Man, this place is old...

We left Chamonix yesterday on a beautiful cloudless morning. The view of Mont Blanc was spectacular.

Next, we hopped on the amazing train system to St. Gervais to Belgrade to Lyon and finally to Beaune. All of our connections had about 9 minutes to switch platforms and they went without a hitch. This French rail system runs like a Swiss made watch. Nice.

When we arrived in Beaune it was blazing hot. And, this place is OLD!

There is a ring road which circles the town and follows the perimeter of the old fortress walls. The inner town is filled with charming shops, restaurants and lots of wine shops. This region (Burgundy) is known for its many vineyards and lots of cows. Beoef Bourgignon is on every menu along with escargot. Yum. Also, Dijon is the next town over, so there this is a mustard lovers dream. Kev and Darby not so thrilled...

Our hotel has been in existence since they started building hotels. Wow. That is it on the right. We are on a charming square with an amazing view of the cathedral of Notre Dame. After dinner last night we were walking back to our hotel and saw the French version of a light show. They were casting images on the ceturies old church. Kicks the Michigan Avenue Festival of Lights ass.

Notre Dame cathedral.

Beginning of the light show, with our lil photog trying to snap a good one.

Anything for a shot.

One of the big highlights of the the town, besides the vineyards is the Hôtel Dieu. It is a medieval charity hospital built in 1443. It took only eight years to construct and had patients in it until 1971. It was spectacular. The roof tiles were in the Burgundian style. They were so forward thinking in their construction of the place that the builder insisted on building OVER the river for sanitation purposes. The tour was cool, if a bit long winded. Darby loved it.

The tiles of the hospital.

The beds where the poorest patients were helped. They were very fancy and high tech for the times and were completely free.

Jars holding medicine in the pharmacy.

We also had to catch a bit of the Spain/Portugal game. Luckily, there is an English pub right around the corner. Kev thought the place would be packed...but we were the only ones in therefor quite some time. The bartender said that once france lost, no one watches. A few Australian blokes wandered in. They were on a sixth month trip culminating in one of their sons' wedding in switzerland. And I thought we were going to be gone a long time!

There was also an adorable French boy who kept wandering in to check the score. He was about 10 and he was hilarious. He gave critiques and his thoughts on all the matches do far. It was kinda like listening to a little Howard Cosell.

Darby and Kevin watching the match.

Today we are off on an all-day bike tour of the region and the vineyards. Pray for my legs...they are still recovering from our little hike in the alps.