September 3rd
Got up bright and early……although we had already been up several times…..jet lag is such great fun! Our hosts had breakfast ready including a slideshow showcasing various local attractions.
Today we are visiting Fontainbleu and then making our way south through wine country to the small village of La Rochepot:
Quality and quantity of breakfast was great and off we went to explore Fontainbleu….got lucky with the parking right in front of the Chateau, paid our enty fee, then charged through the rooms available for touring >>> having arrived early there were only a few tourists !!! Glad we decided to stop here because it is really quite spectacular ….the amount of time, energy and money that went into this effort is amazing and even more so the fact that leaders of the time had the interest to hire the best of artists etc. to make this happen.
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Now that we had our culture fix….back in the car and onto the autoroute heading south. Today was only a several hour drive and we were quickly in Bourgogne > major league wine country. On the spur of the moment decided to visit Vezelay a hillside town with a Basilica at the top….about a 10 minute hike up a cobble lane lined with stores, cafes etc….very pretty especially given the sunny day.
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Continued on via secondary roads finally arriving at La Rochepot in the late afternoon, a tiny village dedicated to wine production ….it was really fun to get off the autoroute and get a flavor of the countryside.
Momentary panic as our hostess was not there but eventually her son happened to show up and mama was called (having no phone sucks!!!)…nice room ….. a bit of a rest and off to dinner (short drive as no restos open in the village) ….passed on her resto suggestion as a little tired to play the gastronomy game….however found a nice pizza place on the main square of Nolay > a “no name” village but really nice. Had a pizza (tasty) and a litre of wine …never too tired for some vino!! Carefully drove back to our digs and nitey nite…..a great start !!