Instead, we wandered about, looking at the empty streets and thinking that this must be a very different place on sunny,

summer days when it is filled with tourists.  Had there been a good looking restaurant we might have stayed and given them some business, but it seemed a better idea to continue on,

Just below Chateauneuf was the Burgundy canal where a canal boat, the Rendez-vous, was unloading its passengers for a tour of the castle, we presumed.  The canal, 150 miles long, connects the Atlantic Ocean to the Mediterranean Sea via the Seine and the Yonne to the Saône and Rhône.  There are 189 locks along the way. These barge tours might be be a comfortable way to sample the wines of Chateauneuf-du-Pape and the the departments of Yonne and Côte-d'Or.

We motored on to the mountain top village of Vézelay. 

The rain either continued or threatened the entire time, and it was getting into afternoon, so we accepted an invitation to have lunch in a little shop on the main street that had room for no more than four or five tables.We had croque-monsieur and some local wine by the glass -- not especially memorable, but it counted as lunch and offered a look at local life.

After lunch, and in the rain, we continued walking up the street to the main goal, the Basilica Saint Madeleine, on the top of the hill. The Benedictine abbey church, now the Basilica of Sainte-Marie-Madeleine (aka Saint Mary Magdalene), has a complicated program of imagery in sculpted capitals and portals over the doors and it is said by the guidebooks to be one of the outstanding masterpieces of Burgundian Romanesque art and architecture. It was also

interesting to note that Vézelay stands at the beginning of one of the major routes through France for pilgrims going to Santiago de Compostela.  The carvings and sculptures over the doors were remarkable, even if the interior of the basilica was rather plain. But what goes unnoticed by most visitors is that not only the basilica's orientation, but also its internal structure, are designed in accord with the position of the earth relative to the sun. Every year, on John the Baptist's feast day, at the full midday of the summer solstice, the sun's light coming through the southern clerestory windows create luminous spots that exactly shine in the middle of the nave with a rigorous precision.

The nave of the Basilica of Sainte-Marie-Madeleine

Vézelay from below

We returned to Pommard through the Vallée du Cousin, a very scenic drive on a country road.  The route follows the picturesque, narrow, wooded valley of the rushing River Cousin and ends up in the town of  Avallon.  I was driving, so we don't have any pictures of this part of the trip, but there are some good ones here on Fickr.

---

Cluny: An Impressive Abbey

September 21, Monday -- We began with a trip to the Carrefour hypermarché to buy some essentials for the house including wine.  The supermarket has a vast selection of both local and French wines, at least two aisles worth. 

But, on the way, in Volnay, we saw a large, photogenic wine press sitting in a vineyard. We all posed for a picture, and then we began to examine the vines.  It looked like there were still grapes on the vines, although we later learned that the first harvest (vendange) had already been taken place about a week before.  Still, the vines have their leaves and look healthy. We continued through Meursault, looking for a tasting venue.  But the town seemed shut down and sealed up.

We continued on to Puligny-Montrachet, a slightly larger village.  It was however equally dedicated to wine and vineyards, with a large bronze statue in the town square to celebrate the grape harvest.  Puligny-Montrachet features the narrow winding and streets and the sandy brown one- and two-story farm buildings so characteristic of this area.

It being even on the late side for lunch, we examined a restaurant just off the square.  Then our gaze fell on a nice looking building a block away.  It turned out to be the Hotel Le Montrachet, but we did not know that at the time.  We asked if the restaurant had an outdoor area and were told no.  We then asked if there would be space inside for four.  The clerk agreed to go check, and came back with a positive answer.  We had a memorable luncheon, selecting the modest September menu at 32 euros -- cream soup with mushrooms, veal breast with cabbage, pike quenelles, and croquant shell with raisin cream and raisin ice cream. I remember the wine was a local chardonnay, I think a 2011 Beaune blanc .  The setting was perfect with pink table linens, patterned fabric chairs, and attentive service by a seemingly countless staff. Of course, we later learned we had been accommodated without a reservation by this Michelin one-star restaurant.

We continued on to Cluny, where the former Benedictine monastery Abbey de Cluny was built in the Romanesque style in 940 AD, with three churches built in succession from the 10th to the early 12th centuries. Only parts of this massive abbey remain, but they are enough to give you a sense of how large it was at its peak.  The physical size of the abbey apparently reflected its importance in the world of the medieval church. As we learned in the 3D movie that was shown as part of the tour, the abbey was notable for its strict adherence to the Rule of St. Benedict, and Cluny became the leader of western monasticism. 

In 1790 during the French Revolution, the structure was mostly destroyed, with only a small part of the Abbey surviving.  But even today, the ruins with the virtual reality screens help one appreciate what an enormous abbey this was in its prime.

Virtual reality screen

Model of Cluny

Abbey of Cluny today

 We tried to tour the Museum  which was included in our ticket, but because it was less than a half hour until closing time, we were not permitted in.  Instead we chose to climb the "Cheese Tower," a local landmark that offers great views of the city and the abbey remains. It is 120 steps to the top of le Tour de Fromages where in days past the cheeses were put to dry or age.     

Sunday in Beaune

September 20 -- Our full first morning in France was sunny and bright.  Thanks to Dick getting up early and exploring Pommard, we had fresh, warm croissants from the la boulangerie artisanale in the village.

Because we needed to stock the refrigerator, we drove off in search of a hypermarché that might be open on Sunday morning.  Unfortunately, the two we tried first were both closed for Sunday.  There may have been another nearby that was open for a few hours, but we never found it.  We did however get some air in the right front tire on the car because the dashboard indicated we needed air.  This is a pretty smart car.

Wood carved door

We decided to make the best of the day by heading into the Beaune city center and exploring.  Beaune has a ring road that circles about where the old city walls used to be, and we were able to find parking there. We walked toward what we thought might be the center of town, and soon came upon a large church, the Collégiale Basilique Notre-Dame.  It dates from
the 13th century and features a style described as Burgundian Romanesque. It also has some Gothic additions and a Renaissance bell tower.

We continued along and soon hit the central market area and the Gothic facade of L’Hôtel-Dieu, also called the The Hospices de Beaune.  This was a charitable almshouse founded in 1443 by Nicolas Rolin, chancellor of Burgundy, as a hospital for the poor.  The facade is a superior example of Northern Renaissance civic architecture and there is a treasure trove of panel paintings, with numerous portraits of Rolin, his wife and

members of his extended family. 

This was our first introduction to the multi-colored roof tiles that are so typical of Burgundy. We paid for the tour with the audio guide and spent a good while marveling at the architecture -- a pair of  very large two-storied buildings arranged around a stone courtyard. Amazingly, it continued to operate as a hospital for the poor from the 15th century until the 1970's.

We had lunch in the open air at a simple restaurant in the old city area after some map reading and decision making.  We even changed from one restaurant to another when the waiter said it would be a half hour before our food arrived. (At least we think that's what he was saying.)  As proof that even the simplest meal is an experience, we had snails, jambon perseille, and beef bourginogne.  The Pommard wine was good, but this also was our first introduction to the fact that a wine found in a restaurant may not be found later in the hypermarché or any other store.  It was of course a Sunday in France, and few if any stores were open.  We walked around the city ramparts for the views and eventually returned to our car. 







On the way out of town, returning to Pommard, we passed Edmond Fallot's famous center of the mustard arts, La Moutarderie.  This place is to the dégustation of  mustard what a cave is to wine.  They offer a tour of the facilities, a vast selection of mustards from Burgundy and beyond, as well as tasting opportunities.  So extraordinary is it that the New York Times wrote up the experience.



Having lunched in the city, we made a light supper of cheese and salade.

Off to France in the Fall

September 18-19 -- We departed Dulles just a little late, after an hour or so relaxing in the Air France lounge before our Iceland Air flight took off. There was a quick transfer in Reykjavik the next morning, and then on to Aéroport de Paris-Charles-de-Gaulle.  We quickly found Faye and Dick waiting not far from the Budget rent-a-car counter. Before too long we had taken possession of our Renault Scenic, a fairly roomy sedan with a good baggage space.  It's has a small gasoline engine that shuts off when you stop and put the gearshift in neutral. Also, there are very handy sensors on every corner which always let you know when you're close to shrubbery, curbs or walls.

Chateauneuf from the A6

We're soon off to Pommard from CDG, driving down the A5 toward Lyon and on to Beaune via the A6, a distance of about 350 kilometers. We passed the photogenic hilltop castle of Chateauneuf, to which we would return later in the week. 


In about three hours, as it got close to 6 p.m., we arrived in Pommard and found our villa in the village at 11 Rue de Carmots. With two bedrooms and two baths, as well as a large main floor, this was the shop of local respected winemaker Jean Michelot, whose family has lived in Pommard since the 1600’s. The family made, stored and sold wine here and the now modernized house is decorated in a tasteful, simple country style.  There are good views of the famous Pommard vineyards from the windows and from the rooftop patio. 

11 Rue de Carmots

Having nothing much in the pantry, we went for a walk around town.  Marcia had already discovered that Pommard features one of the finest restaurants in the area, the Auprès du Clocher in the street near the church's clock tower.  We had local wines (the Premier Cru Clos Micault) and the menu proposed by chef Jean-Christophe Moutet, -- a fabulous choice all around.  Marcia has since posted a review on Trip Advisor.

Vineyard view from the rooftop terrace