Searching for the grape harvest

It is feeling like Fall here in Paris......the leaves on the Sycamores  lining the boulevards are turning brown and fluttering to the streets.  It seems rather EARLY, but it also has been dry so maybe the poor trees just can't keep their leaves.

One of the fall events we wanted to check out was the grape harvest.  A year ago we spent a few days in the Burgundy region, but it was in May when the vines were just beginning to bud.  We thought it would be fun to see the vineyards in their full glory and MAYBE see some harvesting.  So, after picking up my friend from the airport who came for a visit from Minnesota,  the three of us rented a car the next morning and headed out of Paris.  Seeing a few chateaus from the road was our "bienvenue" to Burgundy.

The last time we went, we rented a cute little house in the village of Meursault, very near to all of the popular wineries.  Well, this time we didn't get that chance, and instead took a risk at staying at a "17th centutry farmhouse in the middle of a national park".  And that is what it was.  We drove the back roads into the immense and sparsely inhabited plateau of forests, lakes, and hills, the Morvan.  Quite remote!  But we did find the little house on a hill, complete with a garden full of blackberries, lavender, apple and pear trees,  and even a fig tree.   Is this our place?????

 Well, unfortunately NOT!  Just a cute place near to OUR PLACE:

The inside had been remodeled, of course, and it was somewhat cozy.  Never mind the cobwebs in the rafters, or the fact that once again, we were sleeping in a renovated barn.  It wasn't 4 star, but it did have what we needed.  The setting was "country", off the beaten-track.  Lyle didn't comment......Ok, it wasn't THAT bad!  It was, after all, just one night!

 

 

We had the afternoon to explore Beaune and Meursault, showing Wendy where we had been before. The vineyards, fully of Pinot Noir and Chardonnay grapes,  were beautiful, but not quite ready for harvesting. We drove up a side road and stopped to pick a few Chardonnay grapes and were surprised at how SWEET they were!

 

 

Of course, we had to do a little wine-tasting and have a Beef-burgounone dinner on the plaza.  They just go together on a crisp fall evening.

The next morning we woke up to a beautiful sunny day.  I asked Lyle to take me out on the back roads for a driving lesson using a "stick-shift", which I hadn't done in probably 15 years!  After a few kills of the engine, it all came back to me and I told him...."Just like riding a bike....once you learn, it just comes back!"  Why did I need to do this?  Because we were keeping the car for our girl's adventure to Normandy in a few days following.  (I have never driven in France before, so I was a bit nervous!)


I calmed myself down a bit by taking a walk down the country road from the farmhouse before packing up to get back to Paris......

We explored the town of Autun which was near the farmhouse, Lyle giving in to my needing to see the Roman ruins again.  This town was founded in the 1st century BC and was a huge town back then.  Part of the Roman wall and arches still stand.....and the theater too.  Okay, I know I have seen Roman theaters before in Sicily and Orange in Provence, but I just HAD to check this one out too!  I keep telling Lyle that I wanted to be an archaeologist back when I was in sixth grade studying the Greeks and Romans!

 

The weather was beautiful for the two days and we had to head back to Paris that Sunday afternoon, this time taking some back roads through the hills and valleys and small, quaint villages.  I think by the time we reached Paris in the evening, Wendy's stomach was still a little queezy from the many twists and turns....or was it the dinner the night before?  Welcome to France....sometimes it does take a bit to get used to the food!