Before I forget I want to tell you about our adventures in Burgandy. It was the first of our mini weekend breaks we had planned to take with mum & Pete on their 6 week stay in Paris. The organisation to accommodate our combined interests – theirs to visit France and Europe and ours – to take a break from the comfort(!) of our living floor meant that we have planned a long weekend in Bourgogne, 4 days in Alsace, 5 days it Italy and 4 days in Marrakesh finishing with a weekend in London before they get back on the plane for the 24hour flight home.

Bourgogne was the first trip away. We left Paris Friday afternoon from Gare de Lyon heading south-east to Dijon. We planned to spend 2 nights in Beaune and, before anyone asks – I didn’t know the TGV went directly to Beaune! From Dijon we hired a car and drove along the Cote d’Or to Beaune where we checked into a lovely little hotel just outside the historic centre of the town. With the help of our local Montorgeuil wine expert and friend, who set up appointments with 3 different winemakers in the region, we spent Saturday in and out of little villages surrounded by vines – Grand cru, 1ere cru and the rest. It was wonderful.

1st stop was the Domaine Amiot-Servelle where we were given a small lesson in the layout of Burgandy, the designation of the land into packets of grand cru, premier cru and village, the basics of Pinot Noir and most importantly when you’re planning on tasting a few dozen wines in one day, how to spit. A bio wine, we tasted Chambole Musigny 2005 down to 2000 in their premier cru Les Charmes and Les Plantes as well as their Grand Cru Clos Vougeot and walked out of their cellar a couple of hours later with a case of various vintages, all spectacular and a head full of new information to digest.

Next stop was the Domaine Pavelot in Savigny les Beaune. Again we tasted a range of premier cru and walked away with another case of some very fine wines most of which would be best kept for a few more years if we’re disciplined enough, or drunk right away if we’re not.

The highlight of the day was our third and last stop at the Domaine du Chateau du Chorey. With M. Germain we tasted a mix of premier cru pinot noir and chardonnays that were all delightful. We spent the afternoon deep in conversation on the wonders and joys of Montreal and doing business with the SAQ, winemaking in Australia compared to France while we tasted one after another after another. By this stage late in the afternoon Michelle and I were quite adept at our spitting, shame that it was, but Mum & Pete, as our guests and as back seat passengers didn’t let a drop go astray. No spitting this wine for them, they drank every last drop that was offered. We left with a couple of cases under our arms, a recommendation or two for restaurants for the evening and a promise to return in the fall to stay in the castle. It was superb.

Back in Beaune we wandered about the village, stopped for an aperitif (beer if you must know…) and then had a fabulous meal at another fantastic restaurant where the local specialties are everything that makes the french food so wonderful – boeuf bourguignon, coq au vin, jambon persillé, and epoisses de Bourgogne. We managed some tourist sites as well. The petit train around the village, the Hospices du Beaune with its gorgeous tiled roof and then we spent the rest of Sunday afternoon driving from one picture perfect village to another celebrating the Australian version of Mothers Day in a very posh, but very good restaurant in the Chateau de Ste Sabine.

The dash back into Dijon, the inevitable getting lost to return the hire car and then the hour and a half return trip to Paris by train with two noisy tired children in the seats beside us just about finished us off, in fact did finish Pete off, the rest of us sauntered out for a Thai meal on rue Tiquetonne, the perfect foil after a weekend of wine and the full rich food of Bourgogne.