Coming from Switzerland we decided to break up the drive and spend a night just over the border outside a small town called Ducier in the hilly Jura region. It is a nice area but we had one of those days that you sometimes have when you travel where things don’t go smoothly.  For example, it took us a long time to find our campsite even with the help (lack of) from the GPS.  Or, we thought we’d go for a swim as we were in an area with a lot of lakes and it was another piping hot day.  Only the lake closest to our campsite had no beach and we weren’t allowed to swim in it because it’s a fishing-lake only.  Then the lake that we were allowed to swim in was part of a massive campsite complex and we bypassed paying for parking by hiking a 20 minute trail to the swimming area, only to find that the wind had changed direction during our 20 minute walk and the day was no longer hot but freezing cold.  In the end reading our kindles in the fast declining sun and going for a walk to see the waterfalls next to the campsite were the highlights of the day. The pretty walk showed off several waterfalls pooling into each other and was the highlight of our first day in France.  We camped in the campground next to the walk, and had one of our quietest nights sleeps.

Once we were out of the hilly Jura region we made easy distance via the highway (an expensive but well worth it toll road).  Our plan was to spend a couple of nights in Meursault, a small village in the wine region of Burgundy.  It was another hot day and after setting up our tent in the best spot possible (overlooking the vines and the village) we decided to walk into the village to see if we could find something for lunch.  And so began my love affair with French bakeries! Never have I had such delight from eating a pastry as I have from eating Mille-feuille, a sort of vanilla slice/custard square.  Thin slices of puff pastry topped with pastry cream (a sort of custard). Heaven in one bite! Or two, or three!

We had a look around the village centre and quickly discovered that there were lots of things to do around the area!  Meursault has a pretty and active village centre, having a small supermarket, dairy, tourist information office, a few restaurants, two bakeries, cheese shop, deli, butcher, and a bar/café.  The village is linked to other villages in the area by small country roads or scenic cycling trails.  While having a look around the centre we also discovered that there was a 13.5km hiking trail starting and finishing from the village which we decided to do later that afternoon.

Returning to the campsite, Richard read his kindle while I had a small siesta on the picnic blanket in the sun.  Then we set out on the hiking trail which was really just a pleasant stroll amongst the vines and the forest and through the surrounding villages.  I was starting to understand why people love to travel and even immigrate to France.  Seeing the beautiful countryside, cute ramshackle buildings, and the most perfect climate… I was starting to imagine a life in one of the many cute buildings in Burgundy as well!  The hiking trail had one peculiar aspect to it in that halfway through it intersected with another hiking trail, only the marker for the trail was the same colour as the trail we were on.  And so, we found ourselves on a different trail not making any distance back to Meursault, actually we were walking further and further away!  After inspecting the map in the next village we decided to go off trail and walk back via the cycling trails to make distance and arrive back while it was still light.  We were a bit disappointed at not completing the loop properly, but it was still an afternoon’s hike and a very scenic one at that!

The campsite has a restaurant onsite, with very reasonably priced meals on offer and gives guests a free glass of wine with their meals.  Feeling quite happy and relaxed after the hike we had a three course dinner and enjoyed too much wine, ordering an extra carafe after finishing our free glasses.  Going back to our tent at night, we both felt a bit drunk, and extremely full (not usually ones for eating three course meals or drinking so much).

Having picked a spot in full sun with no shade, we were out of the tent as soon as the heat became unbearable the next morning.  I had a bit of a headache from the excesses of the following night and so we took it easy for the first part of the day. We decided to drive to Beaune, which is 11km from Meursault to have a look around the old city.  Beaune is the wine capital of Burgundy.  There are hundreds of cellars in Beaune and literally hundreds of thousands, maybe millions of bottles of wine ageing in antique style cellars. Walking around the old city (the part of the city within the walls) we had a look at what was left of the Saturday market, the old buildings including the exterior of the beautiful Hospital (founded in 1400), and finally settled on having a delicious crepe for lunch.  We also had a look inside the city’s church which had on display for a limited time a tapestry that is several hundred years old.

On the way back to the campsite we made a stop at the supermarket to pick up supplies for a barbeque and a disposable barbeque (something quite popular in Europe).  Still feeling the heat we decided to cool down in the campsite’s pool complex which is when we first discovered the thrill of going down the slide!  Some sun, some water and a couple of dozen rides down the slide later and we had our afternoon made.

By the time we got around to barbequing the sun was almost setting but that was no problem as the night was warm, and there was still light for a long time afterwards.  Enjoying a beer while barbequing for an hour or so while looking out over the vines was one of the highlights of our time in Meursault.  The setting was perfect, the scenery very pleasant and the company equally as pleasant!

From Meursault it is possible to do a number of different cycling trails, and so we rented bikes from the campsite the next day and did a 40km cycle trail.  It was a pretty trail that took us past old buildings, through small and cute villages, next to canals with houseboats on them, and of course through many vineyards.  It was another hot day, so we had to stop often for a sip of water and the scenery was so pretty that I also stopped to take photos a lot.  For lunch we picnicked under a tree beside a canal and watched all the action happening on the houseboats.  This was another side of France I hadn’t seen, and it was interesting to see how many foreigners had houseboats, including some newbies struggling to tie up their houseboat to the mooring.  Cycling was a great way to see some more of the countryside, and to see villages further away.  The best thing about the trail in my opinion was that that for most of the time we weren’t cycling on the road, but on a specified trail.  This made for a pleasant and idyllic cycle ride.  Arriving back in Meursault village in the late afternoon we capped off the day by enjoying a refreshing glass of beer each.

 

 

By this stage we were well and truly enamoured by Meursault.  The campsite’s facilities made staying in the area a bit longer an easy choice, and so we spent the following day fluctuating between lounging by the poolside and going down the slide a few dozen times.  It was another stinking hot day and so this was a great way to pass the day, and relaxing as well!  In the late afternoon we walked into the village to do a couple of wine tastings.  The grapes that are grown in and around the village are chardonnay and pinot noir grapes so these are your options if you taste wine in this area.  The first winery we visited has the oldest cellar in the village, which we were allowed to go down and walk around in.  The cellar even smells old, and is quite atmospheric with rows upon rows of oak barrels.  Once upstairs we got talking with Felix who works there and had just returned from a working holiday in Australia.  He guided us through a tasting of pinot noirs from different growing areas around the village, with Grand Crus being the best area.  We were then given a ‘present’ from him in the form of a tasting from a 2001 bottle of Pinot Noir from the Grand Crus area (the best of the best).  Tasting it, we definitely tasted the difference from the 2011 bottle from the just-okay area.  He told us that a bottle of the vintage usually goes for 80 Euros, but later on when we visited a different winery and got talking about our experience with Felix we found out not only that it was an amazing gift, but also that the bottle usually goes for something like 140 Euros.  Poor Felix, we like wine, but we aren’t connoisseurs!

For our final day in the Burgundy region we made a city trip to Dijon which is about 50km north from Meursault.  The city offers a self guided walking tour called the Owl Trail (La Chouette) which came highly recommended by our German neighbours on the campsite.  Brass owls in the footpath guide you through the trail which makes frequent stops at beautiful old buildings from the days of the Dukes of Burgundy.  Overall we found Dijon to be a pretty city that felt surprisingly relaxed despite being the capital of the region. Driving back to Meursault in the afternoon we stopped by the supermarket to pick up supplies for one more barbeque, a sort of way to cap of what were five lovely days in a beautiful part of France.  Hopefully one day we will be back!

 

From Meursault it was two long days in the car getting back to The Netherlands via a night near Clerveaux in Luxembourg.  In just over three weeks we visited six countries, camped every night except for the nights we were staying with friends.  The majority of campsites were of excellent quality with pristine facilities, supermarkets and public toilets easily found along the way.  The sights to see were plentiful and varied, and the weather was mostly hot and sunny (except for a few days in Switzerland).  Overall the road trip was a great holiday with the highlights being our visit to Friedrichshafen to see Sabrina, a few days in Austria (which was a pleasant and unexpected surprise), and our final few days relaxing in France. After travelling and camping in South America we felt well and truly spoiled by our road trip in Europe.