Finally back in a WiFi apartment!

We’ve been staying in a wifi free zone for the past week so we have a bit of catching to do (including Evelyn’s arrival in Paris). Here we go:

Sept. 10

Canadiana

On our way from Reims to Paris we detoured north to the Vimy ridge memorial and the Somme memorial. We lunched in Arras on market day, which was very lively, and included a Porsche car rally.

The war memorials were exceptional in many ways. The pictures convey some of it. It was nice to talk to the ‘park’ interpreters, who were all Canadian students, mostly from U of Ottawa. The parks are both run by Veteran Affairs Canada.

Sept. 11 – 17

And then there were three. Evelyn has joined the crew.

After connecting at the Paris airport we were off to our ‘Gite’ or accommodate in Trouhaut, 30km from Dijon. On the way we stopped in Provin, a UNESCO recognised town. 

I really liked Trouhaut. We had a small two bedroom house, on a hillside looking over a steep narrow valley. We could see the dairy cows, and hear the church bells and the rooster. We enjoyed a nice hike right out the back door. Great to retreat to after touring all day. There are no businesses in the village, but a bakery and a grocery truck would make deliveries for the seniors. Evelyn made friends with a magpie, which was domesticated by a child after if fell from its nest.

Dijon and Beaune are the two cities that we explored in the northern burgundy wine area. We toured a museum and church in Dijon, went on a wine tasting bus tour with Leona, bought a number of different types of mustard in Baune and sampled a variety of white and red wines. We did our best to retain what we learned on the wine tour, but its a challenge while you are sampling. Most days we would eat lunch in the towns we visited, and then buy food to take home for supper. The French eat well, but some of the cheese is aromatic (stinky!) 

After our week in burgundy we drove south through the Beaujolais vine region, stopping to drive to the top of ‘Mont Brouilly’. Vintners pilgrimage here to pray for a good harvest at the chapel. What a scary drive up, but what a spectacular view! 

We stopped in Avignon, home of the bridge, where we will be for 4 nights. Its at the junction of the ‘Cotes du Rhône’ wine region and the Provence region.