Chapter 3b Preparation for a Baptism of History (The Trek)

I'm starting with my favorite photo of the day. It appears a second time, in context, below.

In order for us to document this journey, as well as to research on the road, we needed some tools. This seemed simple at first. We would need our trusty cameras and the French cell phone for making arrangements while there and also for keeping in touch with loved ones back home - folks we were leaving for a WHOLE MONTH!!!  But to write blog posts on the road, we needed internet connection. That was all the rationale I needed to buy myself a new toy - a slim, sleek, matte silver-color, 7 ½” X 11 3/4”  MacAir. Just 3 things. So simple.

Yes - 1,2,3.....Netbook, phone & camera in my hands

But then of course there were the accompanying chargers and cords. And once in France, we realized that most hotels rooms are not exactly well-supplied with outlets, so our first shopping trip was to the housewares department of the nearest Franprix to acquire an extension cord and a multiplugger to fit French outlets.  Now the equipment looks more like this:

...and it all needed its own bag.

As we are kind of cheap, and tend to look for the less-pricey two-star hotels, we often encountered interesting outlet arrangements. Thank goodness for all the flexibility training I got in yoga class (Thanks Erica!) My favorite outlet placement was at the very simple train station hotel in Dole where there was an outlet about 7 ½ feet off the floor, right near the ceiling. It was also behind the door to the room, so no furniture was, nor ever could be, under it. Our 3-meter extension cord came in handy there. I just gotta wonder what the electrician who installed that outlet had in mind for it’s use.

Additional equipment needed was our kit of picnic supplies for on-the-road lunches and simple hotel room dinners of cheese, bread and the local red.  This time Madonna brought wine glass tags so there would be no confusion about whose plastic travel wine glass was whose. All of the tags had sayings in different languages, the gist of which was “No wimpy wines allowed”. Mine was in Spanish: “No vino sin huevos” (No wines without eggs, wherein “eggs” is a slang word, for what I'm sure you can guess, indicating that the wine needs to be bold, dammit!)

And then, of course,  the necessary items for the plane flight, including some that we always hope will make the plane flight more pleasant, or at least survivable.

Oh yeah - earplugs for sure

And heaviest of all, we needed the journals of the 409th, the letters, notebooks, other documents, guidebooks for all the regions we were going to visit, maps, city plans, and any & all info brochures to help us find our way.

We left Paris on the morning of September 19, taking a sleek TGV train to Beaune (pronounced “bone”) into the heart of Burgundy. The architecture of the region is heavily influenced by the fact that the dukes of Burgundy had a long history of opposing the French monarchy, and were often more powerful that the sitting king of the moment. It was they who, allied with the English, sold out Joan of Arc to be burned as a heretic. Because of this history, the region is dotted with old fortified towns and grand châteaux. Beaune is one of those old towns, and sits in a hilly region whose slopes are covered with vineyards. The thriving industry of wine-production is supplemented by the tourist euros of folks like us coming to enjoy the beauty of the town, the cuisine for which Burgundy is famous (yes, they were the fattest tastiest snails I’ve ever eaten), and the consistently delicious red wine.

Vats full of grapes 

The heart of the of the old city is surrounded by ramparts,

and full of old stone buildings with tile roofs,

glazed roof tiles typical of important buildings,

belfries,

Iron-work,

and interesting architectural details called something I don’t remember.

Best are the stone churches where medieval architects used the interplay of light, stone, and stained glass to inspire awe among their contemporaries, as well us moderns.

I love encountering the occasional quirky mix of old and new.

After two days in this delightful town, we decided to do the “self-guided” tour of the wine region around Beaune as recommended by one of our favorite guidebook authors, Rick Steves. Fortified with a copious breakfast at our Hotel de la Cloche, 

we set off in our just-rented car, a Citroën “Picasso”, and got lost in no time.  There was a learning curve in regard to driving and navigating the roads of France.  It was an adventure, as they say, and we wound up doing the tour backwards. 


We found a great castle to visit, Le Château de La Rochepot and took the tour.   http://www.larochepot.com/index.html

photo credit: Christophe Finot http://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fichier:Chateau_La_Rochepot2.JPG

Our guide was animated, funny and full of good stories about the Pot family and their chateau. At one point she was talking about Burgundians and their love of the red wine they cultivate. She sang a traditional type of song called a “chanson à boire” - a drinking song. I sweet-talked her into writing the lyrics down, so here it is in French, with my translation after for  non-francophones:

Point d’amoureuses envies

Qui trouble le repos,

Le soin de cette vie

C’est de banner les maux.

Que le vin de Bourgogne fait d’honneur à Bacchus!

Je veux rougir ma trogne de cet excellent jus.

No amorous desires 

To trouble one’s sleep.

The concern of this life

Is to ban all such wrongs.

Let the wine of Burgundy do honor to Bachus!

I want to redden my kisser (mug?) with this excellent juice.

It would help if you pronounce Bacchus with a long “ooo” sound and accent that syllable. Also note that in using a slang word for face as in the French version, I did not use the one that my children told me I can’t use any more, even though it was very common throughout my life, and has only recently  become vulgar. Don’t you just love how language changes all the time? And aren’t my children glad that I do listen to them?  (Get back to me on that, kids, please.)

Next post: we continue the trek east to Franche-Comté and the region of the Jura Mountains.


Now, one last look at the "raisin" d'être of Burgundy.

(It's a pun. raisin = grape & raison = reason. Raison d'être = reason for being)

P.S. DO please send comments to my email (mcdorf@gmail.com) if you can’t comment otherwise.