Burgundy: A château is still working!

The handsome waiter Antony smiles to himself as he balances my plate through the restaurant, seeming to put a diamond in front of me like a treasure. I swallow while glancing at the roasted dove legs in tonka bean gravy. Recently, I never thought to eat a bird that I might have chased away from the balcony at home. In Burgundy, it is considered a feast: I am sitting in one of the best restaurants in France, in the "Le Relais Bernard Loiseau" with a three-star kitchen. It smells beguiling, I'm ready for experiments and reach for the cutlery. Or is it better with the hands? Antony notices my hesitation: "Just bite in!" He laughs. It is relaxed here too. I chew on those thighs between my fingers that taste so fine and aromatic at the same time that I close my eyes and concentrate only on the taste. Have I ever eaten with such devotion in a restaurant? Certainly not. Antony serves me a wonderful walk, until I pass the chocolates. I'm afraid that I will not get up from my chair otherwise.

Saulieu is the name of the town in Burgundy, where this famous noble restaurant is located, which also includes a small hotel. Gourmets from all over the world come here to tastefully travel to new spheres. An all-round pampering program. Yes, that's why I'm here, in Burgundy, three and a half hours south of Paris. I finally had to take a break, because in my life at home, leisure was threatened with extinction. As a single parent, I have a lot on my mind, the job, the children, there is hardly any room for breaks. For a luxurious week, I can breathe deeply and enjoy the days in peace again. In an area where starred chefs, wineries and great hotels are as numerous as beach chairs on the North Sea.



In "Marché aux Vins" there are old and new wines from the wine region

© Viola Berlanda

The next morning, after a sumptuous breakfast in the garden of my "Relais", I set off to explore Burgundy by car. The path leads between vineyards to medieval villages. I drive through narrow streets, geraniums hang on the window grilles of the houses, in the middle of the village there is always an old well. More idyll is not possible.

Signs pass me by on the country roads between the places, such as Clos de Vougeot, Morey-Saint-Denis and Gevrey-Chambertin - as if a sommelier had put together a fine wine list. Between Dijon and Beaune grow the best grapes. They are a legacy of the Cistercian and Benedictine monks who created many vineyards in Burgundy in the Middle Ages. Today, they are considered the most precious fields in the world. When I stop for a moment and look at the still small grapes, there is only silence around me. I stand motionless in the sun, breathe deeply the morning air and enjoy the wide view over the vines on the slopes. I almost feel like a vine here, like a part of this nature.

Beaune is considered the "capital" of the Burgundy wines, a pretty little place. Townhouses line up in a circle around the basilica. There are many wine shops in the town's streets, where I could spend days exploring the Pinot Noirs and Chardonnays of Burgundy - and buy a few bottles each time for home. In the "Marché aux Vins", a historic tasting cellar under the chapel of a former Franciscan order, I finally dive. Candlelight flickers in the dark vaults, on wooden barrels stand a "Château de Meursault" and a "Château de Pommard", the best white and red wine. Sniff, slurp, make it tingle on the tongue - here are the rituals of a tasting not a bit silly. The mood is mystical, especially in the part of the old cathedral at the end of the tour. On the walls are pictures of saints, ancient thick pillars to the right and left of me.



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A château is still working!

I feel like I'm in the movie "The Name of the Rose", as if Sean Connery in Monk's Cowl would walk past me to fill a pitcher of grape juice. It's lunchtime, people are sitting outside in the squares of the city and also enjoy one of the delicious "Châteaux". At small tables in front of the bistros, with good food on the plate. They all look so relaxed, as if none of them would have to return to work later. A little boy starts to sing, no one admonishes him. The rest of the family just sing along, a couple of guests clap, and the landlord spends one. Savoir-vivre in Burgundy - simply make the best of every moment.

I notice how good the lightness that these people exude. I plan to remember later in everyday life to take a look at them.

Will I take a look at the "Hôtel Dieu", Beaune's famous almost 600 years old hospital with wooden carved beds and winged altar? Absolutely! And should I go to Cormatin Castle with its wonderful park and the rooms that still have their 17th century furnishings? Yes, that fits. Every day I think about exactly what I do. No sightseeing stress, I promised myself, but I travel quite comfortably from one place to another, from one accommodation to the next.



Andrea Hacke at "Hôtel Dieu", a former hospital in Beaune. Our author marvels at the splendor in the "Armensaal"

© Viola Berlanda

My highlight is called "La Cueillette" and looks like a palace in the vineyards. A wide staircase with red thick carpet leads up to the reception, as in the fairytale castle. On the big terrace in front of my room I could dance a waltz. I feel like I was four when I was walking in a princess dress with my grandfather on a castle and we imagined living there. In the dining room, the gold glittered on the ceiling and walls, a large chandelier hangs in the middle of the room, on each table there is a vase in which a goldfish floats. In this splendor, my last thoughts on everyday life disappear at home: school lunches and full washing machines are light years away. My soul feels freshly massaged.

In this area there are so many castles, palaces and churches as in German suburbs garages. No other province once had larger and richer monasteries than Burgundy, until they were largely destroyed during the French Revolution. I drive to the center of the medieval faith, to the abbey of Cluny. Only one transept has survived from the huge structure, formerly a five-nave building with a length of 187 meters and two transepts. I borrow an iPad for a virtual tour and travel back in time. Anywhere I go to the screen, the computer adds what's missing on walls, arches, or doors at that point, and shows me a picture as if I was just taking a picture of the original. Despite my 1.85 meter height I feel tiny in this monumental plant. Enthusiastic, I turn around to myself and enter the still existing wing of the church. It is so incredibly high that I get dizzy when looking at the ceiling.

In a café near the abbey I meet Philippe Griot. The stonemason and sculptor-with cap, broken jeans and dusty hands-has looked around a lot in the abbey. "I took a look at how to cut stones with a rounded edge." It takes courage to work as a stonemason, he says. "You have only one chance for every cut in a granite or marble block." The 56-year-old likes to be brave. I look at him with what passion he does his job. The people I meet here on the road all seem remarkably satisfied. Or do I now only see the perfect world everywhere, because I'm in such a good mood?

Vines in the municipality of Gevrey-Cgambertin

© Viola Berlanda

For the last night I booked a room at Ghislaine de Chalendar. The pretty, warm-hearted French woman is 60 but has the energy of a 40-year-old. Together with her husband she runs the Bed & Breakfast "à la maîtresse". An estate with only five guest rooms built on a hill around 1700. The view from my window over the pool and the flower garden into a wide valley is dreamlike. In the evening, all guests eat together at the family room table. Anyone who does not have a mom at home who pampers him from time to time will find them here. I eat their three courses slowly and with relish. "Take it more," says Ghislaine, as soon as a white spot on my plate opens. I feel as if this family had invited me privately to France. After the meal we sit together with our hostess. She is charming, talks about her time as a nurse in Paris, listens well and likes to laugh. Her cordial nature seems to open people, because suddenly quotes an elderly lady from Switzerland French poetry. An Italian sits down at the piano and plays Bach. I drink a red wine with Ghislaine, and we talk a long time, about life and our dreams, about their found paradise in Burgundy. "Do you know what I like here in particular?" She asks me someday. "I notice how people settle down with us and learn to enjoy life again, and I like watching it when someone walks barefoot through the grass in the morning, looks into the distance and is completely at one with them."

The next morning I get out of bed, just as the sun is rising. I stream alone through the meadow at the house. And think, thank you, Burgundy.

Good to know

Stay

"La Cueillette". Old luxury and modern rooms in the Palais in the middle of the vineyards of Mersault. In the spa fruit therapy. Double room from 185 Euro, breakfast from 19 Euro / person.18, rue de CÎteaux, Mersault, www.lacueillette.com.

"à la maÎtresse". Bed & Breakfast in 300 year old house, beautiful garden including pool, Saturday dinner. DZ / F from 98 Euro. Le Bourg, www.alamaitresse.fr.

"La Tour du Trésorier". Pretty bed and breakfast on the ancient fortress wall of Tournus. Charming furnished rooms. DZ / F from 150 Euro. 9, place de l'Abbaye, www.tour-du-tresorier.com.

to eat and drink

"Le Relais Bernard Loiseau". Three-star restaurant, with classics and new creations. At the same time comfortable hotel. Lunch menu 70 Euro, five-course dinner 175 Euro, double room from 275 Euro, breakfast 28 Euro / person. 2, rue d'Argentine, Saulieu, www.bernard-loiseau.com.

"Le Pré aux Clercs". Gourmet kitchen with a Michelin star, nice terrace. Five courses from 57 euros. 13, place de la Libération, Dijon, www.jeanpierrebilloux.com.

Try out

"Marché aux Vins". Individual wine tours in the historic cellar. Seven tastings 11 euros. 7, rue l'Hôtel Dieu, Beaune, www.marcheauxvins.com.

"Moutarderie Fallot". Traditional mustard manufactory with tours, mustard in 30 flavors.31, rue du Faubourg Bretonnière, Beaune, www.fallot.com.

Chateau de Santenay (Burgundy) – Engl. (March 2024).



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