Friday 15 June
This
is our last day in Saint Fargeau and with the Bernard’s and of course Ludivine
and Christopher. Marc and Jacqueline had
been wanting to take us to see their son Geoffroy who works for the winery Les Caves Bailly Lapierre, located near St Bris Le Vineux.
It was this winery which provided the wine and sparkling wine (champagne)
for the wedding.
We
were already starting to accumulate stuff and we have only been away from home
two weeks. Packed the bags, cleaned out
the hotel room and paid our bill with the hotel. We enjoyed our stay at the hotel, Rachael
said that of all their guests we had stayed the longest, as most only stay a
couple of days or up to a week, not 10 days.
It took longer to pack than we realised which made us later than
intended. But the day was great and
looked like it was going to be hot.
We
went into Saint Fargeau to try and find something to give to Marc and
Jacqueline for their hospitality. Whilst
looking around we ran into Ludivine and Christopher who come into town to get
some money. So Maria got Ludivine to
help and they selected some plants for Jacqueline’s garden.
We
arrived at the Bernard’s gave Jacqueline the plants and then jumped back into
the cars to leave for the winery, as usual time was against us and it was at
least an hour’s drive.
We
arrived in Irancy where Geoffroy was waiting, but it
appeared the restaurant had not been booked and was full, so Geoffroy suggested
another restaurant closer to his work.
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Les Caves Bailly Lapierre entrance |
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Driving into the winery |
 |
Now to find a place to park |
 |
We have arrived!! |
The
Les Caves Bailly Lapierrewinery took over an old stone mine which was used to supply the stone for the
construction of Basilique du
Sacre Coeur and the Arc de Triomphe. It had been closed for a while as a stone
mine, when the winery took it over in the 1970’s it was being used to grow
mushrooms. They only used about 10 acres
or 4 hectares of the mine. It is a
complete winery with a large number of tanks and one very large tank which
holds some 2,000 m3 litres of wine.
 |
Geoffroy showing us the wine tanks |
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More wine tanks |
 |
Outside view of 2,000 m3 tank |
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Looking inside the tank from the 'man hole |
 |
Walking around the winery |
 |
An area used for functions |
They have approximately 6-7 million bottle of wine in storage, all at
various ages most being ready for sale.
It is an ideal climate for storing wine at around 150C. Due to the high humidity they have to
constantly clean everything to get rid of the mould which even grows on the
bottles.

 |
Mould covers these bottles |
 |
More mould on stored bottles |

The owners of the winery also
commissioned 12 stone carvings depicting wine growing, making and enjoying
activities.
 |
Checking the detail of the carving |
 |
Carving of the winery in the hillside |
 |
Carving depicts the arrival of the first French
people in France |
Christopher
was a bit upset, as he realised that Jacqueline and Marc were just like his parents
(us), Chris thought we were just going to the cellar door to taste some wine
and then leave, he was not expecting a tour of the winery which Marc had
arranged with Geoffroy, especially into the areas where the public aren’t
normally allowed. Chris thought it was
too much to ask of Geoffroy, he thought it was only something Maria and I would
do!!
After
tasting some wine we bought some of the sparkling wine (champagne) which was
served at the wedding, we said our final good byes and departed the winery. We could not believe the experience we just
had.
 |
Tasting and buying wine |
Now
we were off to Beaune (Wiki info). We picked Beaune
as it was closer than where we thought we might get too. In the accommodation booklet Jacqueline gave
us we picked out what looked like a good hotel, put the address into the GPS
and we got underway.
 |
A = Winery; distance is 142 kms and took about 2
hrs to B = Beaune |
 |
Typical French road |
We
arrived in Beaune after 1900 hrs (7.00 pm), found the hotel we picked out but
found it was fully booked. So we went driving
around Beaune looking for another hotel, any that we called into were fully
booked except for Hostelleriele Cèdre, 10-12 boulevard Maréchal Foch – 21200
Beaune. It was more than we wanted to
pay but it was all we could get. It was
a very good hotel and we were given a very nice room.
 |
Arch leading to the main street of Beaune |
After settling
in, we went for a walk around the town centre of Beaune. It is an old town with an old wall around
it. There were a lot of tourists around
and from what we could hear all languages were being spoken. We built up an appetite found a restaurant
that sold pizza and sat by the front window, unfortunately smoking is still
allowed in outside eating areas so we could smell the aroma of cigarette smoke,
we did not allow this discomfort to spoil the moment though!!
Streets of
Beaune
 |
Our meal |
 |
The restaurant |
Maria was now
getting tired so we headed back to the hotel.
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