Chardonnay, France

We kicked off our week in Provence with a stop over in Chardonnay. Chardonnay is located in the Burgundy region of France between Dijon and Lyon. We initially planned to head down to Aix-en-Provence the next day, but we had trouble finding a place to stay in Aix so decided to spend the weekend in Chardonnay.

I found a great place to stay, Le Chardon, on Trip Advisor (http://www.lechardon-chardonnay.com/). The reviews were great and it seemed like a perfect small town to have as a base for riding and wine tasting. Le Chardon was even better than I expected. I would rate it as the best bed and breakfast so far, mainly due to the owners who were such friendly, helpful and warm people. You can tell that this B & B is a labor of love for them. They truly enjoy people. It felt more like we were visiting long time family friends than staying with people we’d never met. We liked it so much that on our way home from Avignon, we stopped for the night again.

The town of Chardonnay is incredibly tiny, probably not even a population of 50. Le Chardon is the only restaurant / bar in town so a lot of people congregate there. Because we had no agenda for our time here, it was very relaxing. After only a day, we both felt like we had been on vacation for a lot longer.

Our first full day in Chardonnay, we went for a bike ride in the morning through tiny French towns, vineyards, and farms. We then went into the nearest large town, Tournus, to visit the abbey, have a relaxing lunch in the sun and do a little shopping.

Back in Chardonnay, we went to the Cave de Chardonnay to do a little wine tasting and purchasing. On the way home we stopped at Brancion which was a recently restored old walled city with a castle. The most interesting part about this area was that people actually live within the walls and it isn’t just a tourist location.
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At our host’s recommendation, we had a fantastic dinner at Le Auberge du Gourmet. The chef of the restaurant has been able to hold on to a Michelin star since the 60s. It was a great meal.

The next day we went for a ride and then headed to Beaune for the afternoon. Beaune is the capital of the Burgundy region so is a larger town than Tournus. We visited the Hospices de Beaune which was a hospital / charitable almshouse of the 15th century. The design of the building was so beautiful that I’m not sure I would have minded going to the hospital back then. However, the bloodletting might not have been too pleasant.

That evening we ate at Nick and Rebecca’s and had a relaxing night chatting with them and drinking some nice Chardonnays.