Growing up in Hong Kong: Day 3 - Clos de Vougeot, Nuit St George and Beaune

After breakfast, we drove a short distance to visit the Chateau du Clos de Vougeot which was constructed in the 12th century by Cistercian monks. It is best known as the seat of Burgundy’s elite company of wine lovers, the Confrerie des Chevaliers du Tastevin, who gather there in November at the start of an annual 3-day festival, Les Trois Glorieuses. They just had the 1000th festival in 2007 and the lady at the bed and breakfast and her family have been part of this festivity for a long long time. The most impressive item here was the 13th century grape press. It was huge! Following the visit, we also had a wine tasting session at the chateau - tried one from a vine dated back to 1920s.....it does taste very different. But we ended up buying one from a younger vine as the 1920s one had to be kept for at least another 10 years!

Explaining to the girls that water didn't always come out from the tap

Poster of the 1000th Les Trois Glorieuses

The gigantic 13th century grape press

The wine cellar

After the visit, we went back to the B&B to pack up and check out. But before we left, we went for a quick stroll in Nuit St George town centre in the rain!

Andrea and her "shadow"

Next we drove into Beaune. It is a pretty little town with some very good restaurants. Unfortunately, due to the wine tasting and the stroll in Nuit St George, we missed lunch time (12 to 2 and not a minute more! That's French timing for you!) and had to make do with very sub-standard food….how disappointing. Added to that, it started to pour rather heavily. Anyways, we still managed to walk around town and visit the Hospices de Beaune or Hotel-Dieu. It used to be a hospital which provided free care for men who fought in the Hundred Years’ war. It was modeled to show what it looked like back then. Interesting but a bit creepy. The most interesting characteristic of the hospice is its tiled roof.