Beaune - Part 2

In addition to touring the Hôtel-Dieu, we made sure to explore Beaune itself.  We were fortunate to be visiting before the crush of tourist season – we hear the place can become a zoo.  We walked along the remaining sections of the ramparts which now provide access to parks and residences.  There are even pieces of the moat in places!  We wandered through the city streets and neighborhoods, window shopped, and, of course, scouted out cafés and restaurants for lunch and dinner.  We ate well and enjoyed conversations with fellow diners and wait staff.

Entrance to hotel lobby



Breakfast room.

We ate breakfast at l’Hôtel Belle Époque, where we were staying.  They have a lovely sun room just for that purpose.  It was while we were having breakfast that we noticed that there were an amazing number of American tourists – not our usual experience!    In fact, with the exception of one British couple, the breakfast room was full of Americans one morning. 

Anna actually came to the rescue of an American man who was asking our hotel receptionist where the nearest ATM was. They are not called ATMs in France, and the receptionist had no idea what he was looking for.  What made the incident even more comical was that Anna couldn't remember the French name (initials) for an ATM (DAB - Distributeur Automatique de Billets). So she had to go into an explanation of how the machine is used and that one generally finds them on the outer walls of banks - with a little pantomime thrown in.  The receptionist said “DAB”?  Anna agreed, and all three of them breathed a big sigh of relief.  We saw the gentleman in Beaune later, and he assured us that he had gotten his cash. Anna doesn’t think she'll ever forget the term "DAB" again!

Lunch the 2nd day.  That's Anna in the middle toward the back.

But, we were in Beaune so we just had to do some wine tasting – right?  In addition to trying a variety of wines with our meals, we decided to go to a place for wine tasting.  Our hotel receptionist suggested we check out Patriarche Pere et Fils, and so we did. Patriarche Pere et Fils is quite a large facility.  It is actually located in the historic Convent of the Sisters of the Visitation.  The building was confiscated during the French Revolution in 1789, and then purchased by Jean-Baptiste Patriarche, a local vigneron, in 1796. 

We decided to take an audio-guided tour of the cellars with stops along the way with information about various wines and, of course, tastings.  This involved wandering through some of the maze of 5 km (a little over 3 miles) of vaulted cellars some of which date back to the 13^th century.  The cellars are quite impressive with all their twists and turns and millions of bottles of wine.  At various staions, bottles were set out with information about the wines, and the opportunity to taste, which of course, we did.

David is quite the fan of Pinot Noir, the red grape of Bourgogne, but feels that almost all the reds from Bourgogne that we have tried are actually rather ordinary.  This is especially true when one considers the price - which can run to hundreds of euros per bottle.  Many of the wines tend to be thin and rather short - with minimal fruit and little character to the finish.  They simply do not stand up to a top California Pinot Noir in the same price range of 40-70 euros.

A view of the cellars and stored wine

Anna in the cellars

(Patriarche no longer grows grapes; instead it buys grapes from growers and offers a wide range of Burgundian appellation wines.)  We bought two bottles of Premier Cru red and two bottles of Cremant, the sparkling wine of Bourgogne. It was quite the experience; and we ended up meeting, yes, you guessed it, another US couple. We walked back to our hotel with our purchases and then back into Beaune for another very nice meal – with wine, of course.

After our very pleasant stay in Beaune, it was time to stroll to the gare to catch our train for Lyon.  As much as we love Lyon, we always enjoy visiting other parts of France.  It’s a very interesting country with a variety of climates and geography.   We’ve also noticed some minor regional differences in food, customs, and even language.  One thing that seems to be a constant is the friendliness and welcome we find everywhere.