Tuscany

We took Erin on a tour of our favorite Tuscan towns, Montalcino and Montepulciano.

Streets of Montalcino.

We found the vineyards of our favorite brunello, Casanova di Neri. Love this place!

Sitting on the walls of Montalcino.


Another view of Montalcino.

Our other favorite town, Montepulciano. Rare pic of me and Alex together!

Tuscany

Montalcino
This is where Brunello is from, one of our most favorite wines.


View from the top of Montalcino.

Montepulciano
Vino Nobile, another awesome Italian red wine, is made here.


You can see Montepulciano on top of the hill in background. One of the very few pictures of Alex in this blog


View from the top of Montepulciano.


We got stuck in traffic on the way back to Florence. We were so happy to be in Tuscany with the beautiful views and warm sun that we actually enjoyed sitting in the car for an hour.

Bourgogne: Day 3

Clos de Vougeot

Sunday morning, we headed to the Chateau du Clos de Vougeot. It was built in the 12th century by monks who needed red wine for mass.


The chateau surrounded by its vineyards. The chateau does not run the vineyards, nor does it sell any wine on the premises any more.

Wine making barn on the right. Cellars on the left. The cellars are above ground because the limestone was too hard.

One of four massive wine presses in the wine making barn. Each press can hold four tons of grapes at a time.

Dijon

Our last stop was Dijon, the capital of Burgundy.


Palais de Ducs or Ducal Palace. It now houses the Fine Arts Museum.


St-Michel. Completed in the 17th century.


Notre-Dame. One of the oldest churches in Dijon, built in the 13th century.

Bourgogne: Day 2

Hotel-Dieu or Hospices de Beaune

After the Hundred Years' War, the town of Beaune suffered from poverty and famine. So the Duke of Burgundy founded a hospice for the poor in 1443 and endowed the hospice with saltworks and its own vineyards for its annual income. Today, the hospice owns 151 acres of vineyards, some of the finest in the region.

The Great Hall of the Poor. Both sides of this room are lined with beds and there is a chapel at the end of the hall so that the sick patients could attend church services from their bed.


Court of Honour. The roofs of the Hotel Dieu are covered with glazed multicolored tiles, typical of the Burgundy region. The well, in the back corner of the courtyard, provided water for the entire hospital. You can see the Bouzaise River flowing beneath.

Better view of the colorful, geometrical glazed roofs.

Marche aux Vins

There is a wine market across the street from the hospices, which allows you to tour their cellars and taste 15 different wines (3 white, 12 red) for only 10 euro.

Barrels lining the cellars of the wine market. I'm holding the souvenir tastevin in my left hand, and the list of wines in my right.

Autun

After the wine tasting, we drove to the town of Autun. The town was founded in the late 1st century B.C. and was originally called Augustodunum, the town of Augustus. There are still many Roman remains all around the city. As we drove around town, we saw signs for the Tour de France, since the Tour will be passing through Autun this summer.

Temple of Janus, right outside the town of Autun. Built by the Romans.

The Roman theatre, built in the 1st century A.D. It could sit 20,000 people.

Another view of the theatre.

Porte d'Arroux. Once part of the Roman wall built around Autun.

Bourgogne: Day 1

Beaune

We drove down to Burgundy (called Bourgogne in French) for Easter weekend. We stayed in Beaune, located in the center of Bourgogne. It was such a cute town, with lots of delicious food, fruit and gingerbread, a specialty of this region.

Sunny afternoon in Beaune

Along the Route des Grand Crus. This road is lined with vineyards.