This is how much Ron and I love the town of Beaune, the wine capital of Burgundy: If we lived in France only in the summers, that’s the place we would choose to live. PHOTO: A musician at the Beaune market.
Beaune, the heart of the famous Côte d’Or region of France, is a gorgeous town located between Dijon and Chalon-sur-Saône. History lovers, gourmets, les amateurs de vin, you will all find something here to love. Here are 5 reasons to go:
1. The Architecture, and the town itself. Beaune has a great layout: it’s lively, walkable, and surrounded by a small ring road where you can park and walk in. The lay-out is circular, since the town was surrounded by ramparts, many still remaining. The buildings and the winding back streets are lovely, and steeped in history.
2. The wine, bien sûr! This is Wine Central, and there are caves galore to visit, in and all around Beaune. There are a maze of tunnel-like wine caves to explore that run under the streets.
3. The Food, and a great hotel. We love Ma Cuisine, Le Gourmandin, and La Cibolette, all reasonably priced. And there are lots more restaurants to love. If your budget can stand it, stay at L’Hotel de Beaune, it’s truly special and right in town.
4. The Market. Every Saturday the best food market in Burgundy is right in the main square by the famous Hospices de Beaune. Bonus: there is a small brocante flea market in the next square over, also every Saturday, plus a foire with baskets, cloths, and gifts.
5. Because it’s in Burgundy—the best part of France, of course! And Beaune would be my number one pick as a home base to visit Burgundy, especially the northern part; and you can reach the southern tip of Burgundy is an hour and a half.
We were in Beaune last week with friends, and we are quite envious of our American friends Patty and Jock, who own a townhouse in Beaune centre. They were kind enough to invite us over to their charming abode, where we sipped some very good wine in their garden. Merci, Patty and Jock! (That's them on the right, in their garden).
In the COMMENTS: Suzanne has good cornbread ideas, but I must tell you that in Charleston we do everything different--white cornmeal is a sacrilege, only yellow will do! Debbie, that sounds like a peach millefeuille, hmmm. Natalia, that's the part I remember from Peter Mayle's book too. Donna says 'perfect is boring'--merci, my Dear. Mary, no need to seal the edges of the biscuits. And RE your
Burgundy questions, September weather should be coolish and great, and it's hard for me to recommend a wine, there are over 1500 Burgundy wines. And most of them are good! For Burgundy fêtes and attractions, go to Burgundy Eye. Libby, glad you stayed in Goult, so you know how great it is. Connie, YEA, so glad y'all are coming!
Favorite Reads: I just finished a really good book called The The Perfume Collector: A Novel
PHOTOS Above, where to stay in Beaune: in a restored 19th century house. Right, visiting a wine cave.
Art News: The artist in Goult in the Luberon we talked about in the post two weeks ago, Françoise Van Heuverswyn, now has her website up and running. She does nudes and also some beautiful and colorful abstracts. You can find her new site here.
