Our first weekend away

Our first night out in Dijon

I started to post about Istanbul, but then I remembered that BK and I had a little trip just before that one- our first weekend getaway without Baby K. I posted a few days ago about my mom coming to visit last month, and while she and TP were here, they offered to keep Baby K over one weekend so that BK and I could have a "pre-10-year-anniversary" trip. Yes, I know, it's hard to believe, but BK and I will have been married for a decade this June.

Bourgogne vineyards

Of course, we jumped on her offer and planned a trip to the Burgundy wine region in France. It's about a three-hour drive from Montreux, which is totally doable for the weekend. And just to note, the "Burgundy" region is working on going back to its French name of Bourgogne, so we'll go with that from here on out.

While in Bourgogne we stayed in Dijon and also visited Beaune (Bone) on Sunday. Dijon is the biggest city in the region with about 200,000 people living there. We decided to stay there because there were larger hotels and we figured we could get more guidance about and around the region. We stayed at the Grand Hotel La Cloche Dijon, which I would highly recommend- super attentive staff, large rooms, and great location.

Dijon center

Our first night we had one of the best meals we've ever had at Chapeau Rouge Restaurant William Frachot. The French definitely know how to do food. It was a fixed menu with a wine pairing and it was excellent. After dinner we went to a couple of bars in the center of Dijon, then didn't even have to leave early to go relieve a babysitter!!

On Saturday we discovered that it takes a couple of days to get out of your parent routine and sleep later than when your kid wakes up. We had a lazy, rainy morning wandering around the center of Dijon, then in the afternoon went on a private wine tour.

A rainy Saturday in Dijon

Our guide was an American who had lived in the area for about 20 years. Bourgogne, and Europe in general, is not like Napa Valley or other American wine regions. Typically you don't go visit specific wineries, but go to a couple of historically significant places in the area, learn about the wine making and industry in the area, then visit a tasting room where you'll taste a number of different types of wine from various producers in the region.

This pic seems to be missing a third little person...

For a newbie, the whole system in Bourgogne is a little dizzying, in that the most important thing about the wine is the specific plot of land the grapes were grown on, versus the winemaker, blend of grapes, or vintage. In Borgogne, nearly everything they grow is Pinot Noir or Chardonnay. If a rebel was to come in and grow a different type of grape, in theory they could, but then their wine would be classified as just "French wine", which is a step down from being able to state your specific plot of land, etc. Land is too expensive to mess around with something like that, so it's typically not done. I would get into the whole Grand Cru, Premier Cru, system as well, but it's just a lot to take in and write about. If you're interested, I would suggest doing a little research on it.

Old wine press

The tour was really interesting and informative. We went to Clos du Vougeot, a chateau in the area that is the home of Confrérie des Chevaliers du Tastevin, a wine society devoted to promoting Bourgogne wine and the region as well. The Chateau started as a monastery in the 12th century and has been functioning ever since. After visiting the Chateau, we drove through some of the villages and areas in the region, ending up in Fixin (Fee-sa) for our tasting. I felt this was fitting for two Texans.

Couldn't resist

To be completely honest, the wines of Bourgogne weren't really our thing. The whites were similar to Chardonnay, which I am not a fan of, and the reds were Pinot Noirs, which BK isn't really a fan of. The region and experience were really cool to learn about, but the wines are just okay. But, to each their own, so don't judge just based on our opinions.

Private tasting cellar

Wines we tasted

Sunday we slept a little later and then headed to Beaune. It is a charming city of about 25,000 people. I liked it better than Dijon, mostly based on the feel of the city versus Dijon. It has a well known hospice (hospital), L'Hotel Dieu, that has been hosting a world famous wine auction each year. L'Hotel Dieu is not a functioning hospital anymore, but the wine auction does still benefit the local hospital and other local charities. It is now a museum that has a good audio tour and beautiful grounds to see. You should go if you're in the area. In addition to this, we had some regional specialties for lunch, did a wine tasting, and bought some wine while we were there- a great end to the weekend.

L'Hotel Dieu

We had a great time on our first weekend away from Baby K, and only FaceTimed a couple of times. I did have some typical mom guilt that I was leaving Baby K on her first birthday, but we celebrated all morning until her nap time, then I'm sure my mom and TP had fun with her the rest of the weekend.

Spain and Portugal are up next for us. Hopefully I can get to our other adventures as well soon!