Barney & Lauri's Burgundy & Beyond Adventure

This post will cover our first summer in France, from early June until we leave for Italy at the end of September. Chronologically I will cover a lot of short subjects with lots of pictures:

Hurray, hurray, after the minimum of 5 required driving lessons, I passed my French drivers license test on June 7th. Lauri is glad that I can continue to chauffeur her around, and I am glad that I got that out of the way and my fresh “Permis de Conduire” into my pocket.

June had a much more important and enjoyable date on the calendar for us: On June 22nd, our daughter Anna and her fiancé Vladi got married in Cary, NC. After a couple of hot and busy days of preparation, it all came together into an absolutely wonderful wedding. It was also good to see friends and family. The travel by TGV from Dijon to Paris and Air France to Raleigh, NC was smooth and uneventful. I actually slept on the flight back for a couple hours, something I haven’t been able to do on a plane since many years, and something Lauri was quite jealous about. Here are just a couple pictures of the wedding:

On July 4th through 6th, 3 stages of the Tour de France were right here in and around Dijon, with the finish line of the 6th stage on July 4th being just within 10 minutes walking distance from our apartment! The city of Dijon was in Tour de France fever with thousands of visitors who came to enjoy this annual traveling cycling circus. My friend Martin with wife Rosa from Germany came to visit to see the show with us.

I am always amazed by how smooth and well organized the Tour de France is. Organizing with the communities and counties to have the entire route and road surface brought up to standard prior to the event, and then, once the Tour starts, removing all road barriers, bleacher stands, equipment, etc overnight from one town to another, and directing and regulating the traffic around the peloton for the entire route. On top of that, they broadcast the races with beautiful scenery footage into living rooms world wide. What a management feat!

During the summer we basically kept up what we’ve been doing for the last months: Our weekly fitness routine of swimming and yoga twice a week each, as well as of course my bike riding… We also kept on exploring new villages, chateaux, and hikes in the area. Just like with the bike riding, where I still continue to discover ever better roads and routes, there are always more culturally interesting places to be discovered. For instance, the pictures above show the idyllic medieval hill top village of Flavigny-sur-Ozerain, 37 miles NW of Dijon. The village is known for its anis flavored pastilles, and was the setting of the movie Chocolat (2000) starring Juliette Binoche and Johnny Depp.

The following pictures are from a couple of days of hiking in the hills of the Morvan. Sleepy little villages on rolling terrain set in a patchwork of pastures and woods. This area is also home to the typical white Charolais cattle, which are easily spotted on the green pastures from miles away. While driving or hiking, one hardly ever meets or hears another soul in these sparsely populated hills, and interestingly, about every other license plate one sees here, is from the Netherlands. Apparently a lot of Dutch people have left their flat and densely populated country and purchased one of the many, readily available and affordable old home sites, for their golden years. Not a bad idea!

And of course, when living in the heart of Burgundy wine country, one can’t really miss the growth and cultivation of the 2024 vintage.

While observing the ripening of the 2024 vintage, some people enjoy sampling the finished product of years past, accompanied by the excellent local cuisine. Bon Appetite!

The last picture above shows how some disgruntled rural folks show their displeasure with their government, by turning their village signs upside down. In this case it is the village of Couchey, just south of Dijon. It is something you can encounter at the entrance to a lot of rural villages.

In mid August we wanted to meet up with my youngest brother in Neuchatel Switzerland, so we thought that when we were so close to the Alps, we should combine that trip with a couple of days hiking in the French Alps, and booked a hotel in Chinaillon/Le Grand Bornand, just a little west of Mont Blanc, the Alps’ highest peak. On the drive, we stopped in Geneva for a couple hours to see the famous fountain on the lake and get a feel for this renowned city. Beside the multitude of high end watches and luxury brand shops, the proximity of this Swiss metropolis to Savoie and Italy was easily felt. Just a couple of hours were enough. We wanted to get out and breathe some fresh mountain air in the high Alps.

Our hotel turned out to be everything we’d hoped for: A small, charming, family run hotel/restaurant, with a private balcony in front of our room. The room itself was basic, with only one electrical outlet, yet very clean and perfectly functional with comfortable beds. We spent three days hiking and enjoying the scenery. Chinaillon, a small village next to Le Grand Bornand is a ski resort, and it is obvious that this place is a LOT busier during skiing season. Now, during the summer, everything was about hiking and mountain biking. We were surprised to see so many electric mountain bikes with riders of all ages, and in this small town, there were multiple, busy e-mountain bike rental stores.

As said, we were focused on hiking and put in a good hike on each of our three days. On the trail, as well as in the village, almost everyone we met or heard was French. This is not an internationally renowned alpine resort like Albertville or Zermatt, where you might hear more English than native speakers. The Le Grand Bornand region is where French families go hiking in the summer. We saw a lot of multigenerational families hiking together. Families with really young children, who were proudly carrying their own little backpacks greeting us with a friendly “Bonjour”. We did not observe any meltdowns or tantrums with these youngsters, despite hiking on strenuous, high elevation trails, with heat/cold or bugs. It is a phenomena we’ve observed on vacations in France before, and something we see in the swimming pools in Dijon. Family activity and vacationing together is big in France! Lots of parents and grandparents with young children enjoying physical activity together in harmony. It is a very nice sight that makes one feel upbeat about the future!

Up on the trail, or almost anywhere in this idylic alpine valley, one can’t miss the beautiful alpine cows, whether by sight, or by hearing the bells. Here and there goat herds are also in the mix. Certainly, here everything is about dairy, and foremost, about cheese. In fact, you are hard pressed to find any dinner option on the menus that is not based on some form of local alpine cheese, usually served in the form of fondues or raclettes.

We liked this place so much that we want to come back. Or, as Lauri kept singing on the trail: “The hills are alive with the sound of music….”

Here, back in Dijon, we’ve made some new friends. There is Eric and Claire, a recently retired French couple who came back to his native Dijon after a busy career that made them live and travel in a lot of different places. They speak excellent English, – which helps a LOT to carry on a meaningful conversation, and they have invited us a couple times to go out with them and to their home. I met Eric through our cycling group. We’ve also gotten to know our neighbors better, as we’ve been invited a couple of times for fun get togethers.

At the end of August my oldest sister Lucia with Werner came to visit us. Together we visited Beaune, the Route des Grands Crus, old villages, chateaux, and of course showed them around in Dijon. We had a couple enjoyable days together, and they liked Dijon and the area so much that they’ve already started planning their next visit.

This is the latest for now. We’re heading to Emmerich, my home town in Germany, to house sit my brother’s place for a few days. Then Anna & Vladi, who are work related in Spain and Switzerland, will come to visit for a week, and then, at the end of September we’re off for 3 weeks in Italy, where we will meet our daughter Katrin in Rome.

À bientôt!