BEAUNE, FRANCE

24 HRS IN BEAUNE, FRANCE

If you have never heard of Beaune, France, I am here to tell you… this is a must visit! Beaune is in the center of the Burgundy winemaking region. This was my first time going to this city and it was an adventure I was ready to hike through since I heard “burgundy wine”! I joke, but well not really… no doubt though outside of the wine there is so much more to this beautiful city and region. We had a short getaway so whenever in France and you have 24 hours to spare, here is my travel guide to Beaune France! Check out the stories on Instagram

What to Do

SATURDAY MORNING MARKET

In addition to exploring the city and stopping for some wine time, on Saturday mornings (seasonal) there is one of the biggest and best French markets I have seen. You will find seasonal fruits & veggies, local sausages & cheeses, apparel & unique artisan pieces, antiques stores & Brocante booths, and do not forget to stroll through the local boutique shops. ps.

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SHOPPING

HAND-MADE PIECES

Laguiole — HIS

This was actually our anniversary trip, so I gifted my husband with this beautiful hand-crafted knife, made with a ram’s horn and special chrome steel by a 75 yr old French artisan. These pieces are classified as Fabrication 100% Française and if you follow me you know how much I respect hand-made especially since I live here.

HERS

For my gift, we stopped in a boutique – La Borsa where I discovered an up-and-coming artisan by the name of Florent Poirier of “Paul Marius” which is the name of his new brand. I was very excited to have bought my natural leather purse from his new collection. I was attracted as well to his brand concept of picking several pieces of leather which takes to the tanning effects differently, so each bag is unique. I respect that he has grown in the last couple of years to consist of Indians artisans and French workers to create these natural leather accessories.

VISIT

Hôtel-Dieu (Hospices de Beaune) Museum

This is a 15th century formal hospital and the geometric-pattern dyed tile roof is breathtaking – especially if you are into medieval architecture and art. We enjoy discovering the history of the places we visit; I just feel more connected to the city and the people by learning how they became this wonderful landmark, throughout all the events they endured and lived. The tickets are under $10 and 7,50€.

WINE TASTING

Why not just bike-ride through the vineyards of the Côte de Beaune and make stops to learn about burgundy wines such as chardonnay and pinot noir (red)! We have done wine tours numerous times before, however we never tried to do it on a bike! More than ever now I am attracted to active vacation time, the kind that burns calories without making me feel like I am trying too hard. So, of course, this kind of excursion was right up my alley.

I like that we were able to learn more about Burgundy wine as a whole and to ride through beautiful villages, such as, Pommard, Volnay and Meursault. We visited a local wine producer, Marie-Jo - “Domaine Lahaye “. It is a small family owned vineyard producing about 15,000 bottles a year. I was happy to learn more about their history. So fascinating to learn her son and she are the only two running the factory. Her hands showed her demanding work and it really made me feel more appreciative of her wine. This did change my attitude of how to treat wine – it makes me understand the amount of challenge, long hours and patience it takes to produce wine. I have a new-found respect for small vineyards such as hers.

On this tour we had one drink out in the vineyards from the tour guide then we visited one vineyard and tasted about 6 wines of hers which was fine to us since we have been drinking since lunch. There is also a full day bike tour (9am-5pm) which allows a lunch break and more wine tasting.

We booked through Bourgogne évasion and we were very happy with them! They offer English tours as well. Fun tour guide and cool group of people we were with. I highly recommend them.

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Here are some other tours which might interest you:

Divine Day Tour - Burgundy Wine Tour - Tasting 10 wines
Dijon: Half-Day Wine Tour of Burgundy
Wine Tasting at Chateau POMMARD - Unfortunately it wasn’t in the cards to stop by however I took a snapshot of the beautiful chateau! The second picture above.
Beaune : Also, stop by to buy or browse the wine at Maison Champy

where to stay

BED & BREAKFAST

Fleurs de Vignes

Shut the front door! This was icing on the cake to our trip. We typically rent through Airbnb, however I came across this gem and I am so glad that we stayed here. The home itself is the embodiment of French living and that alone gave the warm fuzzy feeling! Our host, Emmanuel, was a super host. He offered us tea/coffee upon our arrival, always available and his wife and mother-in-law prepared a wonderful French breakfast; homemade jams and apple sauce was delish! They also have a sauna/jacuzzi room and pool! This came in handy, because after our bike tour Emmanuel prepared the room for us and gave us instructions on what to do for sauna time then jacuzzi to follow. Wow, we walked out of there so refreshed and detoxed ready for dinner and to drink more delicious wine!

WHERE TO EAT

LUNCH

La Gremelle

Although we did have dinner here I would recommend this as a lunch spot as well. The price point was perfect compared to the amazing food they offered, presented well and the service was brilliant. I recommend eating by the pool. This created such a beautiful ambiance for our time there. BTW, this is also a hotel!

DINNER

Le Bénaton

2018 Michelin Star restaurant

You just cannot get better than a Michelin star restaurant. The cuisine was not only visual art but also so beautifully master crafted it made you cry! We ate lunch here and given this was lunch, then I could only imagine how exquisite the dinner would have been. I recommend strongly going for dinner. Not to mention the wine list came in a thick-like bible! This is not a foodnetwork blog, so I am not even going to try to explain what exactly we ate. Pictures are worth a thousand words! If you only go once in your life… you must try this place out!