Visiting Beaune, whose "joie de vivre" is Wine*

September 4th
*Lonely Planet

Wednesday we were off to Beaune (pronounced Bone), 51 miles, 1:35 estimated time to get there! The Mercedes is a very comfortable car to drive, of course! We parked near the TI (Tourist Information), so we stopped there to get our bearings and bought tickets to an afternoon tour of a mustard mill.

Lonely Planet says the Hotel-Dieu is the jewel of the old city; that was our first stop.They were right! Built in 1443 (closed in 1971), this was a very interesting look at medical care of long ago!
www.hospices-de-beaune.com

Luckily the admission fee included an audio-tape, so we could get a better understanding (versus reading signs in French!). Built by a wealthy Frenchman, it now includes murals, an 18th century pharmacy, and 15th century Flemish painter Rogier van der Weyden's "Polyptych of the Last Judgement".

Hospital ward

On the wall of the ward

Polyptych of the Last Judgement

Nearby we had a very tasty lunch....

Salad and bruschetta

Tea (of course!) but isn't it about the presentation?

Then we walked over to the Moutarderie Fallot, the last family-run stone-ground mustard company in Burgundy. (Anyone else remember when the only mustard we could buy in the US was YELLOW mustard?) It was a very warm afternoon, so we found the shade to cool us off on our way! There were maybe thirty-five in the tour; the three of us and two others from the UK were the only English speakers. The guide made her French presentation first; then she spoke to us (much shorter it seemed). There were various videos as well. Plus you could taste the plain mustard seeds. It was really very interesting, as they showed us how it was ground, the plant where it was ground, where it was flavored, and then packed for shipment. At the end they gave us four small jars of different flavored mustards (plain Dijon, gingerbread, blackcurrant Dijon, whole mustard seed). Of course, we walked through their good-sized store at the end with a wide selection of mustards, books, etc., but we showed remarkable restraint and passed! Plus we could buy the same mustard in the Super U! Unfortunately they allowed no pictures. I still think it was funny that there was no mustard tour we read about in Dijon! Maille does have a store in Dijon!

...and if you are looking for exotic travel!!

Disclaimer:
While Beaune, as LP said is "one of the best places in all of France for wine tasting", we opted to not explore this....It was now late afternoon and time to drive back...over easy hill and delightful dale! Besides we could have our own wine tasting in Bussy le Grand!