Burgundy: Dijon, Bouilland and Alesia

Breast cancer awareness - Dijon style.

Beautiful girls, in a beautiful place on a beautiful day.

Dijon's mideveal streets.

Kate O, Holly, Anna and Kate W in Dijon.

A sample of Dijon's architecture.

Touching the owl with the left hand has been a good luck charm for centuries - we all had a go.

We love the tiled roofs in Burgundy.

Back at Domain Rapet Pere et Fils.

6 meter statue of Vercingetorix on the plateau at Alesia.

Napoleon III comissioned the statue. Things didn't work out too well for Vercingetorix.

Bob, Robert and Max at the visitor's center.

A recreation of the seige works Rome put in place to besiege Alesia - over 18kms long.

This gives an indication of one of the reasons why the Gauls lost - tough getting over that wall.

Last fall we spent a wonderfull weekend in Burgundy. We were smitten. As with most wine producing regions, Burgundy's landscape is beautiful and the wine and food spectacular. Last year we stayed in the small village of Bouilland and visited Beaune, tasted some wine in Pernand- Vergelelesses and visited with lovely people in the village's restaurants and hotel. We knew we had to go back.

This year we were joined by fellow food and wine lovers, Bob Ohlweiler, Holly Williamson and family. We arrived at the hotel, Hostellerie du Vieux Moulin in Bouilland and dined in luxury. The food at the hotel is great. We enjoyed both white and red Burgundy, which both Holly and Bob loved. So we knew we were in for a good weekend.

Saturday was a beautiful day. We headed to Dijon to enjoy the sites of that famous city. Since the weather was so nice, we opted to follow the Le Parcours de la Chouette - a self-guided walking tour. It was exactly the right thing to do. The city was alive with people out and about shopping and enjoying the cafes. The Palais de Ducs was beautiful.

We headed back to Pernand-Vergelesees to taste wine at Domaine Rapet Pere et Fils. Follwing a brief rest at the hotel where we enjoyed local cheese and white wine, Bob and Steve headed to Domaine Maurice Chapuis. It turns out the winemaker was an exchange student in Waterville, ME. The auberge in Bouilland was a perfect place for dinner - just as good as we remembered from last year.

Bob and Holly have two boys who know their history. So Bob and the boys were happy to join Steve for a trip over to Alesia to learn more about Julius Ceaser's famous victory over the Gauls at Alesia. Steve has known about this battle since he was a boy when he and his father played a strategic war game of the battle. We didn't know what to expect and were amazed at the investment the community has put into remembering the battle and Vercingetorix, the last Gaul to unite the tribes against Rome. Really glad we made the trip.

Very relaxed, very full and very contented, we all headed back to Geneva. How wonderful it is to live so close to this lovely place.