Thursday, July 7, 2016

Mon voyage. Jour numéro treize. Pommard.

As it is my last day in Geneva (last few hours really) so Kimmie and I met at Aux Merveilleux for their so, so amazing chocolate brioche, again.

Based on this cute baby, I predict that Portugal will win.

After brioche and espresso we walked to nearby Parc des Bastions. 

The Reformation Wall was built in the early 1900's to celebrate the contributions of the main individuals involved in the Swiss Protestant Reformation, built on the grounds of l'université de Genève which was founded by John Calvin (unhappy bearded fellow, second giant on the left).


Everything is big in this park.

Rolling our way to the train station.

Goodbye Kimmie and Geneva!
Although it was a close call, I almost didn't make the train.  I was so used to arriving at the train station with five minutes to spare (they often don't post the track number (voie in French) at larger train stations until ten minutes before departure, sometimes even less).  But in this case, because I was going to France, there was a queue because they were checking passports.  I had less than five minutes until the train left, and there was a ten minute queue (I will wait while you do the math...).  I was starting to worry, asking the lady in front of me if she was going to Lyon as well, and she was, and there we stood.  Luckily people behind me, with all their luggage in tow, starting cutting, explaining they had to make the train and so I joined (ahí viene la conga).  Thank God for rude, pushy people that way nice, polite people can follow. 

Hello bike riding in Bourgogne!  (Bourgogne is Burgundy in French.)
I rented a bike upon arrival at Bourgogne Randonnées, near the Beaune train station, because I was headed straight to Pommard (5 km away) and I knew I wanted to bike the following day and that there was no bike rentals there.  It just made sense.  Before renting the bike I had to do a test drive with my backpack and banjo.  It made me feel better that the bike shop owner, Cedric, had total faith in me.  He told me to just not jump any curbs and I will be fine.  
No problem.  
I took out my Rick Steves' biking map to show Cedric what my plan was and he immediately said, "I know this map, this is my map, he was just in here two days ago."  Dang it!  I just missed Rick Steves!  My PBS travel mentor!  
Back to the map, Rick Steves did ask permission before printing it.  I was actually surprised that Steves was there in person (because he has other writers now) but Cedric wasn't surprised.  He said that Bourgogne is one of his favorite places in France.

After ten minutes of riding in the city I was on the bike path that goes straight to Pommard, understanding why Rick Steves was here, in person.

By the way Pommard sounds like Pommar in French because for whatever godforsaken reason you don't pronounce the last letter in a word unless the letter is c, k, q, r, b, f, or l (or if it is a laison when the next word starts with a vowel or a vowel sound).  


Minutes later I had arrived at the small village of Pommard, population- 550 (350 more than Cedric had told me).

Bike parking in front of my Airbnb.

It was later in the day by the time of my arrival but there were plenty of hours of sunlight to explore the teeny, tiny village. 



The 18th century church is holding up nicely.   


I went to La Campagnie Fanny for dinner and a glass of wine.  I wasn't sure if I should do red or white and when the waiter told me, very sincerely, "if I were you I would do one white and one red," I knew I was going to like wine tasting in Bourgogne.

This cheese tart (savory, not sweet) was one of the most outstanding meals I have ever eaten.  It had a crust on top created during the baking process (not a separate layer) that was delicate but added a nice texture.

I got shorted a few cls, but who is counting.



Every village has one.


I was told by someone who recently went to France that I HAD to go to Bordeaux, so I though 'shoot, why not?' but upon further research I realized that if I was going to drink wine in Bordeaux, then I HAD to drink wine in Bourgogne.  And so here I am. 

1 comment:

  1. Renting a bike was such a great idea, especially for you. That was very smart to test it all out with your stuff. How totally awesome that we were in Rick Steves territory. We stayed in a hotel in Northern Italy and his family's Christmas card was in the window. So weird. Way cool. I hope you bump into him somewhere. That would be awesome.

    I absolutely LOVE your airbnb. What an idyllic French place. What a great start to a great region.

    Funny about a red & a white wine being necessary.

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