France, I love to hate it and hate to love it. Well, where do I start? It started out a little rough but my Mom and I ended up secretly falling in love with Burgundy. Why a secret? Well, I think we can both agree that it is hard to love a place that kind of, maybe, just a little likes you back.
It started at the airport as I trudgingly stepped out of the car rental shuttle and got hissed at by a random French woman because my giant, overweight suitcase got in her way (which was directly in front of the door). We were lucky to get a diesel VW that drove like a gem. My Mom's GPS redeemed herself and got us not only to our B&B, La Combotte, in Nantoux, but it got us everywhere we needed to go throughout the week. Upon arriving to the B&B, we were shown our room and left to ourselves for the night. After some driving around and checking out the sights we called it a night.
The following day, we head into Beaune town center. This is where it gets tricky. The entire day was spent trying to figure out how we would tackle this grand, incredibly famous landscape with no help from anyone. In fact, it felt like people became annoyed if we breathed too loud. Every question we had was an inconvenience, we were pushed/shoved, ignored and generally treated like trash. Here we are, two women, a little wine knowledge under our belts, excited beyond belief to experience this viticulture wonderland, only to be shooed away like a fly.
When we got back to the B&B I decided I needed some help to not only calm myself and but to figure out how the hell we will navigate this vast wine country. I emailed my trusty wine guru, Mark. I explained not only the confusion we were facing in planning our winery visits, but just the general feel of France. Mark expediently wrote back with not only great suggestions and must-do's for winery visits, but some restaurant suggestions and even a little advice on dealing with the locals. That was 'France is one of the most amazing countries in the world. The only problem with it, are the French people.' After a nice laugh and some insight into relaxing, having fun and trying out some French, we cleared our minds and readied ourselves to enjoy the rest of the trip.
Our first stop that evening was Clupres du Clocher. It was a recommendation of Mark's for dinner. WE splurged for the 6 course chef's choice dinner and OMG, was it one of the most amazing culinary experiences of my life! Every bite was absolutely amazing. It tasted exactly as it was intended to taste and the presentation was a work of art. Unfortunately, I did not bring my camera with my on dinner excursions, but my mother's phone took some decent snapshots.
The following morning, I made sure to make an effort to get to know the host of the B&B (who was a little on the shy side). I told him about the restaurant we had been to the night before. a big smile filled up his cute little French face and it seemed as if we were slowly being let into the secret French society of French people, that apparently you had to be in, to be treated like a human being. We also expressed interest taking a tour of his family's winery, if time allowed. After discovering I had worked at a winery in the states, his mysterious, secret society smile widened even more. I think we were in...
The rest of the vacation was filled with a few tourist spots, but mostly hidden gems we found by just driving through a dozen towns recommended by Mark. We did Beaune one day, the north and south of Burgundy the following two days and Dijon our last day in town.We made it a point to greet with a smile and complement the host on their English skills, they giggled and denied speaking good English. Once we stated that their English was far better than our French, they loosened up. The host was giving us fantastic restaurant recommendations, the wineries were more the happy to help us with wine suggestions and the weather was amazing on top of it all. I have been living in the Arabian Gulf (as you all know) for the past year and any type of cooler weather with little to no sun was not only a welcome relief, but something I had been looking forward to as much as Burgundy itself. The entire week we were in Burgundy it was chilly, sunny at times, but more overcast than anything else . . . ugh, how amazing this place was turning out to be!
In Beaune town center, we hit 3 or 4 winery shops and even got a chance to tour one of the cellars. It was slightly more touristed, but still a worthwhile day out. The northern and southern excursions over the following two days involved us visiting wineries, not only recommended by Mark, but also wineries that appealed to us randomly. We also got a chance to see a few beautiful cloisters, palaces and chateaux. The final day in Dijon was spent walking around some surrounding villages, taking a mustard factory tour and seeing the grand canals. We filled up our days with a lot to do, but the pace was slow enough to still enjoy the scenery around us and take in an amazing meal each night.
Speaking of remarkable meals, the restaurants were truly a gastronomic experience. The combination of service, presentation and taste explosions sent my mother into an 'oh, ah' fest at every meal. No calorie was spared and we realized that all the walking and healthy food (for the most part) in Italy, was going to be erased here in the wine region of Burgundy, France. And to be honest, I don't think either of us minded.
I forgot to mention that our B&B was incredible as well. After the host became more comfortable with us, things seemed to relax a little. The place was clean, organized, perfectly manicured with great breakfast and two adorable dogs.
Overall, Burgundy impressed the hell out of us. It is truly Frenchman's France. It may sound ridiculous, but this area was so amazingly French . . . the flowers hanging off each window sill, the attention to detail in each dwelling we entered, the food (oh, the food), the wine, the landscape; even the damn white Burgundian cows were cool. We were in this French fantasy and we ended up falling in love with it. We later found out that the Burgundian region is not frequented by Americans often. WE hope we made a good impression on the few people we met and I have to say that this is one region I wouldn't mind seeing again one day. Enjoy the pics!
It started at the airport as I trudgingly stepped out of the car rental shuttle and got hissed at by a random French woman because my giant, overweight suitcase got in her way (which was directly in front of the door). We were lucky to get a diesel VW that drove like a gem. My Mom's GPS redeemed herself and got us not only to our B&B, La Combotte, in Nantoux, but it got us everywhere we needed to go throughout the week. Upon arriving to the B&B, we were shown our room and left to ourselves for the night. After some driving around and checking out the sights we called it a night.
The following day, we head into Beaune town center. This is where it gets tricky. The entire day was spent trying to figure out how we would tackle this grand, incredibly famous landscape with no help from anyone. In fact, it felt like people became annoyed if we breathed too loud. Every question we had was an inconvenience, we were pushed/shoved, ignored and generally treated like trash. Here we are, two women, a little wine knowledge under our belts, excited beyond belief to experience this viticulture wonderland, only to be shooed away like a fly.
When we got back to the B&B I decided I needed some help to not only calm myself and but to figure out how the hell we will navigate this vast wine country. I emailed my trusty wine guru, Mark. I explained not only the confusion we were facing in planning our winery visits, but just the general feel of France. Mark expediently wrote back with not only great suggestions and must-do's for winery visits, but some restaurant suggestions and even a little advice on dealing with the locals. That was 'France is one of the most amazing countries in the world. The only problem with it, are the French people.' After a nice laugh and some insight into relaxing, having fun and trying out some French, we cleared our minds and readied ourselves to enjoy the rest of the trip.
Our first stop that evening was Clupres du Clocher. It was a recommendation of Mark's for dinner. WE splurged for the 6 course chef's choice dinner and OMG, was it one of the most amazing culinary experiences of my life! Every bite was absolutely amazing. It tasted exactly as it was intended to taste and the presentation was a work of art. Unfortunately, I did not bring my camera with my on dinner excursions, but my mother's phone took some decent snapshots.
The following morning, I made sure to make an effort to get to know the host of the B&B (who was a little on the shy side). I told him about the restaurant we had been to the night before. a big smile filled up his cute little French face and it seemed as if we were slowly being let into the secret French society of French people, that apparently you had to be in, to be treated like a human being. We also expressed interest taking a tour of his family's winery, if time allowed. After discovering I had worked at a winery in the states, his mysterious, secret society smile widened even more. I think we were in...
The rest of the vacation was filled with a few tourist spots, but mostly hidden gems we found by just driving through a dozen towns recommended by Mark. We did Beaune one day, the north and south of Burgundy the following two days and Dijon our last day in town.We made it a point to greet with a smile and complement the host on their English skills, they giggled and denied speaking good English. Once we stated that their English was far better than our French, they loosened up. The host was giving us fantastic restaurant recommendations, the wineries were more the happy to help us with wine suggestions and the weather was amazing on top of it all. I have been living in the Arabian Gulf (as you all know) for the past year and any type of cooler weather with little to no sun was not only a welcome relief, but something I had been looking forward to as much as Burgundy itself. The entire week we were in Burgundy it was chilly, sunny at times, but more overcast than anything else . . . ugh, how amazing this place was turning out to be!
In Beaune town center, we hit 3 or 4 winery shops and even got a chance to tour one of the cellars. It was slightly more touristed, but still a worthwhile day out. The northern and southern excursions over the following two days involved us visiting wineries, not only recommended by Mark, but also wineries that appealed to us randomly. We also got a chance to see a few beautiful cloisters, palaces and chateaux. The final day in Dijon was spent walking around some surrounding villages, taking a mustard factory tour and seeing the grand canals. We filled up our days with a lot to do, but the pace was slow enough to still enjoy the scenery around us and take in an amazing meal each night.
Speaking of remarkable meals, the restaurants were truly a gastronomic experience. The combination of service, presentation and taste explosions sent my mother into an 'oh, ah' fest at every meal. No calorie was spared and we realized that all the walking and healthy food (for the most part) in Italy, was going to be erased here in the wine region of Burgundy, France. And to be honest, I don't think either of us minded.
I forgot to mention that our B&B was incredible as well. After the host became more comfortable with us, things seemed to relax a little. The place was clean, organized, perfectly manicured with great breakfast and two adorable dogs.
Overall, Burgundy impressed the hell out of us. It is truly Frenchman's France. It may sound ridiculous, but this area was so amazingly French . . . the flowers hanging off each window sill, the attention to detail in each dwelling we entered, the food (oh, the food), the wine, the landscape; even the damn white Burgundian cows were cool. We were in this French fantasy and we ended up falling in love with it. We later found out that the Burgundian region is not frequented by Americans often. WE hope we made a good impression on the few people we met and I have to say that this is one region I wouldn't mind seeing again one day. Enjoy the pics!
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| Wine from B&B |
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| View from B&B |
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| La Combotte B&B in Nantoux, Burgundy, France |
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| Terrace where we ate breakfast |
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| Beaune city center |
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| Typical Burgundian street |
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| Some damn palace I can't remember the name of |
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| Traditional Burgundian Rooftop |
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| Hills of Beaune |
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| Add caption |
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| Cheese dip that you dip a piece of cheese brioche into, slathered with cheese, ahhhhhhhhh! |
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| Chocolate and Caramel cake puffs |
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| Crusted fish (I think Halibut) over veggies |
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| Custard and Berries |
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| Canal in Dijon |
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| Dijon, France |
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| Escargots (Snails) |
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| One of the best meals of my life . . . in Pommard |
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| Flourless cake with homemade vanilla ice cream |
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| Fontenay Abbey |
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| Fontenay Abbey |
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| Nantoux |
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| Pommard |
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| Ground Mustard seeds in Dijon |
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| Barrel hybrid from the B&B winery we stayed at. |
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| Making Mustard in Dijon |
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| Mustard Tasting |
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| Barrel room in B&B winery |
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| Something awesome I have no recollection of... |
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| Pommard |
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| Pommard |
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| Items used to reseal the barrel |
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| Boeuf Bourguignon |
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| The famous white burgundian cow |
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| Pommard |
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| Statue at abbey |
