Bike Vacation in France

8/3/2019 Bike Vacation in France

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I took my first bike trip last fall, biking through the vineyards of Burgundy region of France. Ididnt know what to expect, or even if I would like my time being managed and told where to go(literally).

I signed up to bike with Butterfield and Robinson, which had great reviews of theiraccommodations and service.

The biking was listed as 15-25 miles per day, with van (SAG) support if needed. I really did wantto bike and see the scenery, so I trained all summer, riding about 15 miles a day most days.What I couldnt train for, however, was the inevitable glass (or two) of wine at lunch, a full mealand then re-mounting my bike for another 10 miles or so.

We met in Dijon, of mustard fame, and started our bike tour on a Sunday. There were about 13of us, from all over the United States and a Brazilian couple, too. Immediately, we entered thevineyards and we were transformed to France, circa 1200, where monks made wine for fun andprofit. The vineyards were in what is called a Clos, like Clos Des Avaux, which were walledareas with individual appellations, which is the French naming system for all vineyards,protected by French law.

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The trip reads like a Burgundy wine-label tour: Cote de Nuits, Chambolle-Musigny, Chassagne-Montrachet, Vougeot, Pommard, Volnay and the $2,000 per bottle Romanee Conti (we did nottaste that one), and my favorite, Gevrey-Chambertin.


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Our first lunch was a beautiful meal of local cheese, cold cuts and pate and a side salad, pairedwith a delicious local white burgundy wine. After a few glasses of that, and some conversationwith our new friends, we were off for 10 more miles to the hotel.

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Hotel is not the best word for these beautiful spots. More like a private mansion. After a day ofbiking and some wine consumption, we arrived and found our luggage in our room, took a

shower and went right back out to enjoy the locale. No spas were to be found, which was all thebetter, as the local scenery wanted to be seen.


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The guides had us meet with a local vineyard manager, who let us sample wines directly fromthe barrel, after she sucked it up into a big pipette. We proceeded to have a dinner, cooked by alocal chief, right in the cave, and it was fantastic.


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Where is the heavy biking in all of this? Well, I was thrilled that I trained all summer, so I was in

good enough shape to really enjoy the scenery and never worry about the hills or the miles,even after a few glasses of wine. I was not looking for a bike race, just a vacation where Icould enjoy the scenery at a leisurely 12 MPH.

The trip included the Hospices de Beaune, a beautiful mosaic roofed building built in 1442, avisit to a vineyard that was just processing harvested grapes, a castle on a hilltop and numerousstops for espresso.


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The final stop for the last night was a converted 12th century abbey, where we stayed in theeves of the church. After some Kir Royale, we had phenomenal food and local cheese in therestaurant, and many, many bottles of burgundy wine.


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Since this trip, we did a similar trip to the Napa Valley wine region. There are still many placesto visit, like the Loire valley, Bordeaux, Chile, Italy all with great wines and great biking.

Bike Vacation in France

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