We found a place to park and immediately went to the view point. The view was incredible. I took this panoramic photo from there -
We walked down to the medieval castle, but found it is closed on Mondays. We walked around checking out the nice old buildings.
Next up - a scenic drive through wine country. We did the Rick Steves vineyard loop from south of Beaune to La Rochepot. We drove on windy country roads, past vineyards and villages. At one time we were on a little road with vineyards on both sides, and they were so close to us that we felt like we were in the vineyard! Then we set out for Autun. It is a larger town, maybe even larger than Beaune. When we arrived we left the guidebook in the car. Not the best idea, as we had no idea what to do. We walked around for about 30 minutes or so, then decided we were just wasting our time. We got back in the car to find some Roman ruins we had seen signs for. We discovered it is actually a Roman Theater.
I won't mention the nasty stuff Jim found when he went to check out the cave behind him.
Our final stop for the day was visit to Chateau de Sully. The owners live there, so a guided tour was required. While not as grand as some of the other chateau we have seen, it was still interesting. A former French president (1873-1879) was born there. At the end of the tour, the last one of the day, our 'guide' stayed in the house. A comment he made during the tour makes me think he could be the owner.
With the exception of our car situation (I was not able to contact Europcar today because the phone was never picked up by a person, and I ended up calling AutoEurope to cover myself), we had a great time in Burgundy. Of the three regions we have been in so far; Normandy, Loire Valley and Burgundy, Jim and I agree that we like the Burgundy region the best. Think of the Napa Valley, but less commercial and much cooler old buildings. They are wine crazy here, and no doubt about it their economy relies on wine. Even so, we enjoyed ourselves and didn't do any wine tasting at all. Driving on the back roads we were in awe of the beautiful scenery and charming towns. And thanks to Susan and Monte for the recommendation of Carpe Diem. We loved everything about it. The food was superb, and Patrick & Eric were wonderful hosts. They both went above and beyond to help us with our car situation.
The only thing that would have made this time in Burgundy better is if we had done a canal boat trip on the Burgundy canal. I dream of doing that someday. Or maybe a narrow boat in England? Either one would do.
Tomorrow morning we leave for Provence. This will be our last big road trip in France. For this trip anyway!
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