Cluny, Dijon, Paris, Blog 9

Chalon-sur-Soune, Baune,Dijon,. Paris, Blog 9

A few more people observations.  I think the winning comment of the trip came from one blonde woman.  Upon seeing our first fortified wall, she said, “Is this the Wailing Wall!”  She wasn’t kidding.

For my friend Ken, if he gets around to reading my blog.  There is a ma on our trip who could be your brother.  I don’t know his real name because I keep calling him “Ken.”  You are much more handsome but the resemblance is amazing.

Yesterday, we visited another charming city.  I could go back to any of the places we visited except for Vienne.  Today Beaune had the biggest surprise of all….a beautiful medieval (1443)  charity hospital  Hôtel Dieu.  with a colored tile roof, a large courtyard, a kitchen that could be used today, and a very large, hospital ward .  It served as a hospital until 1971, The outside building is intentionally plain to discourage brigands, but the inner courtyard features what is called a typically Burgudian roof covered with colorful tiles fired 3 times: to harden, to burn in the color, to glaze.

The grandest room in the hospital is the Paupers’ Ward with red curtained beds head to foot on either side of the room,   During epidemic there were two per bed.  At the end is the chapel with a screen separating the chapel from the patients.  It could be opened every three hours so that they could hear mass from their beds.each patient had a pewter mug, jug, bowl, and plate and a rope hanging over their bed to help them sit up.  The nuns’ room was right off the ward so they could check on the patients at night.  All very modern for the time.  St. Hugue’s ward was a smaller room for wealthy patients established in the 17^th century.  The kitchen has a 16^th century rotisserie, which when fully round would turn for 45 minutes. There even is a pharmacy where the nuns made concoctions from the herbs grown outside.  The most common medicine was a syrup, wine, and opium.  I could go on and on because I found Hôtel Dieu.

This is a huge wine area—we’re in the heart of burgundy so we went to a cellar for more wine tasting.  The best wines are grown on sloping hills with Montrechet considered the best at $300 a bottle. The best cassis liqueur (kir) comes from this area and we bought a bottle.  OK so far I’ve bought cassis, olive oil, bottles of salt, pear jam.   We also had a free mini bar in our ‘suite.”  My whole suit case rattles.  I have everything doubled wrapped in dirty clothes and plastic wrap, but it will be iffy it all arrives in one piece.

I was looking forward to visiting the mustard factory and doing some mustard tasting, but it was too strong—even for me.  The mustard came in about two dozen flavors:   cassis, basil, honey, gingerbread! 

We left the ship for good today to head for Paris—at 8:30 in the AM with a wonderful stop in Dijon for 2 ½ hours arriving in Paris at 5….a long trip.  Our driver could not find his way out of Dijon at first trying to clear an overpass that was shorter than our bus and then getting lost.  While the AC on the bus worked, it malfunctioned and dripped water on one side of the bus.  Luckily we were on the other!