the beginnings of my travels around france

lille

me and danielle

market in beaune

this past weekend, i commenced my travels around france.  on friday i was off to lille in northern france, a city with a strong flemish influence.  our day started in the picturesque town square and then we were off with our tour guide, sylvie, to see a church that was a mix of old and new architecture.  then, we were off to the hospices de la comtesse.  after a typical flemish lunch, we went to the musée des beaux arts, which is the second most important museum in france (it's impossible to beat the louvre).  after grabbing a quick speculoos gaufre (waffle) for the train ride, back to paris we went.  saturday morning, i was up with the metro (not quite: fun fact-the metro opens at 5 AM) to head with the rest of EDUCO to Bourgogne (Burgundy).  Our EXTREMELY skilled bus driver dropped us in beautiful Beaune and we walked right into the market!  After a quick purchase of cassis (for kirs, obviously... cassis is a regional specialty), i was off to a lunch of... what else... boeuf bourgignon!  thank you to julie and julia for making this amazing dish so well known.  after lunch, we visited the famous hotel dieu-hospices de beaune and then were off to the caves of reine-pédauque for a wine tasting (so fun!).  after a scenic drive through the vineyards of bourgogne, we ended up at the charming inn where we dined and stayed the night.  we were up with the sun (again, exaggeration... i don't LOVE getting up early on weekends) to head to l'abbé de fontenay and then to the city on a hill, vezelay for a typical bourgogne meal and a view of the beautiful basilique.  ten postcards later, i found myself back in paris!

l'abbé de fontenay

basilique-vezelay