Trip report London/Alsace/Burgundy/Paris
Jul 8th, 2007, 12:34 PM
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Trip report London/Alsace/Burgundy/Paris
Here is report of our 11 day trip to London, Alsace, Burgundy and Paris.
Day 1-3 London
Day 4-6 Alsace
Day 7,8 Burgundy
Day 9-11 Paris
Hotels:
London:
Montagu Place
www.montagu-place.co.uk
Ribeauville (Alsace)
Le Clos Saint Vincent
www.leclossaintvincent.com
Beaune
Burgundy)
Hostellerie de Levernois
www.levernois.com
Paris:
Hotel Pavillon De La Reine
www.pavillon-de-la-reine.com
Part 1
London got added to our itinerary because it was only by flying to London and out of Paris that I could get aeroplan tickets.
We took the day flight to London Heathrow and arrived about 10.30pm. We had a first in traveling. We all got settled into our seats on the plane and were preparing to go when they came on to say that the luggage door would not close and so we would need to change planes. So everyone got off the plane and waited while they got us another one! All and all they handled the delay quite efficiently and we were only and hour and a half late departing. Could of been worse.
Anyway we did arrive safely which is a top priority!
I had considered ordering a car to pick us up at Heathrow to take us downtown to our hotel but I thought it would be just as easy to take a taxi. WRONG! We stood for well over an hour in the taxi line outside the airport. There were many many passengers but NO taxis!
Finally they trickled in slowly and we got to the front of the line after midnight. Next time I would order a car ahead or take the public transportation. Beware though the public transport closes at 11pm so take this into account when planning.
Our hotel Montagu Place is new and has been converted from two Edwardian townhouses. It is off Baker St, north of Oxford. (Not to be confused with Montagu Hotel down by Russell Square)Convenient location out of the main tourist area.
It is a cute little hotel, very comfortable and good value (for London).
We had a fancy room (their rooms are comfy, fancy and swanky)
The room and bathroom were tiny though comfortable. There was WiFi and good fresh coffee and coffee plunger in the room.
The bathroom had a great shower stall but not much room to move around.
Being part of a house, our room had two lovely sets of french doors which we opened for some air.
We are big walkers so this location worked for us. It was about a 5-10 minute walk to a choice of tube stations and we really felt like we were living in London. It was very quiet so our sleep was not disturbed (which again is not always the case in London).
Since this was our third trip to London we had already seen most of the must do but since we had not been to the British Museum we started there.
The museum is free so its a great thing to do. The building that houses the museum is impressive and I enjoyed that as much as the exhibits.
We then wandered down to Covent Garden Market. We were not that impressed with the market but it was an interesting area to walk through. It had some good pubs so we stopped for our first pint and rested our feet.
We came across what we mistakenly thought was one of the Day of... 1/2 price theater ticket kiosks and purchased two for Spamalot for that evening at the Palace theater. It turned out that not only did we get tickets in the nose bleed section and I dont think you could get any higher we were charged a fee for buying them there.
(Our own fault I know. You would think we had never travelled before! I blame it on jet lag!)
The seats were so high I felt a little woozy looking down. The show was funny and silly. Very well done. Perfect for our first night in London.
We went for a long walk after, through Piccadilly (which is packed with throngs of people) China town etc.
It was a nice evening so we chose to walk back up to Oxford street by way of Regent Street. What a beautiful street scape. Beautiful buildings, maybe Edwardian in style
and nothing like what you see in North America.
At Oxford Street we jumped on the tube for home.
The only form of transport that we used in London was walking or the tube. We bought day passes and it worked beautifully. I think London has one of the best undergrounds going.
(Just be sure to wear comfy shoes and don't worry about fashion. More on that later.)
Day 3: This was one of our favourite days.
We headed out to Holland Park hoping to run into Lionel and Jean. (If your are fans of "As Time Goes By" you will understand).
This is a beautiful nbhd in London. Quite posh with street after street of white four story town homes. We strolled through Holland Park and then along Kensington High Street and up Kensington Church Street. There are lots of cute boutiques along here and low and behold a Starbucks.
(Had to stop...needed to use the loo and then I think its only fair to buy something)
Legs were getting tired but we trudged on. My husband had never been to Notting Hill so we meandered our way along until we got to Portobello Road. The market was not on as it was a weekday but there are permanent stores that are kind of funky, kind of touristy but interesting all the same.
We were having a great day but had to admit that we don't have quite the same stamina now that we in our 50's as we did in our 20' and 30's etc so we rode the tube up to St. John's Wood Road where we gratefully stopped for lunch.
This is another area of London that I had never seen and was like being in a small town. It has its own high street with four and five story buildings with an architectural style similar to houses in Amsterdam. Lots of nice boutiques and restaurants catering to the locals.
After lunch we walked down Edgeware Road to Abbey Road to see the crosswalk used by the Beatles. I know it's lame but it was interesting to see.
After a full day of walking around London (thank goodness for Ecco Sandles) we were ready for a casual dinner at the local Italian restaurant up the street from our hotel. It is called Ristorante Anacapri. Its not for Foodies but it is great value and fun to see real Londoners having dinner in their local haunt.
Off to bed. Have to be up early to catch a plane from Gatwick, heading to Strasbourg France.
Day 1-3 London
Day 4-6 Alsace
Day 7,8 Burgundy
Day 9-11 Paris
Hotels:
London:
Montagu Place
www.montagu-place.co.uk
Ribeauville (Alsace)
Le Clos Saint Vincent
www.leclossaintvincent.com
Beaune
Burgundy)Hostellerie de Levernois
www.levernois.com
Paris:
Hotel Pavillon De La Reine
www.pavillon-de-la-reine.com
Part 1
London got added to our itinerary because it was only by flying to London and out of Paris that I could get aeroplan tickets.
We took the day flight to London Heathrow and arrived about 10.30pm. We had a first in traveling. We all got settled into our seats on the plane and were preparing to go when they came on to say that the luggage door would not close and so we would need to change planes. So everyone got off the plane and waited while they got us another one! All and all they handled the delay quite efficiently and we were only and hour and a half late departing. Could of been worse.
Anyway we did arrive safely which is a top priority!
I had considered ordering a car to pick us up at Heathrow to take us downtown to our hotel but I thought it would be just as easy to take a taxi. WRONG! We stood for well over an hour in the taxi line outside the airport. There were many many passengers but NO taxis!
Finally they trickled in slowly and we got to the front of the line after midnight. Next time I would order a car ahead or take the public transportation. Beware though the public transport closes at 11pm so take this into account when planning.
Our hotel Montagu Place is new and has been converted from two Edwardian townhouses. It is off Baker St, north of Oxford. (Not to be confused with Montagu Hotel down by Russell Square)Convenient location out of the main tourist area.
It is a cute little hotel, very comfortable and good value (for London).
We had a fancy room (their rooms are comfy, fancy and swanky)
The room and bathroom were tiny though comfortable. There was WiFi and good fresh coffee and coffee plunger in the room.
The bathroom had a great shower stall but not much room to move around.
Being part of a house, our room had two lovely sets of french doors which we opened for some air.
We are big walkers so this location worked for us. It was about a 5-10 minute walk to a choice of tube stations and we really felt like we were living in London. It was very quiet so our sleep was not disturbed (which again is not always the case in London).
Since this was our third trip to London we had already seen most of the must do but since we had not been to the British Museum we started there.
The museum is free so its a great thing to do. The building that houses the museum is impressive and I enjoyed that as much as the exhibits.
We then wandered down to Covent Garden Market. We were not that impressed with the market but it was an interesting area to walk through. It had some good pubs so we stopped for our first pint and rested our feet.
We came across what we mistakenly thought was one of the Day of... 1/2 price theater ticket kiosks and purchased two for Spamalot for that evening at the Palace theater. It turned out that not only did we get tickets in the nose bleed section and I dont think you could get any higher we were charged a fee for buying them there.
(Our own fault I know. You would think we had never travelled before! I blame it on jet lag!)
The seats were so high I felt a little woozy looking down. The show was funny and silly. Very well done. Perfect for our first night in London.
We went for a long walk after, through Piccadilly (which is packed with throngs of people) China town etc.
It was a nice evening so we chose to walk back up to Oxford street by way of Regent Street. What a beautiful street scape. Beautiful buildings, maybe Edwardian in style
and nothing like what you see in North America.
At Oxford Street we jumped on the tube for home.
The only form of transport that we used in London was walking or the tube. We bought day passes and it worked beautifully. I think London has one of the best undergrounds going.
(Just be sure to wear comfy shoes and don't worry about fashion. More on that later.)
Day 3: This was one of our favourite days.
We headed out to Holland Park hoping to run into Lionel and Jean. (If your are fans of "As Time Goes By" you will understand).
This is a beautiful nbhd in London. Quite posh with street after street of white four story town homes. We strolled through Holland Park and then along Kensington High Street and up Kensington Church Street. There are lots of cute boutiques along here and low and behold a Starbucks.
(Had to stop...needed to use the loo and then I think its only fair to buy something)
Legs were getting tired but we trudged on. My husband had never been to Notting Hill so we meandered our way along until we got to Portobello Road. The market was not on as it was a weekday but there are permanent stores that are kind of funky, kind of touristy but interesting all the same.
We were having a great day but had to admit that we don't have quite the same stamina now that we in our 50's as we did in our 20' and 30's etc so we rode the tube up to St. John's Wood Road where we gratefully stopped for lunch.
This is another area of London that I had never seen and was like being in a small town. It has its own high street with four and five story buildings with an architectural style similar to houses in Amsterdam. Lots of nice boutiques and restaurants catering to the locals.
After lunch we walked down Edgeware Road to Abbey Road to see the crosswalk used by the Beatles. I know it's lame but it was interesting to see.
After a full day of walking around London (thank goodness for Ecco Sandles) we were ready for a casual dinner at the local Italian restaurant up the street from our hotel. It is called Ristorante Anacapri. Its not for Foodies but it is great value and fun to see real Londoners having dinner in their local haunt.
Off to bed. Have to be up early to catch a plane from Gatwick, heading to Strasbourg France.
Jul 9th, 2007, 02:51 AM
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Day 4:
We got up early and took a taxi to Victoria Stn. I had booked two tickets on the Gatwick Express online. That worked out very well. All you need is your locater number and you get right on the express train (30 minutes) and they come on board to check.
Gatwick was very busy but we caught our Air France flight to Strasbourg without any delays.
Quick flight to Strasbourg and they actually served sandwiches for lunch which far surpassed any airline food we have had on Air Canada!
In Strasbourg we rented a car that I had booked through AutoEurope (thanks to Fodorites) and they had arranged a pickup with Europcar.
It was very easy to leave the airport and we started heading south to Ribeauville. It was a grey and cool day so not the best weather this trip but we made the best of it.
Alsace has a gently rolling terrain with the foothills of the Vosges mtns (not big mtns) as a backdrop. There are many ruined castles perched up on the hills so all and all pleasing to the eye.
The area is dotted with little towns and villages all with red clay rooftops and a church steeple.
Our first stop was in the little village of Damach-la-Ville.
I had gathered that the villages would be busy with buses and tourists but that is not what we found. For the most part the whole area was deserted. We could drive right into any of the villages and park on the main street.
Damach-la-Ville remains one of my favourite stops. Perhaps because it was our first or perhaps because it was so tranquil. We might have seen three other people in the whole village. It appears untouched by the modern day.
You enter the village through stone town gates and walk along the cobblestone streets where you find beautiful half timbered houses with window boxes overspilling with colourful flowers.
We continued along the Route de Vin which was so quiet and we wound our way through little villages until we arrived at our hotel in Ribeauville.
We saw our hotel as we drove into town, perched up on the hillside in the middle of miles and miles of vineyards.
It is up a steep hill at the top in a quiet and peaceful setting with views in all directions.
The hotel, Le Clos Saint Vincent
We got up early and took a taxi to Victoria Stn. I had booked two tickets on the Gatwick Express online. That worked out very well. All you need is your locater number and you get right on the express train (30 minutes) and they come on board to check.
Gatwick was very busy but we caught our Air France flight to Strasbourg without any delays.
Quick flight to Strasbourg and they actually served sandwiches for lunch which far surpassed any airline food we have had on Air Canada!
In Strasbourg we rented a car that I had booked through AutoEurope (thanks to Fodorites) and they had arranged a pickup with Europcar.
It was very easy to leave the airport and we started heading south to Ribeauville. It was a grey and cool day so not the best weather this trip but we made the best of it.
Alsace has a gently rolling terrain with the foothills of the Vosges mtns (not big mtns) as a backdrop. There are many ruined castles perched up on the hills so all and all pleasing to the eye.
The area is dotted with little towns and villages all with red clay rooftops and a church steeple.
Our first stop was in the little village of Damach-la-Ville.
I had gathered that the villages would be busy with buses and tourists but that is not what we found. For the most part the whole area was deserted. We could drive right into any of the villages and park on the main street.
Damach-la-Ville remains one of my favourite stops. Perhaps because it was our first or perhaps because it was so tranquil. We might have seen three other people in the whole village. It appears untouched by the modern day.
You enter the village through stone town gates and walk along the cobblestone streets where you find beautiful half timbered houses with window boxes overspilling with colourful flowers.
We continued along the Route de Vin which was so quiet and we wound our way through little villages until we arrived at our hotel in Ribeauville.
We saw our hotel as we drove into town, perched up on the hillside in the middle of miles and miles of vineyards.
It is up a steep hill at the top in a quiet and peaceful setting with views in all directions.
The hotel, Le Clos Saint Vincent
Jul 9th, 2007, 03:34 AM
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Hi Kate12, your report brings back good memories of our trip. When were you in France? We were there in early June and again in late June. We too stopped and enjoyed Dambach-la-ville. I'm just getting to the Alsace part of our trip in my report.
Miriam.
Miriam.
/(near Perpignan)
Jul 14th, 2007, 05:31 AM
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Continuation Day 4
The hotel, Le Clos Saint Vincent is a lovely spot, peaceful quiet and extremely comfortable. We had reserved a deluxe room
mainly for the air cond. however as it turned out we were more likely to need heat!
The staff were helpful and friendly. The room was top notch. It was very spacious with hardwood floors and beamed ceilings a least 20 ft high. It had a huge new bathroom with dble sinks and bath and shower and the bedroom with a wall of doors opening to a balcony with a view over the Alacian plains that went on for miles.
We asked at the front desk if we could walk into Ribeauville and he said sure. Well... you can definately walk into town as it is downhill but coming back certainly gave us our cardio workout for the week! Not suggested for those who are not big big walkers.
The town of Ribeauville surpassed our expectations. It is a nice size, a bit bigger than most in the area and very charming. It has the cobblestone streets, multitudes of flowers and plenty of shops and restaurants. It felt as if more people lived and used this town, unlike some of the smaller villages that had a museum type quality.
For dinner on our first night we ate at the hotel. The dining room is pretty with a great outdoor balcony and views in every direction. Unfortunately as it was cool we had to eat indoors. The food was of good quality but not really memorable and the atmosphere was very "quiet" and formal. We felt like we needed to whisper and be on our best behavior.
After a long travel day we were happy to
relax in our room and had a very good sleep in the quiet countryside.
The hotel, Le Clos Saint Vincent is a lovely spot, peaceful quiet and extremely comfortable. We had reserved a deluxe room
mainly for the air cond. however as it turned out we were more likely to need heat!
The staff were helpful and friendly. The room was top notch. It was very spacious with hardwood floors and beamed ceilings a least 20 ft high. It had a huge new bathroom with dble sinks and bath and shower and the bedroom with a wall of doors opening to a balcony with a view over the Alacian plains that went on for miles.
We asked at the front desk if we could walk into Ribeauville and he said sure. Well... you can definately walk into town as it is downhill but coming back certainly gave us our cardio workout for the week! Not suggested for those who are not big big walkers.
The town of Ribeauville surpassed our expectations. It is a nice size, a bit bigger than most in the area and very charming. It has the cobblestone streets, multitudes of flowers and plenty of shops and restaurants. It felt as if more people lived and used this town, unlike some of the smaller villages that had a museum type quality.
For dinner on our first night we ate at the hotel. The dining room is pretty with a great outdoor balcony and views in every direction. Unfortunately as it was cool we had to eat indoors. The food was of good quality but not really memorable and the atmosphere was very "quiet" and formal. We felt like we needed to whisper and be on our best behavior.
After a long travel day we were happy to
relax in our room and had a very good sleep in the quiet countryside.
Jul 14th, 2007, 06:06 AM
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I am doing shorter posts as I have lost a couple of them somehow someway!
Day 5:
We had a good sleep and awoke to another cool and gray day. The hotel offered breakfast but it was a large buffet that was more than we needed so we packed up and set off for a day of touring hoping to find coffee along the way.
First stop Riquewihr. Again due to the lack of tourists we drove right up to the town gates. This is a charming village and we enjoyed walking the ancient streets. We sat out a cloudburst of rain in a tourity cafe but the coffee was good. The raisin danish that we bought from the take out kiosk was amazing. The French do have good food.
We moved on to Kaysersberg for lunch. This was one of my husband's favourite stops. Each village is the same but also differnt so unique in their own way.
We arrived here about 1pm so many of the shops were closed for lunch. We had an omelette and green salad in one of the restaurants on the main street. Again the village was pretty much deserted.
Moving on to Eguisheim we enjoyed a drive through the back roads missing the Colmar sprawl.
I loved Eguisheim. I believe part of the village was built in the 13oo's and hasn't changed much since the 16oo's. It is built in circles and walking the back streets was so enjoyable and pretty. Very narrow lanes but very nicely kept up and picturesque.
The town square is festive and the sun did come out for a few minutes here. They even have a resident stork with it's nest perched on the church steeple. I got a great photo of it and will share it if I can figure out how to down load it.
On the way back we thought we would stop in Ribeauville for a drink but as it was too chilly to sit out in the square and since most of the spots seemed empty we decided to buy a bottle of local wine and head back to the hotel.
We stopped in at the cave of Wyman (& fils) Domaine Xavier. We tasted and then purchased a great reisling for 6 euros. It was as good or better than many of the more expensive wines we had been drinking. We bought some local cheese and a baguette and sat out on our balcony overlooking all the little villages and had a wonderful happy hour in Alsace.
For dinner we headed 5 miles north to Bergheim to a cute restaurant called Winstub du Sommelier. We liked the ambience of the restaurant but the atmosphere was again very quiet. We had the menu of the day and it was fine but not great. I wish I had pulled out Stu Dudley's itinerary before dinner as he suggests Auberge de Norbert just down the street which might have been better.
(From then on we followed Stu's advice which was bang on). Thanks Stu, you traveled with us!
We walked through the village and when the church bell rang at 9pm we felt as if it was the curfew bell and we had to go home. Not a soul in sight.
The rue de remparts is a nice walk. Very cute village.
We ended the day watching CNN in English and had another good sleep. We are really enjoying Alsace.
Day 6
We awoke to the same weather we were enjoying each day on our trip. Good thing I packed a cashmere sweater at the last minute as I had to wear it 9 out of the 11 days under a jacket!
We drove to Strasbourg this morning. I had investigated where to park and we drove into the city very easily and parking was not problem.
Strasbourg is a great city. Different from other cities in France, the German influence I think.
We walked through the Petit France area along the main shopping area, visited the cathedral, walked through a local street market. This was a great market, the food of such high quality and selection. I wanted to buy and go home and cook! We spent several hours exploring the tourist part of town and also outside that area, over near the university. I don't usually like doing bigger cities as a day trip and this was no exception. It's usually too much to take in in a day and I would have liked to stay and spend the night. It is not huge city, feels more like a town and so is still charming and manageable. Definitely worth a visit.
We left Strasbourg and headed to Obernai. We walked thru the town but perhaps we were tired and so didnt give it a fair chance. Though cute we enjoyed Ribeauville much more as a home base.
From here though we took a drive which was one of the highlights of my visit to Alsace. We missed the turn out of Obernai and ended up in Ottratt. This was lucky as we caught the Route de Vin here and the drive back down towards Ribeauville is wonderful.
It is higher in the hills and so your wind your way up and down and around vineyards and views.
Barr was a pretty town and though we didnt stop would recommend a visit there. We saw the Hotel Arnold in Itterswiller where I had considered staying and it was very cute high up in the hills.
The section from Ottratt to Dambach la Ville was my favourite of the drive down
Route de Vin.
Dinner on this day was in Ribeauville at a local casual spot called Au Cheval Noir. Good hearty fare, not for foodies but good for bite to eat. Actually the portions were huge.
This ends our visit to Alsace. I would highly recommend it. It is very interesting and peaceful... Good wine, great scenery and a view into a bygone era. (Not bygone for the people living in these little villages. Its amazing to see people living in homes that were built so many years ago). Gives a different perspective on conservation to North Americans.
Day 7 takes us to Burgundy.
Day 5:
We had a good sleep and awoke to another cool and gray day. The hotel offered breakfast but it was a large buffet that was more than we needed so we packed up and set off for a day of touring hoping to find coffee along the way.
First stop Riquewihr. Again due to the lack of tourists we drove right up to the town gates. This is a charming village and we enjoyed walking the ancient streets. We sat out a cloudburst of rain in a tourity cafe but the coffee was good. The raisin danish that we bought from the take out kiosk was amazing. The French do have good food.
We moved on to Kaysersberg for lunch. This was one of my husband's favourite stops. Each village is the same but also differnt so unique in their own way.
We arrived here about 1pm so many of the shops were closed for lunch. We had an omelette and green salad in one of the restaurants on the main street. Again the village was pretty much deserted.
Moving on to Eguisheim we enjoyed a drive through the back roads missing the Colmar sprawl.
I loved Eguisheim. I believe part of the village was built in the 13oo's and hasn't changed much since the 16oo's. It is built in circles and walking the back streets was so enjoyable and pretty. Very narrow lanes but very nicely kept up and picturesque.
The town square is festive and the sun did come out for a few minutes here. They even have a resident stork with it's nest perched on the church steeple. I got a great photo of it and will share it if I can figure out how to down load it.
On the way back we thought we would stop in Ribeauville for a drink but as it was too chilly to sit out in the square and since most of the spots seemed empty we decided to buy a bottle of local wine and head back to the hotel.
We stopped in at the cave of Wyman (& fils) Domaine Xavier. We tasted and then purchased a great reisling for 6 euros. It was as good or better than many of the more expensive wines we had been drinking. We bought some local cheese and a baguette and sat out on our balcony overlooking all the little villages and had a wonderful happy hour in Alsace.
For dinner we headed 5 miles north to Bergheim to a cute restaurant called Winstub du Sommelier. We liked the ambience of the restaurant but the atmosphere was again very quiet. We had the menu of the day and it was fine but not great. I wish I had pulled out Stu Dudley's itinerary before dinner as he suggests Auberge de Norbert just down the street which might have been better.
(From then on we followed Stu's advice which was bang on). Thanks Stu, you traveled with us!
We walked through the village and when the church bell rang at 9pm we felt as if it was the curfew bell and we had to go home. Not a soul in sight.
The rue de remparts is a nice walk. Very cute village.
We ended the day watching CNN in English and had another good sleep. We are really enjoying Alsace.
Day 6
We awoke to the same weather we were enjoying each day on our trip. Good thing I packed a cashmere sweater at the last minute as I had to wear it 9 out of the 11 days under a jacket!
We drove to Strasbourg this morning. I had investigated where to park and we drove into the city very easily and parking was not problem.
Strasbourg is a great city. Different from other cities in France, the German influence I think.
We walked through the Petit France area along the main shopping area, visited the cathedral, walked through a local street market. This was a great market, the food of such high quality and selection. I wanted to buy and go home and cook! We spent several hours exploring the tourist part of town and also outside that area, over near the university. I don't usually like doing bigger cities as a day trip and this was no exception. It's usually too much to take in in a day and I would have liked to stay and spend the night. It is not huge city, feels more like a town and so is still charming and manageable. Definitely worth a visit.
We left Strasbourg and headed to Obernai. We walked thru the town but perhaps we were tired and so didnt give it a fair chance. Though cute we enjoyed Ribeauville much more as a home base.
From here though we took a drive which was one of the highlights of my visit to Alsace. We missed the turn out of Obernai and ended up in Ottratt. This was lucky as we caught the Route de Vin here and the drive back down towards Ribeauville is wonderful.
It is higher in the hills and so your wind your way up and down and around vineyards and views.
Barr was a pretty town and though we didnt stop would recommend a visit there. We saw the Hotel Arnold in Itterswiller where I had considered staying and it was very cute high up in the hills.
The section from Ottratt to Dambach la Ville was my favourite of the drive down
Route de Vin.
Dinner on this day was in Ribeauville at a local casual spot called Au Cheval Noir. Good hearty fare, not for foodies but good for bite to eat. Actually the portions were huge.
This ends our visit to Alsace. I would highly recommend it. It is very interesting and peaceful... Good wine, great scenery and a view into a bygone era. (Not bygone for the people living in these little villages. Its amazing to see people living in homes that were built so many years ago). Gives a different perspective on conservation to North Americans.
Day 7 takes us to Burgundy.
Jul 16th, 2007, 04:04 AM
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Day 7:
We left Alsace behind and headed to Burgundy. We took the expressway to Dijon which took under 3 hours. It is a good highway and the scenery is pretty but not outstanding.
We had no trouble driving into Dijon. We enjoyed this city. Spent a few hours exploring and had lunch. The buildings are beautiful. We liked the area down around the market. Lots of restaurants.
We left Dijon and took the road that wound through the Cotes de Nuits.
I have to say that this part of Burgundy was not as pretty as expected. Perhaps coming from Alsace we were comparing and we found Alsace much prettier.
We stopped in Gevrey-Chambertin and Nuits-st-Georges for a stroll. Not really much to see.
We continued to Beaune and our hotel which was outside the town.
We arrived at Hostellerie de Levernois which is in the countryside and as it was so peaceful and tranquil that we settled in for the rest of the day.
This is a Relais and Chateau property and was very nice. The restaurant has one Michelin star and we had a delicious dinner there. The wine from Burgundy is excellent though more expensive it seems.
We left Alsace behind and headed to Burgundy. We took the expressway to Dijon which took under 3 hours. It is a good highway and the scenery is pretty but not outstanding.
We had no trouble driving into Dijon. We enjoyed this city. Spent a few hours exploring and had lunch. The buildings are beautiful. We liked the area down around the market. Lots of restaurants.
We left Dijon and took the road that wound through the Cotes de Nuits.
I have to say that this part of Burgundy was not as pretty as expected. Perhaps coming from Alsace we were comparing and we found Alsace much prettier.
We stopped in Gevrey-Chambertin and Nuits-st-Georges for a stroll. Not really much to see.
We continued to Beaune and our hotel which was outside the town.
We arrived at Hostellerie de Levernois which is in the countryside and as it was so peaceful and tranquil that we settled in for the rest of the day.
This is a Relais and Chateau property and was very nice. The restaurant has one Michelin star and we had a delicious dinner there. The wine from Burgundy is excellent though more expensive it seems.
