Auxerre E14

The Aire that we are on in Crevant is right next to the Canal de Nivernais which runs from Clemency to Auxerre and it is only a 20 km cycle ride along the tow path to Auxerre.  This led us directly into the heart of the city….

The Cathredral St Étienne is having a ‘clean up'

 

In the old quarter is the 1463 Tour de I’Horlage.  Above the entrance arch is a 17th century clock which tells the time of day and the day of the lunar month…...

Clock face in close up (see the sun and moon on the hands?)

Spotted in a local patisserie were these yummy looking cakes.  They appear to be a Sunday special as the queue to buy them went outside the shop (and they are about £17 to £20 each!)

 

Grahame having a cheeky break at one of the locks on the way back

 

We called in to the Caves Bailly-Lapiere on the way back to taste and buy some Burgundy Cremant.  As you may know a ‘cave’ is a generic term for wine seller, but in this case we were completely surprised to find ourselves literally cycling into a proper cave deep into the limestone!  The wine is delicious and after supping a few glasses we loaded up our back packs and wobbled back to the van!

 

This brings us nearly to the end of our ‘Burgundy wine tour’.  Tomorrow we will set off towards the champagne region via Irancy (where we hope to buy some reasonably priced red wine, and Chablis for some more white Burgundy.

The van is getting heavier daily……….

Noyers sur Serein E13

After Semur en Auxois we visited another fortified settlement, this time the pretty little village of Noyers sur Serein.  Something we noticed in particular is that the old 15th and 16th century half timbered houses are quite the opposite of the ones in Alsace, these are plain with coloured timber whereas the houses in Alsace we all sorts of colours with black or non painted timber.

There is something quite ‘reassuring’ about French medieval villages I think……. a kind of good old fashioned ‘what you see is what you get’….. 

 

The stone ramparts and fortified battlements enclose much of the village…...

and over the centuries houses have been added and built ‘into’ the walls….

Semur en Auxois E12

This small fortress town is perched on a Granite spur in the river Armançon.  Guarding it are four massive pink granite Bastions forming the outer corners of the Keep

 

The main town entry gate (originally with portcullis)

 

The view from below outside one of the town walls

 

The adjoining walls between the four Bastions were demolished in 1589 to make way for house building etc…..

and this crack has been in this wall ever since! (the walls are up to 2.5 metres thick)

Burgundy update E11

No photo’s here.  This is just a wee update to explain the last two days in more detail.  We have tasted quite a few of the local red wines and we are a little distressed to discover that anything ‘half decent’ costs 10 t0 12 Euro’s a bottle at the very least!  Burgundy is known as one of the worlds best ones so this is an expensive place to buy wine.  We have not really tasted anything below 30 Euro a bottle that we like enough to take home……. so we leave Burgundy without any red wine! (we did buy 4 bottles of quite tasty White Burgundy tho’, but even that was an average of 7.5 Euro a bottle)

Compared to Alsace, Burgundy is more like the ‘rural’ France that most of us think of, slightly run down and dilapidated but in a nice way.  We had intended to visit Dijon but due to the nearest Aire being sited right next to a very noisy community centre that looked set for an all night party we skipped Dijon and continued our journey Northwest towards Chablis.

We have stopped tonight (Friday) in the town of Semur en Auxois, which has a fortified village centre that we shall be looking at tomorrow.  Having just had a lovely meal washed down with a nice bottle of Bordeaux (shush, don’t tell anyone!) I have just updated the blog...

 

Till next time…………….

Beaune, Burgundy Wine route E10

So, after a whirlwind tour of Dole we drove to Beaune then set off on a whirlwind cycling tour of Burgundy.  We rode the 40 km round trip cycle path from Beaune to Santenay.  This took in famous wine villages such as Volnay, Meursault and Chassagne-Montrachet….

These are amongst the most famous vineyards in the world!

Beaune is famous for the Hotel-Dieu des Hospices de Beaune, the magnificent Gothic hospital built in 1443

The roof at the back is tiled in these multi colour patterns….

A typical French scene in the late August sunshine…..

Dole E9

Having left Alsace yesterday in the rain we decided to night stop in the town of Dole on our way to Cote de Baune.  This was simply a chance stop to break up the long journey but as it happens Dole is a nice medieval town.  The Cathedral is just across the river from where we stayed so this was our view...

 

There are small sections of ‘canalised’ river below the old town...

 

Inside the Cathedral there is this memorial to those who lost their lives in the two world wars….although not religious I thought this particular painting is quite moving...

and this one too….

 

Another canal section...

Alscace Wine route... Kaysersberg E8

These photo’s are hot off the press.  We have just finished a walk around Kaysersberg (where we stayed last night) and we are about to set off on a new wine adventure……….Burgundy!

We have had a great time cycling and drinking (!) our way around alsace and wish to finish on a ‘high’.  The scenery is gentle and the medieval villages are delightful, however if we are not careful we will reach sensory overload (remember that from Norway? or even France last year).  After about 5 or 6 days the novelty of the half timbered houses and cobbled street is diluted so it is time for a change of scene.

We have stocked up on some fantastic white wines so Burgundy is a natural choice for the reds!

 

 

 

 

 

Alsace Wine route.....Colmar E7

Colmar is the Alsace wine region capital and as one guide book says ‘looks for all the world as though it has been plucked from the pages of a medieval folk tale'

‘Petite Venise’….

Maison des Têtes, a house built in 1609 by a wealthy wine merchant who festooned it with 106 grimacing faces and heads of animals, devils and cherubs

Is this one happy or shocked?

Maison Pfister (15th century) with its delicately painted panels, elaborate oriel window and carved wooden balcony

3 km north of the old town is this 12 metre high replica of the Statue of Liberty.  It was erected to mark the centenary of the death of local boy Frêdêric Auguste Bartholdi (1834-1904), creator of the New York statue (bet you didn’t know that!).  This one is rather inelegantly placed in the middle of a busy roundabout.

Alsace Wine route E6

The last two days we have cycled further along the route between Mittelbergheim and Riquewihr.  We night stopped on Sunday in Chatenois and today (Monday) in the bigger town of Ribeauville.  These rides were through beautiful countryside and quaint medieval villages.  As per the previous blog entry is it difficult to single out particular photos.  Each village is a riot of colour and wonky half timbered houses so I have simply put a few on to give you another ‘taste of Alsace’.

Talking of ‘taste’ we are having a fantastic time visiting the ‘caves’ (wine houses) and sampling the wine.  Our cellar of Alsation wine is growing!  We have discovered that we really like the Pinot Gris and Gewürztraminer and have a few ‘special’ one’s put by :)

On top of this pole is a Condor…...

probably trying to work out how to get home…...