We landed in Paris earlier then expected, but couldn't get our luggage for a long while because of a suspicious package. We had to wait for the bomb squad to come and investigate which kind of made it somewhat annoying.
Nevertheless, we got the car and off we went to Bourgognes. We stopped in the little town of Vézelay for our first lunch in France.
Vézelay's hilltop location has made it an obvious site for a town since ancient times. In the 9th century theBenedictines were given land to build a monastery. According to legend, not long before the end of the first millennium a monk named Baudillon brought relics (bones) of Mary Magdalene to Vézelay from Saint-Maximin-la-Sainte-Baume. In 1058 Pope Stephen IX confirmed the genuineness of the relics, leading to an influx of pilgrims that has continued to this day. Vézelay Abbey was also a major starting point for pilgrims on the Way of St. James to Santiago de Compostela, one of the most important of all medieval pilgrimage centres. This was crucially important in attracting pilgrims and the wealth they brought to the town.
Bernard of Clairvaux preached the Second Crusade at Vézelay in 1146. In 1189, the Frankish and English factions of the Third Crusade met at Vézelay before officially departing for the Holy Land.
After lunch we visited the beautiful Abbey of la Madaleine sitting on top of the hill. It's beauty was just a taste of what our next ten days were going to be.
Vézelay Abbey (now known as Basilique Sainte-Marie-Madeleine) was a Benedictine and Cluniac monastery in Vézelayin the Yonne department in northern Burgundy, France. The Benedictine abbey church of Ste-Marie-Madeleine (orBasilica of St. Mary Magdalene), with its complicated program of imagery in sculpted capitals and portals, is one of the outstanding masterpieces of Burgundian Romanesque art and architecture. Sacked by the Huguenots in 1569, the building suffered neglect in the 17th and the 18th centuries and some further damage during the period of the French Revolution.[1]The church and hill at Vézelay were added to the UNESCO list of World Heritage Sites in 1979.
Relics of Mary Magdalene can be seen inside the Basilica.
We were back on the road to Beaune where we were to stay a few days.
Beaune (French pronunciation: [bon]) is the wine capital of Burgundy in the Côte d'Or department in eastern France. It is located between Paris and Geneva.
Beaune is one of the key wine centres in France and the annual wine auction of the Hospices de Beaune is the primary wine auction in France. The town is surrounded by some of the world's most famous wine villages, while the facilities and cellars of many producers, large and small, are situated in Beaune itself. With a rich historical and architectural heritage, Beaune is considered the "Capital of Burgundy wines".
As soon as we arrived we went to Bouchard Père et Fils, a major wine grower, producer and merchant. The cellars were simply amazing, the wine stunning.
After checking in our hotel, we completed our day with a great dinner at Le Caveau des Arches.
As we were going to bed, the kids were getting ready to pass Halloween. It would appear they had a great time.
