When in Burgundy...

It so happens that a few years ago  my parents bought a country house in the smallest village in Burgundy. A beautiful place in its own parallel universe, where the only thing that happens, is that nothing happens. Fortunately, that is just what you’re looking for every now and then, when living in Paris. So that is where we went.

The house is in La Motte Ternant, where the country houses encircle a little green valley interrupted by a small river. Here, you hear nothing but an occasional tractor, cow or gunshot from a hunter.

Saulieu is the nearest village with a few shops and a supermarket. On Saturdays the Saulieu Market brings the only excitement in the region. This is the living proof of my over-romanticized view of French country life. While the woman are tasting the best cheeses, olives and hams to buy, the local farmers, equipped with baguette and beret, come together at the ‘wine bar’ in the center of the market. Here they talk loud, drink Chablis, eat oysters and invite you to do the same. To make things even more French, the village dj provides the folkloristic background music.

The wine shop ‘Le Cellier Morvandiau’ organized a wine tasting so we were happy to join them. With a few country men in wax coats and rubber boots we were talking about our favorite hobby, wine. The ‘proud-to-be-the-former-mayor-of-Saulieu’, clearly ignoring the spittoon, was showing us his favorite wines and made us taste all of them. We managed to escape the wine fetishism because the men had to prepare for hunting next day. We went for lunch at the famous Café Parisien. A very old and authentic café where it is always crowded with locals and tourists.

After lunch we went wine tasting in Chassagne Montrachet. Here you find 2 great ‘Caves’ where you can taste and buy very good wines from the top producers of the ‘Côte the Beaune’. Happy and proud with our latest wine purchase, we had dinner in a very original restaurant in Beaune. Cave Madeleine is both a wine shop and a restaurant. Here you can eat very well for about 30 euros per person and the surprise is that you can choose your wine from the shop for only 6 euros corkage fee!

All in all a typical day in Burgundy....how much I love it!