P is for pinot noir

P :: pinot noir

(could also file under "B is for burgundy," which is where all the pinots in france live)

you may recall from "D is for dimanche" that sometimes old kp needs a bit of needling before he gets behind one of my plans, even if, on some level, he knows he'd enjoy it. this was certainly true of the ice skating adventure... and it was no different when some 10 months ago, i started talking about a weekend in burgundy. sometimes i got the "uh-huh... yeah babe, that sounds great," sometimes there was no reaction, and occasionally he'd counter with something like "ooh, i want to go to verdun." and don't get me wrong - i think we should experience the history while we're here, i do - but exploring the site of one of the bloodiest battles of world war I just doesn't say romance like the wine country does. am i wrong? no, i'm not.

you be the judge...

le palais de fontainebleau - originally a royal hunting lodge, king françois I (1494-1547) expanded the site and made it his personal residence. it was also the site of a failed attempt in 1946 to find a solution for the the franco-vietnamese conflict that would end with a cracking defeat for the french in 1954. hô chi minh was here (i wish i knew which room). it's only 55 km outside paris, but because - in typical knox and leslie fashion - we were a wee bit behind schedule, we stopped here for lunch instead of continuing on to dijon.

the grounds behind the palace

the nearby forest of fontainebleau is also supposed to be pretty fab, but the weather kept us from doing much exploring. we sat in a local brasserie instead, warming up with a pot of pinot and a plate of frites. i'm thinking we'll have to get out there again come spring.

the weather was pretty funky all weekend, but we still enjoyed the fall colors...

and all the other cool stuff...

and in the end, all the mist made for some pretty dreamy landscapes.

the bed and breakfast knox found for us was just outside autun and was fabulous. this is the chapel of autun at night.

the hospice of beaune - founded in 1443 by the chancellor of burgundy for the needy

beds in the salle des "pôvres" or the room for the poor - hospital services were only moved into more contemporary facilities in the 1970s (!), and there is still a retirement facility onsite.

i couldn't resist including this one - is he not the cutest thing ever? i guess we're going to have to go to verdun now....

oh yes, and there was plenty of pinot. i think we blew a pretty good chunk of our monthly budget on wine, brought home at least 15 bottles (that we're now storing under our bed), including a special occasion bottle should the employment fairies come knocking on our door. there was a wine co-op in buxy that we visited, unfortunately, at the end of a day of tasting. our palettes were shot, and we were pooped, so we just bought a couple of bottles and somewhat at random. too bad, because we just had one of the whites we picked up there with some thai takeout the other night - we should have bought 10 of them! so good...