Day 20 – Faire de velo, Hospices de Beaune, et un restaurant

Our little cycling break - it's cold

Bev had a booked us on a ride through the vines which was an experience suggested by AirBnB. Given the weather we were unsure about whether it would proceed. An email did not elicit a response, so we put on as much clothing as we could (the car said it was 4 degrees) and drove about 30 minutes to Chénove to meet with our guide, Julian. The street address we had been given had two different approaches which made it confusing, but the map on the GPS was good, so I was able to figure it out in the end and fortunately Julian seemed relaxed about our late arrival. Prior to this, we had seen a large group of cyclists go past us and thought we had been left behind but a text from Julian confirmed he was still waiting for us.

The refreshments

Julian had good bikes for us to use which was a relief. While it was great to get back to some riding again, it was so bitterly cold it was not as much fun as it might have been. I had gloves but Bev did not so her fingers were almost numb by the end of the ride. Our ride took us along back paths to Givry-Chambertin and back. We stopped for a little refreshment that included a jambon persil (a sort pressed ham with parsley made by our guide’s grandfather), emmantal accompanied by aligoté (wine) and Cassis. Aligoté I was told is the usual wine used in Kir (the Cassis and white wine aperitif). By the end of the ride, we were both chilled to the bone. Even the heating in the car did not warm us up much.

A vineyard of Cotes de Nuits

After some lunch and a long warm shower, we went into Beaune to visit the famous Hospices de Beaune. It was charitable creation of a man who wanted to do good for the poor people. He donated money for the building and operations of the hospital which was aided by the ruler of Burgundy at the time, Phillipe the Good. The main building was rebuilt in 18^th century according to the original plans with the only original parts being the roof. It is quite impressive. It was operational until the 1970s when funds were raised to build another hospital. One of the features of the funding is that wine growers donate barrels of wine each year which are auctioned. The resulting wine is sold under the label of Hospices de Beaune. They are a good wines and can be quite pricey.

Medical treatment in those times was not fun such as blood- letting, enemas and a number of other gruesome procedures. Surgery was done by butchers (literally). Some of the medicines were poisonous. Clearly if it didn’t kill you, it cured you.

That night we went out for dinner to a restaurant that was recommended by our host. The meal was great and one of the best we have had since being away.

One of the nice coincidences was that we were seated next to a young couple who clearly spoke English. I thought they might be New Zealanders but because of the noise in the restaurant, I couldn’t be sure. Bev was having the same thoughts. At the end of the evening I leaned over and asked the young man where he came from. He laughed and said “New Zealand like you”. They too had picked up the accent. They had been living in London for seven years and because it was a long weekend they had decided to come to Beaune. He wanted to return to NZ but his partner was not so keen as she had the job of a lifetime and really enjoyed it.

They were a lovely couple who originally came from the West Coast and had worked in Wellington. So another coincidence.

The meal and conversation was a great way to end our brief stay in Beaune.