Today I was taken to task by a friend in France; a Burgundian to be exact, why I have not highlighted Burgundy more often on my blog. Well, I do apologize, because Burgundy is my favorite area of France and so I have been remiss.
So, below is my tribute to Burgundy and more stories will following in the coming days.
Feel the rich texture. Feel your expanding waistline. The Burgundy landscape remains sumptuous with memories of its years as a centre of Christendom (Cluny, Citeaux, Fontenay abbeys) and big-time European power (the Ducal Palace, in Dijon).
Soon enough, though, the region took early retirement from such wearying prominence to play to its real strengths – eating, drinking and growing a little stout. A sound decision, given the resources. Wines flow in from some of the planet’s finest vineyards. Pastures way off any beaten track provide the Charolais beef. Dijon has the mustard, Bresse the chickens. The Hautes Côtes hills are thick with soft fruit and there’s honey and cheese all over.
This isn’t gluttony. The distinguished past bathes Burgundian eating in a cultured glow. Fine dining is a duty imposed by a benevolent heritage. And then, well, the world is your lobster, from the traces of Thomas à Becket in Sens cathedral to the vine-stitched hills of Chablis and the Côtes-d’Or. Towns ripened by the wine trade – Mâcon and, especially, Beaune – cede to gentle, then tougher countrysides. To the west, the Morvan uplands remain a world apart, of water, woods and lives lived hard. And don’t miss Guédelon, where they’re recreating a 13th-century chateau using only medieval means. Near St-Fargeau, southwest of Auxerre, it’s among the most fascinating historical sites in France.
To stay: lush is a good way to do Burgundy, and life doesn’t come much lusher than at the British-owned Abbaye de la Bussière, at La Bussière-sur-Ouche, in an undiscovered valley , south of Dijon.
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