The Massif Central region.

As we came down to b/fast we saw the remaining mountain bikers that had stayed overnight before they moved onto another location tonight, there were also a Swiss hiking couple walking part of a well known track in this part of France, it covers many kilometres through this rugged mountain area. They told us that many French do part of the walk one year & then the following year they start from where they finished the previous year so over a number of years they complete the whole trail.

It was so foggy when we left we were reduced to about 50km/hr for most of the trip north to Villefort, Langogne before reaching Le Puy-en-Velay ( 21000 ) right in the heart of the Massif Central at lunchtime & guess what, everyone was vacating the centre of town & going home for lunch, what a surprise. It is a ritual that we have seen repeated throughout France during our travels, every village or small town virtually become ghost for the times between 12.00-1.30pm, good luck to them I guess at least they are holding onto one of their old traditions & no one likes their food more than the French.

The city has 3 striking volcanic plugs ( called puys ) located around the area, on one of these @ 85m high is the Chapelle St-Michel d'Aiguilhe while on another we have the massive Rocher Corneille which was crowned in 1860 by a very vivid pink/red, 16m high statue of Notre Dame ( Our Lady ) de France ( see pic, sorry that was also in the last posting ) made from melted down cannons captured in the Crimean War - very impressive. The drive into Le Puy was made more spectacular when you saw both of these edifices protruding well above the surrounding city buildings. The climb up to the Cathedral & the giant statue was up very steep cobbled streets but once up there the view was worth it.

We had a bite to eat in the now nearly vacant town, the cars & shoppers were all gone only tourists like us were around. We headed further north to la Chaise Dieu where we filled the car before finding the Abbey Church of St-Robert. The original Abbey was built back in 1044 but was in a bad condition by the 14thentury. Early in the 14th century an 11 year old novice monk, Pierre Roger de Beaufort joined the Abbey & later as Pope Clement 6th he bequeathed funds for the fundamental reconstruction of the Abbey Church. Although sacked by Huguenots ( Protestants ) in 1562, ravaged by fire in 1695 & despoiled by revolutionary mobs in the late 18th century it's still very impressive.

The day was quite foul now as we finally found our lovely B & B which was more like a mini Chateau than a house ( see pics ). We went for a meal in the neighboring town of St Yorre at the Auberge Bourbonnaise which was very enjoyable in pleasant surroundings, the only thing that put us off was the 3 couples that bought their b----- dogs into the restaurant & even though they were well behaved it is just a little off-putting. Just as we were agout to leave the restaurant the rain came down in buckets absolutely torrential stuff, naturally we took our time getting back to our B & B.

I woke to the sound of the alarm & was soon shaved & showered. I looked at my watch & thought that it must have stopped as it was showing 1.30am, unfortunately so was the alarm clock-how stupid as I had obvoiusly dreamed that it rang & got up. Sara had stirred by now & she just said something like " you must be crazy " & went back to sleep, I changed & went back until the real alarm went off at 8.00am, what an experience.

The morning bought no improvement to the weather so we had a quick tour of Vichy before heading due north through Lapalisse, le Donjon, Dompierre, Decize, Moulins-Entilbert before reaching Vezelay ( see pic b/right ) another fortified medievil village high on a ridge overlooking a lovely green valley. We stopped to stretch our legs before finding our Hotel which is situated in the small village of Pontaubert about 8kms south of Avallon. The Hotel is actually an old mill ( see pic ) located right on the river, the mill has been converted into the restaurant for the Hotel so it gave a lot of ambience for the meal that night with its nice open fire & high lofty roof all very special, it was certainly a nice ending to a rather dreary day outside. Ciao for now.

Discovering Baux-de-Provence & further north.

We caught up with Michael & Laurie at b/fast & had a good chat & exchanged our email & blogger addresses, thanked Mdme Alexandrian for the lovely stay & on our way by 10.00am.

It didn't take long to clear the outskirts of Aix-en-Provence on the motorway swinging S-W through Marignane before heading N-W to Salon-de-Provence & St-Martin-de-Crau. From here it was due north to Maussane-les-Alpilles before arriving at les Baux-de-Provence. What an eye opener this turned out to be because as you approach the site it just looks like a rocky outcrop surrounded by other mountains but once you have walked up from the carpark & into the village it is quite amazing.( see pic bottom right )

This breathtaking fortified medievil village, named after the 245m high " baou " ( rocky spur ) on which it is perched brings in some 2.5 million tourists per year ( thank God that it was after the rush ) .
Tha castle looms over beautiful vineyards & olive groves set beneath these dramatic limestone hills on one side & a picturesque valley on the other. As you enter this hilltop city you walk on narrow cobbled streets lined with old houses, some have now been transformed into shops & restaurants.

Once you reach the top you step out onto a rocky plateau where once a thriving community once stood. They had many crops growing up here & shaped a section of the rock into a flat surface that would collect the rain, from there it was channelled to run to a lower level into a large water reservoir for the cities water supply, very clever stuff.

Unfortunately they ran foul of the king at the time & because their position was so advantageous by being able to view the surrounding valley the king then resorted to starving them out. They managed to hold out for a considerable time before surrendering to hunger & illness, the king was so incensed by their stand that he ordered that the entire city be totally destroyed so what we were seeing today is only part of what once stood there, nevertheless it still gives you some idea of what it would have been like in these very serene surroundings.We found out that in the surrounding hills there was also a lot of bauxite ( for making aluminium ) so obviously the name for the rock came from here.

After nearly 3 hrs discovering this medievil village it was time to move on. Just a little further north was St-Remy de-Provence a lovely town snuggled down in the valley surrounded by vines & olive groves, we would have liked to have spent some time here but our time at Baux left us a bit behind our schedule. We pushed further N-W to Ales an old coal mining town where mining 1st started back in the 13th century when the local monks started digging in the surrounding hills near Ales. The mines finally closed in 1986.

Ales is also the gateway to the Cervennes mountains where back in the early 18th century they had the Camisard Revolt. A guerrila war raged through the Cervennes as Protestants took on Louis 14th's army. Poorly equipped but knowing the countryside intimately they resisted for 2 yrs but once the army got the upper hand the local population was either massacred or they fled. Their leader Roland was killed he was only 22years old. A bit of history for you !

It was starting to get foggy as we negociated the last leg along a windy road in Genolhac.
Once there it was another 6kms of very narrow road along a ridge to our B & B. As we broke out of the surrounding forresr we came across our stay for the night perched high on a ridge with the most spectacular view one could imagine. Once we had settled in we decided not to chance our luck at trying to go down into the village as by now it had become quite foggy & on that track - no way. We had a nice meal supplied by our hosts so it was perfect. It was a fitting ending to a nice day. Until the prochain fois ( next time ).

Down in the Provence.

We were down to b/fast by 8.30am & saw Gary & Janice chatting to another couple so we sat down & joined them, they were Michael & Laurie Thomas from Detroit. We were soon joined by a French couple who didn't speak English & later an older French couple came for their petite dejeuner, it ended up being quite an International b/fast.

We said our goodbyes to Gary & Janice who were moving on today & exchanged our email addresses & blogger of course.Our hostess gave us directions to get to the parking station at Krypton which was just a little further on from where we had dinner the previous night, for E2.00 per day, from there we took the free bus into the centre of Aix-en-Provence.

What a great service this is, because it takes pressure off the city centre by having less cars entering into it & secondly you get dropped off right in the centre as well, can't beat that.
As it turned out, trying to negociate the myriad of one way streets, all the building construction taking place, plus the lack of parking in general we were glad that we took the bus.

We were in luck, it was market day in Aix & all down the main street of Cours Mirabelle ( see pic ) there were 100's of market stalls selling clothing, jewellery, shoes, handbags & lots of different appliances. We passed them in the bus before getting off to explore this lovely city. Not far from where we left the bus yet another market was in progress but this time it was more a fruit & vegies, spices ( see pics ), a great selection of cheeses & also chicken & meats, off course a you could also get your bread for lunch there. On the opposite side of the square it was set up for the jewellery, old books & clothing, CD's & DVD's, pottery & of course the middle-eastern man trying to sell his rugs & scarfs etc. We bought some cheese, saucisson & bread to have later & continued on our stroll through this very vibrant city.

We must have walked 4-5kms over the next 3 hrs just taking in the ambience of this very temperate region. Aix-en-Provence is one of France's most graceful & popular cities & its University caters for some 30000 students, many of them foreigners undertaking intensive language courses, certainly as we walked around we could recognise many different cultures represented.

By the time we walked back to Cours Mirabelle the market was nearly finished, right on 1.00pm they pack up their wares & are gone within 15 minutes then the street cleaners come in & clean up any rubbish & soon have the main street looking pristine clean, you would never know that there had been a market there - very well organised. We found a nice outdoor restaurant ( see pic ) situated in a large square adorned with tables from the various establishments & shaded with large plane trees. During lunch we sat back & just observed the passing crowd.

We left at 4.30pm after quite an absorbing day, picked up the car & grabbed a bottle of
" Chardy " to have in our B & B with the goodies we had bought earlier in the day. All the walking made us a little weary so we ended up having an early night. Until next posting.

In the French Alps near Italy

We woke to a much clearer day as the mist had lifted & we could finally see the mountains that surround the perimeter of Briancon.
For a long time this town was a frontier post & overlooks the road to Col de Montgenevre ( 1850m ) an ancient Roman mountain pass which was made into a reliable road by Napoleon, the town's lofty ramparts & sheer walls are more akin to what you would see in northern Burgundy than its Alpine neighbours. Unfortunately there had been no progress with my " internal problem " during the night & it was starting to be a bit of a concern, we would see what today would bring.

Briancon's main claim to fame is at 1320m it is the highest town in Europe & boasts approximately 300 days of sunshine a year.After b/fast we headed up the very steep main street to reach the old village entering through the Porte de Pignerol adaunting gateway hewn from dark stone. The steep main street is known as the Grande Gargouille ( Great Gargoyle ) because of the drain that gushes down its middle while the brightly coloured buildings of earthy reds, pinks & ochre yellows give the town an almost Tuscan feel to it-remembering that the Italian border is only 20kms N-E.

We spend a good couple of hours exploring this most interesting town before heading back down to our B & B. Sara made up some baguette rolls for lunch & then we headed out over the border into Italy. On the way we were watched on both sides of the road by the huge granite edifices that are a little unnerving particularly when back home we have our little foothills in comparison. Sometimes we had the rock canterleaving above our head as we traversed this narrow mountain pass so I made sure to concentrate the whole time.

We were soon across the border into Italy where we stopped at Clavieres to have our lunch & even though it was drizzling rain it was pleasant sitting in the car opposite the ski run that in a couple of months would be subject to hordes of skiers. We drove onto Cessana before heading back to Briancon. Later we changed for dinner & had a meal in the old village ( vieille ville ) in an Algerian Restaurant where we had 2 traditional meals namely the Loup de Crevettes ( fish & prawns ) for Sara while I had the Agneaux Pruneaux ( lamb & prunes caserole) both served with polenta & both very flavoursome. We had a bottle of Cotes de Ventoux to help complete the meal.

I woke a much happier man as during the night " my problem " was finally over, the pills had worked so the rest of the night was very restful.

The morning was fresh & clear with sunshine bathing the whole skyline. We had another great b/fast chatting for a long time with our hostess as she & her husband had spent some time in Cairns back in 1984 & had really enjoyed their time there & hoped to return permanently at some stage in the future.

We left at 10.30am heading south to Gap & Sisteron before stopping for lunch at a nice little park at Village St Jean, from there we pushed & reached the outskirts of Aix-en-Provence @ Les Milles by 3.30pm. This village was so nice, a square surrounded by large plane trees that shaded the whole area making it very relaxing to sit back & enjoy a very welcome beer. Sara asked 2 of the local gentlemen sitting in the square if they knew the B & B but no luck, Sara then rang the lady who said that she would come & show us the way back. We are glad that she did as we wouldn't have found it otherwise.

The surroundings were lovely with nice rustic colours inside our bedroom & bathroom with the floor done in a rectangular terracotta coloured tile while outside there was a terrace with table & chairs where we caught up with some writing & reading before going out for dinner in the next town of Pont d L'Arc. During our time on the terrace we met up with a nice couple from Adelaide, Gary & Janice Chapman who had been on their tour for a month or more. We are sure that we will see them again at some stage in the future.Until next posting

Today we cross the Alps

We woke to the sound of rain & after opening the volets ( window shutters ) we noticed it was also quite foggy outside but that wasn't the issue as during the night I had developed a serious problem of going to the toilet probably a direct reaction of having the " Baeckeoffe " in Alsace I spelt it Backoff & the " Racquelette " in Geneva I thought it was Rackling so sorry for the misleading reporting.

After a nice breakfast at the Hotel we headed across the road to have a look around Chateau & its surrounding parkland ( 2nd & 3rd pics on the
left ).

The overcast sky combined with the fog & mist created quite an eerie backdrop to this lovely parkland & it was just nice strolling through it looking at all the various types of ducks & swans preening & feeding themselves in a truelly serene surroundings. Unfortunately the local pharmacy wasn't open this Monday morning so we headed out & found one in the next village & promptly took 2 tablets to ease the pain.

We drove onto Le Bourg d'Oisans, from there the ski resort of Alpe d'Huez sits 13km above Bourg d'Oisans & is reached by a steep road ( La Montee de Alpe d'Huez ) which is best known as one of the " classic " ascents often included in the Tour de France cycle race ( it was included in 2006 ). It was a shame that thick fog was now covering the mountain as I'm sure that the surrounding scenery going up the mountain would have been spectacular, unfortunately that didn't stop a couple of " fools " overtaking us going uphill in the fog-some people.

A lot of the bends on this ascent are 1st gear so you can imagine how hard it must be for the cyclists, I have a new appreciation for their fitness & skill just to make it to the top of these gruelling ascents, I'm sure that at the end of each climb that their hearts must be pounding & their legs would be in absolute agony - I take my hat off to them. At 1860m while not being the highest of the mountain climbs it is one of the steepest at 7.9% gradient.

By the time we had reached the finish line of the tour stage we were passing through the ski resort village where, in a couple of months the slopes would be covered with snow with 1000's of ski enthusiasts plying their skills on some of the best sking slopes in France including " La Sarenne " which at 16km is the longest " black " run in the French Alps & experienced skiers can also ski in July & August on glaciers ranging from 2500m to 3330m.

We drove back down to Bourg d'Oisans for a coffee before heading further east to the Col du Lauteret some 40kms through the mountains. It was quite an eerie feeling driving in the fog & mist with these granite giants peering down at us from both sides of the road & made more dramatic by the narrowness in some parts as you just seemed to be clinging to the side of the mountain pass. As we reached the top of the ridge at Col du Lauteret ( 2058m ) it was again raining quite overcast & dark we had a flashing light on the dashboard warning us that it was 3 degrees outside & to be aware of ice at this temperature.

Now the conditions had completely changed because all the surrounding mountains had snow on their peaks & the thought of driving in these conditions just to reach the top of the highest peak in the Tour de France being the Col du Galibier @ 2645m was a little forboding in these conditions so we just took a photo ( see pic ) & headed onto Briancon some 30kms east.
It was spectacular arriving into Briancon with the old part of the town perched on a rocky outcrop like a sentinel guarding the pass between the French Alps & Italy which was only 20kms to the N-E. We found our little B & B in the pretty little vilage of Villard St. Pancrace just 2.5kms south of the town centre. We did some shopping before eating in tonight as I was still having major problems. See next posting,cheers.

Geneva to Lyon & the Rhone Valley

After a rather late breakfast & a chat we were finally on our way by 10.30am, we said our goodbyes to Bob & Anthea & thanked them for their hospitality & hoped that we could return the favour back in OZ one day.

It took longer than expected to traverse across Geneva but eventually we found the road south & back into France & down to Annecy. We didn't stop at Annecy ( 50000 ) because we had struck the Saturday morning market so we pushed on through to Chambery ( 58000 ) with the same result & even though they were both charming towns we decided to push on towards Lyon.

By late afternoon we decided that it might be better to tackle Lyon in the morning so we stayed just south in Bron at a "Campanile Hotel" which is one of the larger motel type establishments in France. The room was quite comfortable but the meal was not up to the standard of what we had previously enjoyed-c'est la vie.

We were still some 1o kms from Lyon but being a Sunday we had a great run in & were soon on the outskirts of this very large city ( 420000 ) certainly the largest that we had encountered so far. Unfortunately during the approach to Lyon the local gendarmes were diverting traffic away from the centre of town as they were conducting the annual Lyon Marathon so we had to find another way into town. We stuck to our standard approach for all villages & towns by looking for the " centre ville" signs & it didn't let us down as we negociated the drive in & were soon mingling with the traffic on the main boulevard that runs beside the mighty Rhone river.

The layout of Lyon reminded us so much of Paris with the 2 main roads lining the river just like the Seine & a collection of grand buildings adorning both sides it is a very formidable city but a little daunting for a 1st time visitor. Our problems didn't end there however as it was also market day in Lyon, so with that as well & the blockades for the marathon there were no visible carparking spots around so unfortunately we decided to move on south as the whole scene was a getting a little stressful. See the 2 pics on the L-H side above.

On the motorway we had soon put Lyon behind us & were heading to the Rhone Valley. We turned off at Vienne onto a minor road which lead us to the top of the valley at the famous wine village of Ampuis ( see pic ) & then to Condreiu where we stopped for a look around & had some lunch.Once again being a Sunday nothing was open just a little local market but none of the vineyards which was a bit of a pity as it would have been nice to at least try some of these very popular French wines. We continued south onto Tain l'Hermitage where the area's most respected appellations St.Joseph & Hermitage are grown. At the end of our drive through this area we both remarked that it was probably the most uninteresting part of France that we have encountered so far - we turned off before Valence to Romans-sur-Isere & then onto Grenoble.

What an eye-opener this turned out to be we had never seen so many apartment blocks just everywhere you looked. We must have been coming in through a newer part of town as all the roads appeared to be recently surfaced & all the trees lining these streets were still quite small.
Trying to find an exit out was a nightmare but after several attempts we headed to Vizille.

Once in Vizille we managed to find a room in a cute little hotel ( see pic ) in the centre of the village & it was comfy & something a little different. The rain had set in now so it was quite wet & gloomy but we had a lovely meal in a cute restaurant just around the corner from the hotel.
We start our drive through the French Alps tomorrow.

Our time in Switzerland

After a number of hours catching up with the passing years Bob prepared a traditional Swiss meal for us called " Rackling ", it is made from a particular cheese that is placed in a flat scoop & melted under a grill before you scrape it off with a wooden spatula onto boiled potatoes that have been cut into pieces add some pepper & eat. I have to say it was very different & quite nice but very high in calories & carbs & oh so filling.Unfortunately we didn't get to see Anthea until about 10.30pm as she had been out to her music committee meeting, she produces musical shows as a part-time interest in her spare time while during the day she holds down a very responsible position with the United Nations in Geneva a real vibrant lady.

We both slept very well after this meal & after a very light breakfast headed off with Bob towards Lausanne on the motorway.Nearing Lausanne Bob asked if we had a motorway card, & when I said we didn't he showed some concern because by not having one if we were stopped by the police we could be heavily fined evidently so we exited from there ASAP onto their smaller roads all the way to Gruyeres.

The Chateau at Gruyeres was yet another town surrounded by ramparts & heavy fortifications & was in remarkably good condition, these days it houses many restaurants & shops but also has an interesting tour tracing the history of this spectacular building which is perched on a mountain top high above the valley giving you a view to die for ( check out the pic above ).

After spending nearly 1.5hrs there we headed down to the main town to the cheese factory where they make - yes you guessed it Gruyere cheese. The ensuing tour with the audioguide was very informative we didn't realise that so much went into producing cheese I guess we take all these processes for granted. One fascinating part of the tour was the different types of grasses, flowers & plants that the cows eat during their time in the high mountain passes there must have been at least 20 vials full of different scents of these aromas, quite amazing.

We then watched the process of taking the treated milk from the large copper vat & transfering it into stainless steel circular mould & any excess ( the whey ) is drained off & then over a period of time the mould is compressed. After that it is transfered to a curing rack where it is continually turned until it matured & ready for sale.

We took the lake road back to Bob's which was a lot more interesting than the motorway because at least we got to see the lake & the houses around it, we were surprised to see a lot of grape vines growing so close to the water, in fact I didn't realise that the Swiss had any wine industry at all as we had never tried any before. When we arrived back at the house Bob made sure that we tried the local product, it turned out to be quite palatable.

The next day Bob, Sara & I took a beautifully kept paddle steamer across the lake from Nyon to the small medieval village of Yvoire which is situated on the French side of the lake. It turned out to be yet another picture postcard village with the cobbled streets lined with lovely stone houses & shops, a very tranquil existance. We had lunch at the local creperie before heading back on the afternoon boat to Nyon. Being retired Bob was doing most of the cooking & certainly all of the shopping & tohight he cooked up a mean pasta with a Bolognaise sauce -really good.
Anthea was home earlt today so after dinner we all just sat around & chatted on I think it was about 1.00am before we went off to bed. See next posting.

In the Alsace region near Colmar.

We continued on the N74 to Langres before turning east towards Lamarche. We had made reasonable time through but would have been better without the number of heavy transports that use these smaller roads rather than pay the toll on the motorways & therefore congesting the road system throughout the whole country.




We finally cleared the congestion & by 1.00pm we had both Contrexville & Epinal behind us. By now the scenery around us was changing with more hills now quite evident & by the time we arrived at St-Die-des-Vosges we had arrived in the mountain area of the Alsace. As we weren't taking the direct road to Colmar we didn't get too phased by the notice that the mountain tunnel through to Colmar was closed & pushed on taking the minor roads along the more picturesque route.
Well, we don't know what we did but we ended up on the wrong road going in the wrong direction completely. Of course we turned back & eventually found our road through to Ribeauville & what a little gem of a place this is it is picture postcard perfect as it is covered with flowers all along the streets as you drive through-it is fantastic. We spent time just taking in this amazing scenery ( all the pics in this blog are from Ribeauville ) & after about an hour we headed about 5kms south to find our B & B in yet another equally as pretty village called Riquewihr. This was probably quainter than Ribeauville as it was mainly a walking only main street with the odd delivery van interupting the peace & quietness.
We booked into our very comfy surroundings & relaxed a while before we headed out for a meal in Riquewihr. We had been told about a local dish called " Bakhoff " that I should try as it was made with 3 meats pork,beef & lamb. When it came to the table I nearly fell off my chair, it was a medium sized casserole dish with the meats plus potatoes & sauekraut filled right to the top.
I tried valiantly to make a dint in this over the top sized meal but gave up after having my fill, it was very flavoursome certainly the type of meal one would have during winter in this part of the world.
After a nice light breakfast we walked around Riquewihr in the morning just to get a better appreciation of this beautiful area. We bought some wine for our friends in Geneva before heading into Colmar for a quick visit. Unfortunately, even though Colmar was a lovely town with an old district it didn't compare with what we had seen on the previous day.
We made very good time on the motorway down to Belfort then to Montbeliard before taking a more scenic route through to Pontarlier, just south of there we crossed into Switzerland & then it was a short drive to Morges which is just west of Lausanne. From there the major motorway took us to where we turned off 20kms east of Geneva to find Bob & Anthea's house in the very nice rural village of Chavannes de Bogis. We quickly located their house & were soon exchanging greetings with Bob. It was great for Bob & Sara to catch up again because it was back in 1972 that they last saw each other when they both worked for the Hotel Tahara'a in Papeete. They enjoyed reminiscing over the good old days at the Hotel. See you.

Around Dijon & then onto the Alsace region

Once again our breakfast was fantastic, our hostess must be quite a cook as there were new delicacies to be had this morning but this time we made a quick exit, paid our bill & said our goodbyes. We met a lovely older couple from Toulon who said that if we were ever in the area just give them a call & come & stay for a couple of days-so nice of them to offer. Toulon is further around the coast from Marseille towards the Italian border so one never knows.
From Puligny it was a quick trip through Beaune & we were soon passing by more of those famous vineyards in the northern part of the Cote d'Or, first it was Nuits-St.Georges followed by the likes of Vosne-Romanee of Romanee Conti fame then Clos-de-Vougeot with its magnificent Chateau right in the heart of the vineyard, then came Chambolle-Musigny, Morey-St.Denis & Gevrey-Chambertin, I'm sure that Big John, Jeremy Stockman & others that know these wines would love to be let lose for a day or 2 in this part of the world.
As we approached Dijon it was obvious that it was a much larger city ( 240000 ) as traffic had increased significantly but we didn't need to panic as directions were very good & we were soon on the outskirts of Dijon, all we did then was to look for the " centre ville " sign which is the town centre & bingo we were soon in the centre found an underground parking area & ready to discover Dijon.
We walked around the city centre just taking in this very busy & bustling town, we headed to find the Palais de Ducs et des Etats de Bougogne ( Palace of the Dukes & States of Burgundy ). The building received its neoclassical facade in the 17th & 18th centuries when it was the seat of Burgundy's parliament. Today the west wing is occupied by Dijon's city hall while the east wing houses the Musee des Beaux-Arts which is one of the most renowned museums in France - considered by many to be 2nd only to the Louvre. After spending nearly 2.5hrs there we can certainly say it was well worth the visit- the audioguide certainly helps to explain all of the dispalys more clearly.
We sat down & had lunch in front of the Musee in a large plaza with plenty of restaurants with seats lining the semi-circular plaza, quite relaxing. We took a " Navette " or free city bus around through parts of the city we wouldn't have had time to see so that was worth it, then hopped off & spent some time walking around the older part ( see pic lower right ) before we headed back to our B & B for tonight at Morey-St.Denis.
We booked in & then went touring to have a closer look at the area, unfortunately Clos de Vougeot was closed so we continued onto Nuits-St.Georges. We found a nice little bottle shop where we could try some of this great wine ( see pic ). All the wines were very special & we ended up buying 6 bottles to have back in Mareuil, from there it was a quick drive back to get changed for dinner situated on the other side of Nuits.It turned out to be a lovely meal set in a restaurant shaped like a cave so plenty of atmosphere all enjoyed more with the bottle of Morey-St.Denis Pinot Noir that we had with dinner.
We got underway a little earlier today & had soon located the ring road around Dijon, once we were on this road we had soon cleared Dijon & on our way N-E to Alsace. To be continued.

Our time away around France

Well we are back in Mareuil after 3 lovely weeks touring around this very beautiful country. Sorry about the break in transmission of the blog but it was too difficult to organise & we didn't see any of the many Internet Cafes they all talk about.
We decided to leave a day earlier than scheduled as the weather here had changed as it began raining just before we left our Dinner in Blere on Thursday night so we decided then to leave on Saturday 16th September.

We didn't leave until 10.00am but were soon onto the N76 heading to Vierzon, Bourges & onto Nevers where we had trouble finding a route through the town because up until now every town or village has been very well signposted, anyway we finally found the right road. The weather had also improved dramatically with plenty of sunshine streaming into the car, it was now a nice day for driving & the surrounding scenery was an absolute picture with rolling hills & a patchwork of ploughed fields intermingled with vineyards we have never seen such varied shades of green.
We made good time to Chateau Chinon, Auton before stopping at a quaint little village at Nolay where we stopped for a welcome beer & coffee. We weren't far from Burgundy ( Bourgogne ) we soon saw the vines covering the surrounding hillside as we drove into Chassagne-Montrachet & then it was only a couple of kms before we drove into our stay for the 1st 2 nights at Puligny-Montrachet.
We checked into our B & B ( Chambres d"hotes ) ( see lower pic ) & were given a lovely outside apartment away from the main house so we were out on our own. We had a nice walk around the village but didn't find a mini-supermarket, breadshop only a Hotel which looked a little up market for us.
We still had food left over from lunch so we stayed in had a nice knock up dinner with a bottle of red.

Breakfast had so many choices available one had to be careful not to get carried away eating everything & the view into the vineyard was a great vista ( see pic top left ). After chatting on with the hosts we took off to Beaune going through some of the names I had only read about in wine books. We passed through the likes of Meursault, Auxey-Duresses, Volnay & Pommard before getting to Beaune.

We luckily found a car space & then went exploring around this very popular town of some 22000 people & is the unofficial capital of the Cote d'Or. Probably the most famous site in Beaune is the Hotel-Dieu des Hospice de Beaune the celebrated charity hospital founded in 1443 by Nicholas Rolin who was chancellor to Philip the Good. Behind the Gothic frontage, the hospice opens into a stone courtyard, surrounded by ornate turrets & pitched rooftops in multicoloured tiles. In the Grand Salle where they housed & cared for the poor, something quite unique for the times which also housed a small chapel for those too sick to attend mass. It was a remarkable setup for the times & was helped by the Catholic Church through the then Pope Clement 1st.

We then spent a very interesting time going through the Musee de Vins which gave us a very informative look into the history of wine & its workers in one of France's great wine area of Burgundy. We headed back through the rolling hills behind Beaune to Puligny-Montrachet & changed clothes for a night out in the neighboring village of Meursault.

We found a table in the Hotel Les Arts luckily, as 10 minutes later they were turning people away. The atmosphere & food were great & would you believe it the majority of the people in the restaurant were either Aussies or Kiwis so it was nice to hear the familiar twang echoing around the room. The poor French patrons I'm sure they didn't have a clue what was going on , all these people " parler-ing-en-Anglais ", anyway it was a great night with great company.

We move onto Dijon tomorrow so we will update you from there, bon soir H & S.