Free Food, Free Wine? I'm There!

GW, while it has a ridiculously high tuition, does have certain benefits while I am here abroad. Namely the mini-trips that GW pays for, which includes our transport, tours, food and wine. As many times as I may curse GW's name, there are these moments when I just wanna give it a big hug. Thanks for feeding me for once GW, you still owe me for all of freshman year.

Last weekend GW was kind enough to take our crew to Burgandy for a day-long visit to Dijon, Beaune and a winery inbetween the two. Burgandy is located in the central-eastern region of France. It's well-known for its wines, mustard, and cassis, a liqueur made of black-currants. All are things that I enjoy, so I was thrilled to be visiting the region.

Our journey started with a very early morning to catch the train in Paris. Leaving our apartments is a tough feat for the eleven of us who live together, yet somehow we were able to do it. The train ride was a mostly sleep for most of us, but the French country-side I was awake to see reminded me much of Oregon, specifically the area around Grandma's house. It was refreshing to be out of the city.

The first destination was Dijon, the capital of the department of Burgundy. It has only about 150,000 residents and feels more like a small town than a regional capital. When we arrived we were greeting by a our tour guide, an American-expat who had been living in France for 25 years. She awkwardly explained how she "fell in love with a Frenchman and we all know what a mistake that is." We began with a walking tour of the city, going from the train station to their "Arc de Triomphe" that is considered the entrance to old Dijon.

I believe our tour guide has some sort of job relating to architecture and history, seeing as that was the majority of what she discussed. Interested tidbits I learned from her included that "basket-handle" window frames were to signify a shop and the fabric around the necks of women was used to hide the evidence that they had syphilis. All very useful information. While I may mock the information, there was quite a bit of interesting things we saw and were told about.

One highlight in Dijon was their "Notre Dame" (the French really need to think of some more names for their churches). The facade was covered with goregoyles, both of people and farm animals. Apparently they were meant to represent the deadly sins, the animals being next to them were supposed to indicate an insult. A slightly humorous story told to us, a money-lender was killed by a falling goregoyle on his wedding day... the goregoyle, a money-lender itself, was supposed to represent greed. Just a little ironic.

The church houses a centuries old statue of Virgin Mary, made of wood it is said to be one of the oldest surviving representations of the Virgin. The church itself looked much like the others I have seen here in France, but having the tourguide made it a more satisfying visit. Outside the church was also a funny Dijon tradition. A small owl carved into a column that one is supposed to grant wishes if one places their left hand against it as they make their wish. Throughout the first half of our tour there had been small golden arrows with the image of an owl inlaid in the cobblestone, as you can imagine they led to the wishing owl.

Before leaving Dijon, I picked up a mix of mustards to distribute to my mustard fanatic friends at home, along with some cassis and other regional little goodies. We'll see if I am able to keep my hands off of them before it's time to head back to the US. The mustard really is delicious, although calling it spicy would be an understatement. If you ever need to clear your nose, I have the remedy!

After our tour concluded and we were given a very large and long lunch, we headed to Beaune. About an hour away by car, Beaune is known for its wine and the historic hospital located there. While on our way we made a quick stop at a monastery that also produces wine. It was not yet the season for the grapevines to be growing, but it was pretty to see none the less.

Once we arrived in Beaune we visited the Hospices de Beaune Hotel-Dieu, which is an old church that served as a hospital. It was built in 15th century by the Duke of Burgundy to make up for the sins he had committed and ensuring his entrance to heaven when he died. While much of the property is now turned into a museum, a portion of it is still functioning. Sadly, the nuns who once ran the facility are now the ones being cared for. The numbers of new nuns is so low that the place is being run mostly by historical societies and the government. The building was beautiful and the medical background was interesting to hear about.

The hospital also has great piece of art created by Flemish painter Roger Van der Meyden. It is a polyptych, segmented panels that work much like a cupboard that can be open and closed. It was painted in the 15th century and depicts the Last Judgment. The Chancellor who ordered the work done had himself and his wife painted in as characters in the piece, which I learned was a relatively common act during that period.

Our final and my personal favorite stop for our trip was a winery called Clos St. Louis. We were given a short tour by the owner, Philippe, had a wine-tasting and were also served dinner made by Philippe's wife, Martine. The winery had been in the family for over 100 years and hopes to continue that way. Philippe explained how he owns only a smal portion of land in his community and yet is able to make 50,000 bottle of wine every year. There is only one type of red and one type of white wine that is grown in Burgandy. Philippe grows both but focuses slightly more on the reds. In the photo is Philippe describing his crop and the process for classifying and making wine.

During our wine-tasting we tasted six wines, all made at the Clos St. Louis winery. As we went through the wine, three whites and three reds, we were able to tell the difference of the aged wines with the younger ones. The same crops tasted entirely different year by year based on how long they had aged and the weather from the year it was grown. The aged wine tasted much better than the wine that was bottled in 2007. It's great knowing that I have a small amount of real wine knowledge to take home with me. Note: 2005 and 2001 were great years for wine in France.

The dinner we were served was traditional French fare from the region. We were served chicken, sausage, tartine (somewhat like a cold meatloaf), various vegetable salads and local cheese. Naturally dinner was paired with a wine, which I was very tempted to take home a bottle! After we were stuffed full of food and wine it was again time to hop on the bus. We went back to Dijon, got on the train, and headed home to Paris. Exhausted and maybe a little drunk from the winery, almost all of us fell asleep on the train. It was a great but quick visit, which will hopefully be repeated in goodness with our other upcoming trips.