September 17, 2014 – Wednesday – Lauterbrunnen Valley, Switzerland to Beaune, France
Rick Steves Best of Europe in 21 Days tour
We depart the Lauterbrunnen Valley in Switzerland early this morning after having breakfast at the hotel. The light is gorgeous as we drive through the valley of many waterfalls, and onto the Autobahn. Our first rest stop is still in Switzerland in the Bern area. I buy nothing since the prices are so high and I have spent all my CF coins. I don’t want to break another bill, since I can sell those back to my bank when I return home. As we pass through the French border, there are no formalities. We stop at a mall for lunch, and find the prices much more reasonable since we are now in France.
As we drive along the expressway, we see French chateaux in the midst of verdant fields or on hilltops, herds of Charlebois cattle, and of course vineyards everywhere. The Burgundy area of France is famous for its grapes and the fine wines that are produced from them. We happen to be here at harvest time, so workers are in the fields picking the grapes. Jennifer and Sylvain take us on an impromptu drive through some of the wine producing areas around Beaune before we arrive at our destination in the early afternoon.
After getting settled in Hotel Athanor, we have plenty of time to explore the lovely small city of Beaune: Roman walls and aqueducts, old stone buildings, coloured tile rooftops, and cobblestone streets. Later in the afternoon, we walk a few blocks to a wine tasting (modest extra cost) at Bouchard Aîné & Fils. These wine cellars fulfill my mind’s eye of what a wine cellar should look like: stone steps, cool and dark, and wine barrels and dusty wine bottles everywhere. The owner’s private collection is stored down here behind bars – some of those wines go back as far as 1911. Apparently the corks need to be replaced every 20 years, so they must sacrifice a bottle in order to top up the other bottles as they replace the corks and taste the wine to ensure it is still drinkable.
We stand on the old rampart wall of the city as we walk back to the hotel. The group dinner this evening is at a restaurant around the corner from the hotel. They serve a delicious three-course dinner, however I don’t have any wine with the meal, since it is too expensive. As we return to our hotel, there is a laser light show being projected on the outside walls of the nearby Basilica Notre Dame.
