Well, I started off the day today with a mid term in finance. I know... yuck!! It was a grind and a good reminder of what we're really doing here. However, once we knocked out the test, we had a great afternoon!
When we got back to the hotel at noon or so, we hopped on a bus and headed out into the country. Our first stop was a fantastic castle called Chateau de la Rochepot (pronounced: roach-poe). The castle was unbelivable. It was owned by a family which was the advisor of the Duke's for years. It had a great example of the traditional roofs of this area (colored porcelain tiles are the signature of the burgundy area). We hiked all over the castle and got some great shots!
After the castle we headed to a small town near Dijon called Beaune (pronounced: bone). Our fearless guide, Claude took us on a tour of the old hospital that was located in the center of town. Apparently a rich merchant embezzled a bunch of money from the locals and he realized that he might be heading downwards instead of upwards when he passed away, so he had a huge hospital built. The hospital probably has the best example of the burgundy roofs that I have seen yet. It was amazing! Beaune is also very cool because the orginal walls of the city still stand. As modernization came to the area, lots of cities demolished their walls, but Beaune chose to keep their walls (they're known for resisting modernization).
The last stop on our tour, was my favorite. Our guide, Claude has been taking us on tours all over the city lately and it turns out that his family owns a winery in a little village just outside of Beaune. Claude opened 3 different bottles, all of which we exceptional wines. The last red he opened, a pinot noir, was ranked with a "Grand Cru" status. Grand Cru wines are the best of the best of the vineyards, and make up only 1% of the wines grown in the region. It was very good. Very clear, very smooth, hints of pepper and cherry. It was good, not Paso wines good, but very good.
By the way, all of you wine guys... check out how close the rows are! There's very very little machine picking done in this area.
Anyways, hope everyone is well. We're headed for Brussels tomorrow, and we will be back late Friday night. I'm not sure when I'll be able to post over the next couple of days, but I will try to make up for it this weekend.
A quick picture rundown... The first two pictures are of Claude's cellars (over 200 years old). The third picture is of a vineyard in the area. The fourth picture is a shot of a wine press in the wine museum in Beaune. The 5th picture is the hospital in Beaune, and the last two pictures are shots of Chateau de la Rochepot.
Hope everyone is doing well at home. I miss you all!!
No comments:
Post a Comment