La-Rochepot Chateau & Chateauneuf

Wednesday, April 15, 2009
Back to our hot tap water coffee this morning…. But it gets us off to a good start. This morning we drove to La Rochepot to visit the Chateau de La Rochepot which was built in the 15th Century during the Middle Ages. A lot of it was destroyed during the 100 year war but it was restored to the original condition during the late 19th Century. It has a very good mix of both defensive structure and Renaissance luxury due to it started when castles were built to defend and finished when they were being transformed into more of a luxury homes.

The ride to and from Rochepot immersed us in the lush countryside and immaculate vineyards of the Cote d’Or….. it might be called a easy and very rewarding roll through wine paradise. We saw many workers out in the vineyards and enjoyed all the beautiful gates that opened onto the stone walled fields. Back in Beaune we found parking on a side street near the center of town and enjoyed walking the noon day Wednesday market on the main square. As we had not really eaten breakfast and it was nearly noon we entered a small bakery to purchase and eat an egg & leek quiche along with some fresh baked bread.. Continuing our exploration of Beaune we entered the local cathedral, Colleglale Notre-Dame – built in the 12th & 13th centuries. It is a fine example of Romanesque architecture and has many tapestrys and frescoes from the 15th centuries.
Stopped at the Baltard Café for some coffee and discovered that they have an internet access (for a fee) area upstairs. Check out Martha’s pictures to see some of the beautiful flower beds that seem to be all over town… they are in full bloom and are so pretty.
It was finally time for the local tourist tram ride that we had decided to take. Even though the route it took was over a lot of the same streets we had been walking it was good to hear them describe and give us additional information on what we had seen.

When the ride was over we stopped by the local Supermarche for some needed groceries to keep us in food for the next few days. We are doing really well in keeping our food expenses low by using the markets and eating very few meals in restaurants. Back to our little room in the Formule One we are settled in for the night. I will add Thursday’s activities to this and then post tomorrow night… am trying to make the best use of my internet time as possible since we have to pay for it….. so use to having it free at the hostels.

Thursday, April 16, 2009
Woke up to a dark and cloudy morning… but, after breakfast in our room including hot tap water coffee, bread w/nutella and sharing a banana we were off to experience, for the first time, the French Auto Route A6. On good days you can travel at speeds up to 130
KM but today it’s a bit slower due to the weather. We got off at Pouilly-en-Auxois then after a few side trips found D18 that would take us to Vandenesse-en-Auxois where we would find the canal barge B&B called “The Lady A Barge”. Martha & Jim had stayed at this B&B back in the year 2000 and it is also where they met our friends Bonnie & Terry (who have homes both in St. Petersburg and New Hampshire). It turned into a long term good friendship for all of us as Martha introduced us to Bonnie in 2007 when we did some house sitting for them in St. Pete. I had thought that Martha would want to visit the owner of the Lady A but as its not the same person we just did a photo stop and gave Martha time to tell me more about her stay at the B&B.

From the Lady A we ventured up the small, narrow, hilly road that would led us to the Chateauneuf-en-Auxois, a medieval castle surrounded by an active village high up on a 2000 foot hill - which makes it apparent that this was a military valued castle in protecting the Burgundy Canal & the three reservoirs that have maintained the canal for over 300 years. We had plans to park and explore this small village but since it was starting to rain in earnest and I already have a cold we decided that it would be best if we just went back to the hotel and see what it going to happen with this weather. Plans for the balance of the day are computers and if the weather clears we may try to go back into Beaune to get our laundry done. So….. this will be end of my post for today.