MaineGG

We need an apartment or gite for five nights in late September. I had thought to find something in Dijon, but now think it would be easier to be somewhere outside the city where parking wouldn't be a problem. I have seen a couple of places that seem interesting, and are certainly within our budget:

Beaune Studio - http://www.barbary-lane-houserental.com/index.htm#7

Gite near Semur - http://www.homelidays.co.uk/millery/...-137254en1.htm

I'd love to have any recommendations for other places.

Any words of wisdom about where we should ideally be located for touring the region? We have never been in the area. Comments and suggestions please.

We would like to visit Dijon, Beaune, Auxerre, Vézelay, Semur-en-Auxois, and possibly Autun and Besançon. Our main interests are history, art, architecture, culture. Not so much food and wine, although we do like to try regional specialties.

GG

HappyTrvlr

Take a look at www.franceburgundycottage.com.
We spent a week there and it's very comfortable, well equipped. Use it as a base to explore the region.

Tahuya

I haven't had the chance to visit burgundy yet, but have had this site bookmarked for a future visit: http://www.graperentals.com/home.html

MaineGG

Happy Trvlr - Thanks for the recommendation. The cottage looks lovely. I should have mentioned, though, that there will only be two of us, so something smaller will be needed. I'll certainly keep the link in case we return to the area with friends or family along.

Tahuya, the places you suggest also look great, but, they are all booked for our dates.

I have heard from the Barbary Lane rental in Beaune that their studio is available for our dates. It's right in the middle of Beaune, but parking is provided. I know Beaune is smaller than Dijon, so I'm assuming that it would be easier to come and go from there daily. I know I'm late getting this done, so maybe I should just take this one since lots of other places are already booked.

MaineGG

We have reserved the Barbary Lane studio in Beaune. I think it meets all our needs for a 5-night stay and a base for touring.

We'll be arriving there on a Sunday. Since a lot of restaurants are closed, I'm thinking I should make a reservation somewhere. Any suggestions? Looking for good regional food, comfortable and casual ambiance, and moderate price (+/-€20 menu).

GG

tower

Maine...I answered your other post on resto rec for Beaune..thought you might enjoy a set of Beaune pics, since you'll be spending some time there. It's a delightful little town. Hope you don't mind the 2 million Hospice pics I took..just scroll through them.
Stu Tower
https://picasaweb.google.com/stuartt...eBurgundy2009#

Nottingham

Very interested in how this rental -Barbary Lane Studio-works out for you. I would love to hear a report after your trip in September. We are looking to travel to Burgundy in Sept. of 2012, and have started doing some research now. Hope you will remember to post a "small review"....thanks!

grandmere

Even though you say you have decided against Dijon as a base, i have to mention www.myhomeindijon.com as a wonderful apartment in that city. Coco, a frequent poster here, is the owner, and she does everything she can to welcome you to her apartment and Dijon. The apartment is in a super location in the city for exploring on foot and there are car parks available. If you do a search on here, you will find many, many happy people who have stayed at this charming apartment.

gardendiva

Do not miss the wine tasting at the Marche Vin in Beaune. We are still talking about it to this day. Looking at tower's pictures brought back some great memories. We were there about 10 years ago. We ate at a little place just across the square from the Brassiere. Unfortunately I do not remember the name and after 10 years it may not be there.

I don't know your background as far as travel but in Beanue everything closes between 12 & 2. We found a small pattisere that was open. I know that this is normal for most european towns but in all our travels in France, this was the only town that it was very obvious.

MaineGG

Stu - Again many thanks for posting your photos. They're really wonderful.

Nottingham - I'll definitely post a trip report when we get home.

grandmere - The first place I checked for availability was Coco's in Dijon, and having heard so much about it, was disappointed that it was not available for our dates. She is certainly a generous contributor to this forum.

gardendiva - The Marche aux Vins is definitely on our list. Thanks for the heads up about midday closings. We have encountered this in many small towns, but somehow would not expect it to be so widespread in a heavily visited town like Beaune.

tower

GG:
...alternative to Marche aux Vins is the local, enormous winery, Patriarche, also in town. We were the only visitors and had a great experience of it...see pix.

http://www.patriarche.com/spip.php?lang=en

stu

Nottingham

MaineGG--looking forward to your trip report & especially how it worked out "seeing the
region" using Beaune as your base....sounds like an excellent plan to me....Bon Voyage for your Sept. trip....! Everyone is passing along great suggestions!!! I'm saving all info.

womeninwine

marche aux vins is a tourists trap
if the salesmen do not sense that you will not buy,they will ignore at best and be rude as it happened to us back in juune

womeninwine

marche aux vins is a tourists trap
if the salesmen do not sense that you will not buy,they will ignore at best and be rude as it happened to us back in juune

TPAYT

bookmarking

tower

GG.. I can assure uyou that Patriarche winery is not hard sell as womeninwine suggests march aux vins is. We were treated very cordially...did not buy..and felt no pressure whatsover. No tourists were present..we were literally the only guests...anjoyed the tour and the tasting. (Cost was €10 if I recall properly)

stu tower

gardendiva

We must have been at the Marche aux vins on a slow day. We never encountered salespeople until the very end and we only bought one bottle of wine that was fairly inexpensive and the staff was very friendly not pushy at all. As I said above, to this day we still laugh about the fun we had for those few hours.