Beaune, Burgandy

My tour of France has taken me away from Paris, and to the wine country of Bourgogne! Bridget and I have enjoyed several lazy days in the beautiful town of Beaune. Here is the Hotel-Dieu des Hospices de Beaune, the Medieval hospital run by nuns since 1443!

Note the cool tile roof! Also, there is a river under this well, I know because I looked.

The sometimes quite bizzare Tapestry depicting the life of the Virgin is here, at the Basillique Collegiqle Notre Dame. At one point Mary actually holds the baby Jesus over a roaring fire as Joseph looks on. I have no idea what this is supposed to mean, and I would include a picture but they werent allowed (alas)

Bridget is thinking about becoming a model:

The beautiful wine country of Bourgogne
(from where we stopped to picnic on our bike ride)

Renting bikes and going for a tour of the local countryside and surrounding little towns was a great idea and made for a wonderful day (aside from the slight accident, but more on that later).

Bridget the intrepid sets forth:

Beaune is also known as the Capitol of the wine growing region of Bourgogne. We felt that we would be remiss not to attend a Degustation de Vins (thats snooty for Wine Tasting). We decided to attend one at the 13th century Convent des Courdeliers (at 10:30 in the morning, no less!). We got to try wines from all around the region using these special metal cups called Tastevin, which are supposed to be good for allowing the wine to breath, and for viewing its color.

I think we have a connasieur: