France
Cycling through Burgundy
19-29 September 2012
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France
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 In mid-September we joined
fellow "Downhill to Breakfast" riders John Black, Sully
Frumenti, Ron Pflipsen, and Ron's friend John Ukich from
Idaho, on a VBT tour through Burgundy, France. We enjoyed
a short pre-trip in Lyon before meeting the DHTB'ers, tour
leader Audrey
and 8 other cyclists in Lyon. From Lyon
we set off for Tournus (where we met co-leader Jean-François (aka "JF" or "Jeff")) via
Cluny.In Cluny (9/22) we visited the site of Cluny and the site of its abbey, once the largest church in Christendom, destroyed in 1790 during the French Revolution. Lunch was an improvised picnic with purchases from the Cluny farmers' market - fine bread, cheese, salami - not to mention a bottle of wine that Ron picked up in a local shop. Salami cutting was made easier after Liza purchased a nice folding knife. A short "check the bikes" ride after arriving at our hotel in Tournus (Le Rempart) took us out to the La Truchère Nature Reserve and back. The next day (9/23) we cycled along the banks of the Sâone, with a mid-ride picnic in the small town of Sennecey-le-Grande. There we visited the WWII Special Air Services (SAS) Museum, dedicated to British (and later French, Belgian) soldiers who risked their lives going far behind enemy lines to destroy German airplanes on their airfields.  A short drive the following morning (9/24) took us to Chalon-sur-Sâone, from where we cycled on the Voie Verte bike path along the Canal du Centre to Santenay. We then cycled on small roads through world-famous vineyards of Puligny-Montrachet, Meursault and Pommard. Harvest was in full swing so we often had to dodge tractors and some cars on the route - not to mention a lot of mud and puddles! We arrived in Beaune that afternoon rather messy. We did not envy Jean-François the job of cleaning the bikes. After an elaborate breakfast the next morning, which *would* have included wine with the cheese had the bottle not already run out, we cycled out to Cussigny. There at the beautiful Le Moulin de Cussigny - the site housing the summer home of the Lefils family as well as a charming cottage for rent - we played a game of pétanque before a scrumptuous picnic lunch and too many yummy homemade desserts. Somehow we managed to keep riding after lunch - despite a run through a cloudburst accompanied by a strong cross-wind. The next day (9/26) it was predicted to rain all day, and it did, although mostly lightly. We first toured the Hôtel-Dieu in Beaune, the medieval hospice/hospital which actually operated until 1971. A true hospice; care was for the soul, not necessarily the body, at a time when much we take for granted re: hygiene and infection were not understood. Desperately ill people two to a bed? Tossing waste (and amputated parts) through a hole in the floor to the moat below? As our Rick Steves guidebook said, living downstream was not a good idea. Anyway, despite the rain, we got on our bikes and continued on to Dijon, through some of the most famous vineyards in the world. (Some of the premier cru vineyards are said to produce wines worth €10000 a bottle. Needless to say they had signs saying "keep out". We wondered how much one grape would be worth.) Lunch was in Nuits-St-Georges at a nice coffee shop with fresh baguette sandwiches, the coffee most welcome as it had started raining in earnest (sorry to the owner about all that muddy water we dripped on the floor). After lunch, seeing as we were already soaked so it couldn't get much worse, we got back on the bikes and continued on to Dijon. (Could have done without that last 2 km - a real e-ticket ride into Dijon with the traffic and wet roads.) The last full cycling day (9/27) included a ride along the Route des Jardins and the Canal de Bourgogne to Pont de Pany. While most looped back to Dijon, we rode on into the Valley de L'Ouche, enjoying a tailwind uphill, a nice sweeping downhill, and some blue skies and sunshine. We avoided that last hairy ride into Dijon by meeting the van about 2 km out and getting shuttled in. Dinner in Dijon that night was at L'Atelier des Chefs, a cooking school. Our group worked on a spinach/fig salad with a honey vinaigrette, and a currant tart (mirliton) with a fluffy champagne emulsion, while the others prepped the main course of salmon with caramelized carrots. 
The French Train à Grande Vitesse (TGV) whisked us
back to Paris on 9/28 for a final afternoon of sightseeing
and dinner out on the town. We finally got to
L'Orangerie and saw Monet's water lilies! Dinner with
the DHTB'ers followed at Chez Andre a short walk from the
Champs-Élysées (Roosevelt metro stop), a very good
recommendation from John Ukich.Overall, it was a great trip. Would have liked a bit more sun, but it was most enjoyable anyway. Awesome food - including coq au vin, boeuf bourguignon, veal, fish, salade lyonnaise (but skip the andouillette (tripe sausage)). Wonderful wines (Burgundy is pretty much all Pinot Noir and Chardonnay). Cheese, don't remember many of the names, but they were all delicious. Bread - why can't I have baguettes like that at home? Desserts to die for, including poached pears, apple sorbet, crème brûlée. Can't forget having kir (crème de cassis (currant) in white wine). Dijon, of course the mustard (from Maille) and pain d'epices (gingerbread). People were uniformly friendly - even in Paris. Liza even got complimented several times on her French, which she attributed to their being happy someone even tried. :-) VBT took excellent care of us and what can we say but we had a marvelous time! And I'm really happy we cycled all day in the rain, it was so absurd it was fun. Maps from Liza's Garmin Edge 500:
Day One: Tournus Warm-up Ride There are five pages of trip photos linked below. The Home link takes you back to this page. Home | Lyon | Cluny, Tournus | Beaune | Dijon | Paris Click photos to enlarge...
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