Falling in Love With France, Part 4

Burgundy

But, another time we headed in another direction right out of Paris into Burgundy. When I am planning a trip, I like to put a lot of time into research. I want to know where I am going to stay, how long it will take us to get there, and what there is to see. I hate it when I get back from a trip and someone says, “You mean you missed the ___? That’s the most fabulous thing I ever saw. What a shame you didn’t know about it.” But I have also found that some of my best trips have been those without any planning. Sometimes wonderful things happen when you are least expecting them. I believe it’s called serendipity.
Such a time happened to my husband and me one weekend on my first June in France. Maurice said on a Saturday morning, “Why don’t we take a quick trip into Burgundy? Just get in the region and then find a place to stay?” We quickly packed an overnight bag and were on the road in an hour. I had grabbed one fat tour book of France on the way out the door that I started scanning as we headed for Burgundy.
The country side was beautiful with golden wheat heavy with grain in the fields ready for harvesting. It was cherry season and we passed many people selling cherries at roadside stands at half the price of those in Paris. The skies were blue, the sun was shining.
The first town we came to that I saw in my tour book was Auxerre. I had never heard of it but the author mentioned a wonderful cathedral, Cathedral St-Etienne, started in the 13th century, that had been visited by Joan of Arc. The cathedral was wonderful, and that would have been all we had seen if Maurice hadn’t decided he had to get a drink of water. We started walking down a small street and discovered a town gate with an ancient clock set into it, opening onto a marvelous, cobble-stoned square. I was amazed that we had almost missed wandering around this little city.
Soon we were on our way to the next town when we decided we had better book a place for the night. Thankful for mobile phones, I started calling every little motel I could find in my tour book and found that they were all booked, so I decided I had better start calling the more expensive places and finally found a place with a room called Château de Vault-de-Lagny located between the two towns of Avallon and Vazelay. I was so happy, since I had imagined spending the night in the car at the side of the road somewhere.
We went on to Avallon, another really interesting town still shielded behind some ancient ramparts and with a lovely church. Then, we decided to go check into the Chateau. Driving along a winding country road through green hills and cherry orchards we found it: a 16th century château circled by a moat. We entered the gates and the château stood across the wide expanse of grass which are called grounds because they look, and are, so luxurious. Peacocks and exotic chickens strolled about. An 11th century tower left from ancient times stood next to a beautiful building. They just don’t make buildings like they used to, in my opinion, and it’s a shame. There is so much charm in steps that curve up to a grand wooden door, with worn indentations from centuries of others climbing in just the same way as we did that day. The interior had high carved ceilings and a wonderful fireplace. Our room was comfortable and luxurious and looked out over the grounds spreading out green in the setting sun.
We stayed there that evening for dinner out in front of the chateau with part of the entertainment being two hot air balloons being filled and then launched over our heads as we ate. We had a great meal with local wine and a regional beef stew.
I decided I could get used to this kind of life style, but I think one reason it was so special to Maurice and me is that we seldom treat ourselves to this kind of luxury, although it turned out to be fairly reasonable. It was also unique because it was unexpected and unplanned; just one of those special times that can happen if you get out and explore. “The best ever,” I thought.
We’ve made brief trips to Normandy and Brittany both full of unbelievable beauty with rugged coast lines, arching cliffs into the water, and breathtaking places like Mont St Michel, an island and cathedral truly lost in time.
There are cities like Rouen or Dijon or Lyon, regions like the champagne country or… well, I could go on and on. I have only been in France for a short time and am amazed at all I have seen and I have just started to see and explore this timeless country of France.