My landlady picked me up at 9:15 to drive me to the Parc de la Bouzaise where I was to meet Philippe Roux, a member of the Beaune Greeters. This is a free service for tourists.
He knew my landlady, was friendly with her parents. They had a nice chat.
The park is just outside the old city and has the source of the river. It was manicured with gravel paths and lots of ducks by the river. I had to be careful where I walked because the ducks aren’t house trained. We walked through the park and out onto a small road where there was a sign with the wine domaines of the region. There are many. Philippe explained that the Hospice owned a lot of them. He showed me the old walls around most of the vineyards, they enclose the vineyard, hence “Clos” like Clos de Vougeot. Some of the vineyards are quite small, like the size of a large lawn in State College. And one owner might own several, all in different locations. We walked through the vineyards on a small road, up and up until he finally turned me around to show me the gorgeous view. He brought a notebook with photos and showed me pictures from the turn of the century when the town turned out for a great fete after the harvest.
We walked back through the park, where they have a pigeonnier with white pigeons which were fanning their tails out. My guide thought they were much better cooked!
He had his car at the park so we drove back into town and parked at my B&B. I am only five minutes from the center and it was the best parking!
Then we started walking again. He showed me so many parts of town that I would never have seen on my own. He is fourth or fifth generation living there.
Saturday is market day and had I been alone I would’ve been looking through all the stalls.
There is a covered market which is only open on Saturday which had beautiful cheeses, the famous chickens from Bresse, and lots of eats not for vegetarians. Whole rabbit anyone? The market is used for the famous wine auction in November. think it’s the most famous in the world.
Everywhere we walked, Philippe literally bumped into people he knew. He always introduced me, and I got smiles and “bonne journee”.
He took me through alleys and courtyards and small streets that were absolutely empty. We would turn the corner and there would be hundreds of tourists. Instead of taking me to the front of the church of Notre Dame (he said he and his family would walk there every Sunday from their summer cabin in the hills near Beaune) he brought me to the back where there are buttresses and a terrace and lots more architectural bits than the front.
He showed me the Rue Paradis then showed me the next street which was Rue Enfer (hell). In reality, it was where the Duc de Bourgogne had his palace and kitchen and the heat from the kitchen gave it its name.
In between cafes on one of the main streets, he took me to a door, got the code from his phone but couldn’t open it. Luckily a very nice looking woman of a certain age came up and unlocked it and bade us to come in. We walked down a stone entry hall then into the most marvelous courtyard. I kept saying “wow”. On one side there were four levels of arched galleries, between each arch there were round carved Roman faces. They weren’t destroyed during the revolution because they were pagan representations, not religious. There was a stone basin, now planted with flowers, with a carved gargoyle pipe over it and a larger one on the corner of the 2nd story. This was Renaissance architecture following the Roman plan. The house was built in the 15th century. And we think Bellefonte has old houses!
We also went into one of the many, many wine degustation stores and he showed me a Roman wall. The stones are placed in a zig zag pattern. We went to a wine museum where they have huge wooden presses from the olden days.
Philippe showed me the building where his family had a grocery store, he had an old photo of his grandfather standing in the doorway. He died in 1941, his daughter took it over, but there was no food to keep it supplied. He also stopped at the building where his mother died which was in another beautiful courtyard.
On the way back to my B&B where his car was parked, he showed me a small canal where there is a gallery on the side. He remembers when women used the gallery to wash their clothes.
What a great experience.
I went back to the apartment where I had some bread and cheese that I had bought at the local minimart. Philippe had contacted a taxi driver he knew to pick me up at 1:45. I had reserved an electric bike and a vineyard tour. Unfortunately when I got there, they determined that the bike they had wasn’t going to work for me. My hip prevented me from getting on properly and the “electric” part of the bike wasn’t so electric. What a disappointment. I will email the owner but I think the chances of getting my money back are slim to none.
So I called the driver back, he was so nice, and he left me by the tourist office where I arranged a van tour of several vineyards for tomorrow. Philippe had shown me his choice for the best patisserie in town so I wended my way there. You go in to look at what pastry you might want, then it is brought to your table out on the sidewalk. I got very confused by all the choices and ended up with a mille feuille.
I also ordered a grand cafe au lait. It came in a regular size coffee cup with a jug of steamed milk on the side. The pastry was really as good as it gets.
I went back to the apartment to rest my poor feet for a bit. After looking at dinner choices, I decided to try to go to a pizza restaurant that was well reviewed.
As soon as I walked in, the owner. started speaking with me in Italian. He let me sit at a table which was great since all of them were reserved and he was turning people away. He really is quite a character. I ordered a Quattro formaggio, and when he put it down in front of me, it was made in the shape of a heart. I told him “Je t’aime.”
And those are my adventures today.
Love,
Lynn
Lady of a Certain Age 
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