The Vineyards of France

Beaune, France

Goodbye large city, we are ready to fill our lungs with some fresh country air! We had to take a train in to Paris to catch our longer connection out to Beaune. As fate would have it we didn’t plan our connections quite right and we missed the train by about 20 minutes. Sigh. Well, since we couldn’t change what happened we attempted to enjoy the three hours we had to spend on the train station floor. Yes, the floor. The few benches around were all filled so we used our bags as seats and tried to look for all things positive.

Starbucks Chai! This was one thing to be very thankful for. We decided something hot would be a comforting after sitting and reading/writing for an hour or two in the less-than-homey atmosphere.

We did finally arrive in Beaune and found our adorable B&B. The elderly Madame Rousseau speaks very limited English but her hospitality is so sweet and our room was the cutest thing ever!

And then we did laundry. Yes, lots and lots of laundry! Long backpacking trips aren’t all fun and games folks! 🙂

The next morning we headed out and rented bikes to do a little exploring around the countryside. This was the beginning of the bike trail we took between three or four little towns. The countryside is absolutely breathtaking, especially after fighting crowds and big city for a few days.

Acres and acres of beautiful, perfectly trimmed grapevines abound. The weather was dreary and a bit chilly but still the ride was worth it. This place definitely became another of our favorites!

Oh, the grapes! Such huge, juicy looking clusters and they were everywhere! It was hard to make myself stop taking photos of every angle possible.

This little archway was so cute we decided to take a photo just because we felt like it. It was so low that my head just brushed the stone top.

Ah, yes. This is the way we roll! Rain jacket, camera, water and backpack. We’ve learned to be very conservative in our packing.

This little biker guy directed our way through small towns and across hills. And then we even found some delicious food!

Seriously, those French bakeries! Fresh baguettes for lunch or one of the amazing display of sweets for dessert? It was hard to walk past one when we saw the mouthwatering things inside.

Eclairs. Fresh, soft, delectable eclairs. Until you’ve tasted one of these you are truly missing out on some of the finer things in life.

And always my favorite, buttery, chocolate filled croissants. Oh, so unhealthy but oh, so good!

After finding a nice spot for our picnic lunch we wandered around town a bit and found some of the delicious, aforementioned sweets. And then we headed back the way we came, stopping for even more photos along the way.

After returning our bikes we had to take a trip to the train station for tickets to Lyon. And then on our way back we passed an adorable chocolatier/bakery and of course I had to stop in an look around. But as always, one can’t walk out without at least a few of the glorious sweets!

We wandered the streets of Old Beaune then. Its such a dreamy, cute little town but super confusing as well! Beaune is a sort of circular walled town and while I thought I had a fairly good sense of direction it was all lost in this place! After a while everything began looking the same and I think we walked an extra mile or two just trying to find our way home.

We extended our stay at the Hotel Rousseau for an extra night since we’d fallen in love with the area and didn’t really feel like spending time in a big city right away. Our breakfast area was so cute and terribly outdated but we didn’t really mind. Also, these mugs just cracked me up. I wanted to bring one along home!

And then to town we went to see what we could find. We discovered a fun little market with lots of stalls set up to sell produce and spices, meats and cheeses and of course sweet things as well.

These homemade lollipops were so yummy and sweet and it made me feel like a kid again to walk around licking it. 🙂

There were rolls and rolls of cheese which you could smell pretty well from quite a distance.

And produce! Such colors and such a beautiful variety!

And of course, since this is wine country there were wineries around every corner you turned.

And then we had to grab our bags and head to the station for a short hop to Lyon. This has become a pretty normal part of life the last five weeks. Its going to be quite relaxing not to hear the screeching of trains and blaring of announcements once again.

We arrived in Lyon without any mishaps and after climbing the 78 stairs to our room (no, that’s not a typo), we went out to find some of the highlights in the old part of town. After winding our way through a number of pretty old streets, a few traboules and a myriad of shops and restaurants we experienced our first Italian gelato. Let me tell you, it was absolutely grand! We haven’t even gotten to Italy yet and we’re already loving it!

On our way back we crossed one bridge and saw many more since the city straddles both the Rhone and the Saône rivers. They were beautiful in the dark.

If you look closely you’ll see a message on my hand. (Special artwork, compliments of Mary)

And so ends another few days and another country. This felt like a perfect way to cap off France and we were all looking forward to spending time in Switzerland. Dear friends, Swiss Chocolate and the Alps. I can’t wait to tell you about it!