Our gang of 7 had a fab time biking around the wine region of Burgundy for Scotts 30th.
We arrived via the eurostar into Paris and at first couldn't book into our hotel because they didn't have our reservation. They told us not to book on laterooms again as they couldn't be trusted, but as our group has all used laterooms before without any problems we think it is the hotel that we wont be using again!
Early the next morning we headed off to pick up our rental van and hit the country side. We were off to a slow start as the van was so tightly parked it took a while to get out of the car park.
We stopped at Auxerre for lunch. We had a booking for 1pm but arrived early so we walked along the river bank and had cake and champagne to celebrate Scotts birthday. We bought Scott a lovely bright pink t-shirt that we got printed with "Save water, drink champagne". (Only once we had begun our bike tour did we realise we were in Chardonay territory and of course should have got that on the tee and not champagne!) Auxerre was beautiful and very French. As it is not a tourist town there was no English spoken so when I tried to order lunch patrons in the restuarant were making hand gestures and animal noises to help me decipher the menu. Very funny.
We then arrived in Beaune where we staying for the next two nights. Anna had booked a lovely restaurant for Scotts birthday dinner. This time we could deciphere the menu but got told off by a grumpy old man for being too loud! I think we were ruining his romantic dinner with his wife. Whoops.
Finally the day arrived where we were to mount our bikes and head off along the wine trail. Although it took 7kms of cycling to reach the start point! From there we encountered hills which was not in my idyllic plan of how things would be. It turned out that because we were biking on Sunday many wineries and restaurants were closed. This posed a problem for lunch but eventually we found a hotel restaurant that served us cheese platters. Luckily the night before we had bought bottles of wine at the supermarket which we packed with us for our biking trip. Along the way we would park up and drink a bottle of wine before heading on our merry way. This made our trip cheap and cheerful.
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| Cheese for lunch |
The following day we woke, packed up our trusty van and headed towards Paris. Our first stop off was Dijon, where they make mustard. Dijon was beautiful and we had fun walking around the owl tour of the city. We also managed a coffee and pastry stop.
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| Dijon |
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| Vezelay |
During the weekend Nath had seen postcards with beautiful scenery saying Vezelay. As we were driving to Paris we saw a road sign that said Vezelay 10km so we took the turn off and found ourselves at Vezelay. It was a lovely town on top of a hill where we found the cutest rooftop restaurant looking out over the countryside. Made all the better with a glass of bubbles and good company. What a fab way to end a great long weekend.
The following day we woke, packed up our trusty van and headed towards Paris. Our first stop off was Dijon, where they make mustard. Dijon was beautiful and we had fun walking around the owl tour of the city. We also managed a coffee and pastry stop.
We stopped at Auxerre for lunch. We had a booking for 1pm but arrived early so we walked along the river bank and had cake and champagne to celebrate Scotts birthday. We bought Scott a lovely bright pink t-shirt that we got printed with "Save water, drink champagne". (Only once we had begun our bike tour did we realise we were in Chardonay territory and of course should have got that on the tee and not champagne!) Auxerre was beautiful and very French. As it is not a tourist town there was no English spoken so when I tried to order lunch patrons in the restuarant were making hand gestures and animal noises to help me decipher the menu. Very funny. 
Finally the day arrived where we were to mount our bikes and head off along the wine trail. Although it took 7kms of cycling to reach the start point! From there we encountered hills which was not in my idyllic plan of how things would be. It turned out that because we were biking on Sunday many wineries and restaurants were closed. This posed a problem for lunch but eventually we found a hotel restaurant that served us cheese platters. Luckily the night before we had bought bottles of wine at the supermarket which we packed with us for our biking trip. Along the way we would park up and drink a bottle of wine before heading on our merry way. This made our trip cheap and cheerful.
