France Day 3 - Cabs, Trains & Automobiles

Woke up, checked out and headed to the train station. I was a bit out of sorts since I could not locate my Tiffany ring (in pants pocket from night before) and wound up leaving my hoodie and was what to become a priceless pack of pocket tissues in the cab - does anyone carry tissues in France? but we made it with plenty of time to spare.

With time to kill we had an espresso in the station and waited for our track number to be called. Eventually, we proceeded to the track only to find a very large set of stairs awaiting us and no escalator in sight. This wouldn't be an issue if not for the almost 60 pounds of luggage Mitch was carrying and the rest of us (with the exception of SheGal) were only about 15 pounds behind her. Needless to say, we got our morning workout as we hit our seats.

We enjoyed our Poilane treats on the train. The apple tart and the pain au chocolate were tasty, however, I probably would have enjoyed the apple much more if I had the ability to heat it up. Regardless, it was quite delicious and a nice way to enjoy a long train ride.

After wandering around Beaune luggage in tow, we finally found the car rental agency, packed our car to the gills with our luggage and headed to Chateau Chorey Les Beaune where our gracious host, Francois and his three adorable dogs greeted us. By this point we were starving and the lunch window was quickly closing, so Francois recommended "the Grill" (Le Bareuzai Restaurant Grill) less than half a mile down the street.

We headed to the grill and quickly discoverd that at this and at many other 'grill establishments' in France, you go up to the counter, pick your protein of choice (beef, sausage, veal, etc), season with the various salts/peppers/etc, and then head over to a large grill where you literally grill your own meat! There were some veggies on the side that were self-serve buffet style so it wasn't a full-blown meat fest.

Although I was eyeballing the sausage, I went conservative and picked the beef and with Mitch as our appointed grill master and we sat down to a delightful yet suprising lunch! So much for a casual quick bite!

After recovering from our laughter over lunch, we headed into Beaune and tasted at two caves in town, Marche' aux Vins and Patriarche pere et fils. The latter was touted as the largest in Bourgogne, however, the wines were far superior at Marche aux Vins. We gathered some goodies from the local shops and decided to relax and dine al fresco back at Francois'.

We regrouped and set up shop outside the Chateau on a beautiful warm night. Our treasures included: a fresh baguette, salumi, jamon pizza, quiche, cured olives, goat cheese with mustard, camembert and two other cheeses only found in France (unpasteurized so it's a no-no in the U.S.). The camembert was perfectly pungent and flavorful and the tomatoes on the ham pizza were double-roasted to add another level to the pizza. And for desert? Chocolates from La Maison du Chocolat of course!

Luckily, we had half a bottle of 2003 Chorey Les Beaune left over from lunch, purchased one bottle from the Chateau (Francois used to be the winemaker, now he's retired and his son takes care of the vineyard) and half a bottle that RRR had purchased earlier in the trip.

With Francois' dog we nicknamed Cleetus
(doesn't he look like one?) by our side and under the Burgundy skies, what a way to kick off our journey into the French countryside.

Now this is what I call dining!!!!!