Fantastic Voyage
A scrapbook of our Rick Steves Tour
Chateau de Rully and Beaune
Leaving Paris
After breakfast in the hotel, we met our driver Peter, boarded our bus, and left Paris. Peter was a man of few words, but he amazed us throughout the tour with his ability to navigate traffic and the narrow country roads in Tuscany.
Leaving Paris was sad, but we were quite excited to see what lie ahead. At the same time, we were also a little apprehensive about spending so much time on a bus. In the end, it turned out to be a good time to relax, enjoy the view, and get to know our travel mates. The bus had scheduled stops every two hours, so we were never far from a chance to stretch our legs.
We stopped at “Flunch” (just off the A6 in Précy-sur-Vrin) for a quick lunch and bathroom break. Flunch is a quick-serve restaurant with decent sandwiches and excellent coffee. Dave informed us that in many of these rest stops you must pay to use the facilities, but then you get a voucher redeemable with the restaurant for the same amount (usually .50 euros).
Château de Rully
After lunch we continued toward Beaune, stopping at Château de Rully in the Saône-et-Loire area of France for a tour and wine tasting. The Chateau is a medieval fortress, built in the 12th century and the owner, Count Raoul, is the 14th generation of his family to own and maintain the grounds. The Chateau was rich with the history of the region and filled with the belongings of Count Raoul’s predecessors. After the tour and wine tasting, we bought a bottle of 2016 Premier CRU (first growth) red wine which we consumed later that night in Beaune.
Hospices de Beaune
Upon arriving in Beaune, we checked into our room at the Hotel Des Remparts, had a little downtime, and then regrouped in the lobby to walk to the Hôtel-Dieu Museum (Hospices of Beaune). Established initially as a hospital for the destitute and plague-ridden population of Beaune in the 1440s, it is now a museum that hosts an annual wine auction to help maintain the property.
Beaune
After the museum tour, we roamed the streets and settled in for a quick and unremarkable dinner at La Concorde café/brasserie (28 Place Carnot) of Jambon Persillé (ham bits and parsley in gelatin) and Boeuf Bourguignon. Then we went back to the Hotel Des Ramparts and enjoyed the evening in their courtyard, polishing off the bottle of red wine we bought earlier that day.
