Day trip to Beaune, France

Nicely preserved from the Middle Ages, the Hospice de Beaune was built in 1443 and served as a hospital for the poor. The roof of the courtyard buildings are covered in multicolored tiles. Besides the wine cellars, it is the main attraction in Beaune (about 40km south of Dijon). We thought we'd easily be able to see this building in such a small town, but we found out after circling the outer walls that the only way to get any sort of view of this building was to pay for admission.

The city of Beaune is the unofficial wine capital of the Burgundy region. We went to visit the winery Patriarche: Pere et Fils, home to one of the largest wine cellars in Burgundy. We wanted to learn more about wine (and of course test a bunch of samples).

The caves in these cellars span 15,000 square meters and run under the buildings and streets of the city above. Neighboring cellars, some dating back to the 14th century, have been linked together to allow for expansion.

The cellar we visited held 4 million bottles of wine, ranging from the year 1904 to today. Four million bottles of wine, so little time.

At the end of the tour, we got to sample about 14 different wines! We were given little tins to sip from. We rated each wine and at the end, we bought a couple of the ones we liked (and could afford).