We knew we wanted to go to Beaune and Dijon. I, the driver, suggested we take longer trips every other day, so Monday we set off for Auxerre. We were advised to take back roads with the 1998 Mercedes...so, no highways, which are not that readily available anyhow, and that was fine! Still, an hour+ to go not that far; but AWESOME SCENERY!! With so many things closed Monday or Tuesday, our first choices were scheduled for Wednesday and Friday. While the Lonely Planet says Auxerre is an "alluring riverside town", it has mostly an Abbaye and a 1200's Gothic cathedral. One of the things we all wanted to do was see the little towns, so we stopped along the way. First we found the delightfully picturesque Noyers
sur Serein. Most everything was closed including a restaurant, which was closed for two weeks because they had a new baby. One open shop was Diane Calvert's medieval art and calligraphy store, with ENGLISH SPOKEN sign on the door. She was there painting; she is a New Yorker who divides her time between Noyers and NYC. Then we continued on to Chablis; we were making up our route as we went. ANOTHER charming, quintessentially French town with lots of shops and wine tasting signs. So many of these towns have rivers running through them! We had lunch outside with what seemed to be locals, so we liked that!
Most of the shops offering wine tastings were closed for the 12-2 lunch; we found one place, so we stepped down for a taste of Chablis.
I had not idea it was THIS big, until I looked at this picture!! We had actually walked around it! Lonely Planet says to allow 1.5 hours for the Cathedral, which I don't understand....
We never did find the abbaye...clearly didn't look very hard. It was hot and we were tired and done for the day! According to Mapquest, it was 66 miles, but would and did take 1.5 hours.
Most nights we ate in...nothing fancy. That gave us time to rehash our day and plan for the next!
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| Diane and Kathy on the terrace in front of the house. |
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