Great Gastronomy 

August 24th

Driving north of Beaune through the beautiful vineyards of Nuits-Saint-Georges and Gevrey-Chambertin is just eye-popping gorgeous.  I guess you could say it is gastronomy for the eyes?The grapes are hanging low on the vine and ready for harvest. We have ridden this bike route in the past but it is not often on traffic-free trails which we prefer.  Our destination was the parking lot at Lac Kir just on the outskirts of Dijon and located near the Burgundy Canal.  We started along the trail but it ended abruptly in the town of Plombieres where we were able to make a left turn to get to the bike path along the canal.  The trail from the parking area to the paved canal trail is a little bumpy so we started on the nicely paved trail instead.  All's well that ends well. Now on the correct path we rode for about 15 miles out to the town of Gissey-sur-Ouche and then returned back to our car for a 30 mile outing.  We were trying to figure out why all the little towns along the canal were "sur Ouches" but discovered, upon studying the map, the Ouche River flows next to the Burgundy Canal for quite a distance.  It's a nicely surfaced, traffic-free trail for the most part.  Not a lot of shade but several barges, boats and lovely lock houses along the way.  After completing our journey we drove to a nearby little cafe located at the Dijon Plage for a quick lunch and badly needed cold drink as it was 95 degrees.

Because of great air-conditioning our bodies cool down pretty quickly once we get back into our apartment.   The shower here is excellent as well and boy did we need it after our ride today!  Our afternoon routines are to have lunch, cool down, shower, do Duolingo and Wordle 😏 and whatever research needed for the next day's activities.  Then it's off to Bar 66 for a glass of wine, beer, cremant, perrier, etc. before dinner.  The funny thing about our charges from Bar 66 is that when they appear on my credit card it says "Route 66."

Dinner was at another favorite here in Beaune, L'Ardoise.  Luckily the weather has cooled down with a storm brewing for tomorrow so we were able to sit outside in the lovely decked patio out back.  We shared the smoked salmon appetizer and each ordered the cod for our main course. The cod seemed more like black cod or chilean sea bass than the cod we have at home.  It was tender and delicious!  We love the gastronomy in Burgundy and will be returning to this restaurant sometime over the next few weeks that we are here in Beaune for more of their scrumptious looking menu options.