We love to explore the world with our kids and have done so since they were very young.  The pandemic put a stop to our grand family adventures, however, in late 2022, with quarantines and lockdowns behind us, we checked our calendars and booked a cycling trip to beautiful Burgundy, France. Two of the kids brought their partners along, as our party of five is now a party of seven. Matt and Trevor fit perfectly into our travel-loving family.

The Burgundy region is known for world-class wines, delicious cuisine, rich history, and stunning scenery.  I was delighted to find out that we were visiting the home of Chardonnay, my favourite wine varietal and I was keen to expand my palate to include the other wines of the region: Pinot Noir, Chablis, and Beaujolais.  Burgundy is located in east-central France, 315 km from Paris and 250 km from the Swiss border and the city of Basal. The temperature in mid-May, was similar to what we left behind in Southern Ontario, however spring comes earlier to this part of the world, so the trees, spring flowers and vineyards were in full bloom.

We began our adventure in Dijon, taking two days to recover from jet lag and immerse ourselves into French culture. After an easy overnight flight, we snoozed enroute as we shuttled through the lush French countryside to the comfortable and centrally located Oceania Le Jura Hotel in Dijon. We checked-in, stored our bags (awaiting room availability) and walked one block to the stone arch entrance of the old town, the Porte Guillaume, which bears a resemblance to the Arc de Triomphe. We pinched ourselves, thrilled to be at the start of our much-anticipated family holiday in this beautiful French town.  I was nervous and excited to start speaking French, after diligently reawakening my high school French, for the past six months with the app Duolingo. By mid-afternoon, our jet-lagged bodies cried out for refreshments and a place to sit. We settled in at the aptly named, Delirium Café, where beer, cheese, baguette, and charcuterie brought us back to life as we relaxed in a bustling square full of locals and tourists basking in the May sunshine.

We enjoyed our first authentic Burgundian dinner at the Restaurant de la Porte Guillaume, just steps from our hotel. In the relaxed and chic setting, we had a very enjoyable meal with Ross being the first food adventurer of the trip, ordering escargot as his appetizer. As a child, Ross was our pickiest eater, often choosing raw carrots and buttered pasta when out for dinner- oh, how times have changed! Six of our group devoured the restaurant specialty, boeuf bourguignon. As we sleepily sipped Burgundy Chardonnay, Paul and I glowed with happiness, so pleased that our kids still want to travel with us!

We broke up into smaller groups to explore Dijon the following morning. Jack, Paul, and I put on our running shoes and followed the Owl Trail, a series of brass owl markers leading us around the city landmarks. We soaked in the old-world ambience and took pictures of medieval half-timbered houses and Renaissance mansions. We wandered through the Jardin de l’Arquebuse, Jardin Darcy and along the cobblestone Dijon streets. We noticed the many bell towers, recognizing why Dijon is known as the city of 100 bell towers. We stopped into the touristy La Maison Maille and sampled some tasty Dijon mustard. Interestingly, 80 % of the mustard seed for Dijon’s mustard comes from Canada. We found the famous stone owl, carved out of a Catholic church façade, touched it with our left hands (to touch it with your right hand might bring bad luck) and made our wishes. I wished for a safe bike trip for our family, and as I write this blog, I am happy to report that my wish came true! We visited the Musée des Beaux-Arts de Dijon and enjoyed free admission to the exhibits that included paintings by Monet and Manet.

At mid-day, we gathered at the new Cité Internationale de las Gastronomie & du Vin for lunch. The French gastronomic meal is recognized by UNESCO as part of the cultural heritage of humanity. This centre celebrates the French food experience, and we took pleasure in shopping for our lunch in the open market.

Anticipating French cuisine for the upcoming week, for dinner, we decided to mix it up and ate at an outdoor patio at Jiu, a Chinese fusion restaurant. We devoured the fresh noodle dishes and dim sum- somehow, jet lag and 15 km of city walking works up quite an appetite! After a very full day in Dijon, we were all ready for bed, wanting to be fresh and energized for our first day of cycling.

The next morning, we met our Butterfield and Robinson guides outside of the Grand Hotel de la Cloche, dressed in our cycling gear. A couple from North Carolina and another couple from Colorado joined our family group. As we shuttled to the start of our ride, we became acquainted with these two couples, while sharing travel stories and quickly found common ground. Théo and Denis, our two French guides, welcomed us to Burgundy with open arms, immediately demonstrating their pride of their country and in particular, this beautiful region. As they competently got us all sorted onto our assigned bikes and loaded our luggage to be shuttled to our next hotel, we knew that we were in good hands.

And so began our five days of cycling through glorious vineyards bursting with spring growth, idyllic storybook villages, and scenic vistas with postcard views. Brilliant red poppies lined the bike paths and vineyards, bringing to mind pictures of the World War 1 battlefields from our high school history books and the Remembrance Day poem, In Flander’s Fields. The occasional field of barley, in a plot that was lying fallow, blew beautifully in the wind, mesmerizing us as we pedaled by.  Some vineyard plots had roses growing along the perimeter, with the roses working as harbingers of disease, alerting the vigneron (wine farmer) of a pending disease that could harm the vineyard. We had one morning of rain during our ten-day trip, testing our rain gear, yet not dampening our spirits. When the sun came out, it was all the more glorious, with the vineyards glistening and the rich earthy smell of the soil penetrating the air.

Each day, we were greatly challenged by the long uphill climbs, each of us going at our own pace, sometimes pausing for a break, or just steadily grinding it out, while remembering the tale of the tortoise and the hare. After one particularly long and tough climb, we were rewarded at the top with the B&R van waiting with refreshments, a stunning view and photo opportunities. We all treasured the long, glorious downhills, with the young people fearlessly racing at the front of our peloton, while I cautiously applied my brakes, making my way, enjoying the view, and not wanting to crash- thankfully, nobody did! Much of our riding was on narrow, paved and lightly travelled country roads through magnificent vineyards. Each bike was equipped with a GPS system, gently pinging out directions and creating quite a chorus when we arrived as a group at an intersection. The GPS meant that we could go at our own pace and did not have to worry about getting lost. Our B&R guides took great care of us, with one guide always acting as a sweep, leaving no one behind.

Our wine education began on the first day with our group, with a short lecture by Jean-Paul, a retired professor of wine and local wine expert. We learned about terroir, a term the French use that describes the climate, soil, terrain, and other factors of a place where wine is produced. Incredibly, 194 million bottles of Burgundy wine are produced each year and 1 of every 2 bottles is exported. There are approximately 30,000 hectares of vineyards in Burgundy. We enjoyed learning how to properly taste wine, with a swirl, slurp and swish, choosing not to spit into the spittoon, as vintners must do so they do not consume too much wine while sampling. In the upcoming days we would continue to expand our wine knowledge as we cycled through the Cote de Nuits and Cote de Beaune with visits to various vineyards.

Each lunchtime destination was unique, educational, and exquisite. B&R has deep relationships in this region, with the company’s European headquarters being located in Beaune and the son of the founders making his permanent home here. As we walked into the dining room of the rustic French chateau in the village of Vougeot, on our first day, we recognized that we would have never found this place on our own. A gourmet buffet of salads, quiche, cheese, and charcuterie, all locally sourced, was laid on a table. We tasted a few of the vintner’s superb Chardonnays, while savouring each bite and getting to know our fellow travellers.

The following day, we had lunch on our own, in the town of Meursault. We were drenched after a morning of riding in the rain, and we were chilled. We stumbled into the first restaurant that we could find open on a Monday, the Hotel du Centre Restaurant, and were rewarded with bowls of authentic French onion soup and the guys remarkably had “the best hamburgers of their lives”. We changed into dry cycling clothes and got our dog fix with the restaurant owner’s sweet dog. Dogs are a big part of French culture and are welcome almost everywhere. Rejuvenated by our delicious lunch, we rejoined our group, ready for our afternoon cycle. Lexi and Matt chose the extended ride, that included a taxing, long uphill climb. They were a little worried that they would be stuck waiting for Ken, a fellow traveller, 37 years older than them and with two replaced knees. Boy, did he surprise them! Ken became a legend on the trip, with his stamina resembling a Navy Seal (in real life he is a financial guy and a trumpet player), and he was nicknamed “The Beast” by the kids, when he crushed them on every climb. Never judge a book by its cover!

Our favourite lunch of the week was at the home of Maison Harbour, a newer micro-vineyard, located in Savigny-les-Beaune. Founded by a young American couple, Nick and Colleen Harbour, we were fascinated by their story and greatly enjoyed the behind-the-scenes tour of their operation. Colleen’s delicious lunch with fresh local ingredients and terrific flavours, was my favourite meal of the entire trip. We sampled some of their best wines and ordered two cases of our favourites to be shipped to our home. With the wind at our backs, and fuelled by a delicious meal, we practically glided back to our hotel. With 70 km of riding behind us, we stretched our weary legs wandering through Beaune, browsing in lovely boutiques before our private tour of the Hospices de Beaune, the city’s restored medieval hospital. After much consideration, Jack purchased a beautiful keepsake bottle of wine to start his personal wine collection.

One day we had a lovely lunch and tour of the beautiful Chateau de la Crée, an estate that dates back to the 15^th century and the home of seven remarkable Premier Cru plots. We visited the wine cellar and continued our wine education, with a detailed explanation about Burgundy’s calcium-rich, clay and limestone soil- a very important component of excellent Burgundy wine.

Our final group lunch took place at a vineyard, Domaine de la Tour St. Hilaire, on the top of an escarpment, overlooking plots and plots of vineyards and likely the best view in the region.  A young man, close in age to our young people, hosted us and shared his story. This vineyard had been his father’s dream, yet just a few years into operation, his father had died suddenly. Now, this young man was running a start-up vineyard, while commuting to his other job in Paris, trying to make ends meet, while producing some of the finest Southern Burgundy wines.  We took a group picture of our party of seven, with all of us wearing our matching Butterfield and Robinson cycling jerseys. As we basked in the sunshine, glowing from the uphill climb, another delicious picnic lunch was served to us, reenergizing us for the ride along the Canal du Centre, back to our hotel.

Every dinner was a culinary adventure as we sampled the best of Burgundy’s delicious cuisine at restaurants chosen by our knowledgeable guides. Our group embraced the pre-selected menus and were excited to devour the chef’s selections. We ate the best roasted chicken and carrots ever at the Bistro de l’Hotel in Beaune, determined to replicate this meal once back at home. The next night, we shuttled to the village of Pommard for an exquisite dinner at Aupres du Clocher, a restaurant known for sourcing only local and fresh products and a leader of the slow food movement in the area. Each bite here was a work of art. We ate dinner on our own at Caveau des Arches in Beaune, admiring the interesting wine-cave setting while enjoying more French cuisine. For our last two nights, we enjoyed beautiful meals in the elegant dining room at our hotel, the Domaine de Rymska, where many of the dishes had ingredients sourced directly from the hotel’s own farm for a divine farm to table experience.  In Burgundy, cocktail hour begins at 7 pm, with dinner following much later. As we sleepily enjoyed our delicious meals late into the evenings, I had to turn away the delectable cheese plate and delicious dessert that always followed the main course, unable to take another bite and not wanting to head to bed feeling stuffed. Thank goodness we were able to burn all of those calories each day on our bikes!

Our first hotel with our group was the elegant L’Hotel de Beaune located in a restored stone heritage building in the heart of Beaune. The cobblestone streets surrounding the hotel made for challenging and bumpy cycling at the beginning and end of each day. The quaint streets with lovely shops made for pretty strolls to dinner. We stayed here for the first three nights of our group trip and were very comfortable.

We were all blown away by our second hotel, The Domaine de Rymska, a 10-room Relais & Chateaux, located in Saint-Jean-De-Trézy on an 80-hectare farm. Our unique rooms were spacious and luxurious, with Jack having, what we all agreed to be the best room with a tremendous view and large deck overlooking the pool. We enjoyed an informative lesson in wine barrel coopering and loved touring the barns. The pen of playful piglets and the newborn foal were highlights for our family of animal lovers.

In a blink, our time with our B&R group came to an end, and we bid au revoir to our guides and fellow travellers, promising to stay in touch. We took the TGV high-speed train to Paris, zooming through the French countryside at 300 km per hour. Our Paris hotel, Hotel La Lanterne, was located 2 km from the central train station, steps away from Notre Dame Cathedral and perfect for our gang of 7. After a full week of time together, we once again broke up into smaller groups, allowing the two couples some romantic time in beautiful Paris.

Paul, Jack, and I put on our running shoes and walked along the Seine in the beautiful May sunshine. Just weeks later, the streets of Paris would be full of protesters, following the shooting of an innocent visible minority teen. Our day in Paris was blissful and peaceful, as we strolled the streets, visited le Musée d’Orsay and wandered around la Tour Eiffel with weary legs after 5 solid days of cycling.   Lexi did her dining-out research ahead of time, so she and Matt greatly enjoyed delicious meals at Le Relais de L’Entrecote (famous for steak and frites), Les Deux Magots for brunch, and a romantic rooftop dinner at Perruche. When our Toronto pal Don, who was in Paris on business, texted Paul to suggest a golf round at Le Golf National, L’Albatros, we jumped at the opportunity to golf at the site of the 2024 Paris Olympics golf event. Meanwhile, Lexi and Matt rented scooters for a day and zipped all over the city, while Trevor and Ross visited museums and walked up the Champs-Elysées to L’ Arc de Triomphe. Paul, Jack, and I spent our final evening in Paris on a patio in the Latin Quarter at Taeng-Thai, where we ate the best Thai food, we have ever had. Needless to say, we were a tired, but very content group as we headed to the airport the following morning.

This trip was everything we hoped for and more. We loved getting to know Trevor and Matt, their presence and enthusiasm elevated our group and brought out the best versions of ourselves.  Burgundy is a beautiful part of the world and we saw it at a perfect time in the year. Five days of rigorous cycling challenged our bodies and reinvigorated our love of cycling.  Our knowledge of wine has grown tremendously, and my favourite varietal is still Chardonnay, especially Chardonnay from Burgundy! All in all, it was one of our best family holidays, yet!

Merci pour un bon voyage à tous! Ou devons nous aller après? Oh, les endroits où nous irons!