expedition_retirement | Entries tagged with dijon

The final day of our bike tour started out badly. As we were preparing our bikes for the day's ride, in the courtyard of the hotel, my wife had a severe reaction caused by a cigarette smoker's second-hand smoke. Her lungs largely shut down, making it very difficult for her to breath and causing her severe chest pain. We quickly moved her indoors, and she used her albuterol inhaler repeatedly, and eventually her breathing improved, but this was the most extreme reaction she's had in many years, and it scared her, which made it worse. But she did recover enough to ride the morning section of the ride.

Our morning ride took us out of Dijon, along the shoreline of Lac Kir with its lovely beach, and onto the path alongside the Canal de Bourgogne. This canal connect the English Channel to the Mediterranean Sea, and as we rode, we passed a couple of canal boats traveling the other way on the canal, and even got to see one pass through one of the locks. Our ride terminated at one of the locks, where our guides had set up a light lunch for us in a park next to the canal.

�glise Saint-Baud�le de Plombi�res-l�s-Dijon

After lunch, my wife decided she wasn't feeling well enough to ride her bike back to the hotel, and opted to ride back in the support van instead. Most of the rest of the riders opted to ride straight back to Dijon along the canal, but a small group of us opted to take the longer scenic route into the hills north of the canal. This was farm country, rather than the vineyards we'd ridden through the previous day, but it was still a lovely ride, and we did get to see the ruins of a castle up on one of the hilltops along the way.

Back in Dijon, we went for one last walk around the city, stopping to visit the Church of Saint-Michel and the Church of Notre-Dame de Dijon. We also purchased some Dijon mustard to bring home before we returned to the hotel to finish our packing before our farewell dinner.

This was on only day on the tour where we could have ridden all the way from one hotel to the next, though most of us opted not to. We started our ride after breakfast, leaving Beaune behind and heading deep into the Grand Cru vineyards north of the city. The vineyards in this part of Burgundy are so significant that they have been designated as a UNESCO World Heritage site, and they produce some of the most expensive wines in the world.

When we mounted our bikes at our hotel in Beaune, the weather forecast was calling for rain, but aside from an occasional light spritz, the morning ride was dry, even if the skies were overcast and threatening. The first part of our ride ended in Nuit-Saint-George, but it was still too early for lunch, so we continued on our way to Dijon.

Beffroi et Monument � Paul Cabet par Paul Gasq

As we continued through the vineyards, we passed the La Romanée-Conti vineyards. This vineyard is just 1.88 hectares (4.6 acres) and the wines produced from these vines are the most expensive in the world, proof that while money may not grow on trees, it most certainly can grow on vines!

Just a little further up the road, we came to the Château du Clos de Vougeot, a striking structure situated in the middle of the Clos de Vougeot vineyards, surrounded by a significant stone wall. As I stopped to take photos, a line of classic sports cars pulled out of the château and drove by me on what appeared to be an auto tour of the vineyards. A group of us left the tour route to ride past the château into the town of Vougeot, where we stopped for lunch.

After lunch, we returned to our route, continuing on our way towards Dijon. However, we soon found ourselves riding in a significant downpour, negotiating large puddles and hopelessly wet. When we reached the edges of Dijon, we all opted to end our ride and take the tram the rest of the way to our hotel. By the time we reached the hotel, the rain had stopped, and after showering and changing into dry clothes, we set out to explore this medieval city, including the Cathédrale Saint-Bénigne de Dijon.