Bourgogne, a charming region / France 1

Our trip through France started (and also ended, eight days after) in Bourgogne, a lovely and beautiful region that fascinated us with the charme of Beaune and its surroundings.
Beaune is a small town but a real jewel with a joyful atmosphere given by the many wine shops and restaurants, but still without being too touristic. The style of the houses is distinguished and discrete, elegant but not severe.

Shields with names of wine producers appear everywhere, and when you look in the distance it’s all surrounded by vineyards, so when you walk through Beaune the only thing you really desire is to taste a glass of wine!
When we arrived on August 14th, after settling in our nice room at Hotel Grillon, we went out to visit Beaune, but unfortunately it was raining cats and dogs, so we were not in the mood for a big walk. In fact it was already quite late so we decided that we had no other choice (what a sacrifice!…) than to look for a restaurant…
The one we preferred was full, so we went to another typical French style bistrot where we had a simple and nice dinner with a bottle of red Bourgogne. Emanuele tasted the famous “boeuf bourgignon” but he didn’t really drive crazy for it…
On the next day we woke up with sunny weather, so we could enjoy the surroundings of Beaune, driving for a couple of hours through the astonishing vineyards of Chardonnay and Pinot Noir, passing through all those tiny old villages, stopping for a coffee in Nuits-Saint-Georges (which gives the name to many important red burgundy wines). We particularly fell in love with the old village of Aloxe-Corton (surrounded by many prestigious vineyards) and we reserved a room for the week after, for the last night of our trip, at Hotel Villa Louise.
Then we drove to Dijon, the capital of Bourgogne, famous all over the world for its mustard. Also a beautiful town, with a great Palais in the main square and many other historical buildings. Our visit was just a quick walk, as we were expected to meet in Epernay (in Champagne) with our Belgian friends few hours later.

Holiday in France