Wine Dream Tour

Check out the photos!

Today, after celebrating two Thanksgivings and drinking a lot of wine, Meg & I woke up early to train it over to Villefranche, where we met up with Adan to drink some more wine...but this time, in the vineyards.

Gil, an English teacher-turned tour guide (he teaches at Adan's school), drove us around from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. in the Burgundy & Beaujolais regions to see the beautiful vineyards and go wine tasting. Meg and I were expecting a brief jaunt to the town of Cluny and a stopover in the Beaujolais on the way home...what we got was better than we could've guessed.

10 a.m. Saint-Gengoux, 2 hours north of Lyon. Gil takes us to winery #1. We taste 5 varieties of wine. Gil smiles giddily like a little boy while he piles one, two, three, four cartons of wine into "the boot of the car" for his family. Megan and I follow suit, purchasing a 2006 Givry 1er Cru Clos Jus (white) and a 2006 Montagny 1er Cru Les Chaniots (red), both from Bourgogne--our first "special occasion wine" to put aside on our nonexistent wine rack.

11:30ish a.m. (time starts to get fuzzy) Gil, Adan, Megan & I eat lunch at a little bistro in the quaint town of Cluny, where sits the ruins of the largest Abbey there ever was...built from 909-1130. nuts.

Afternoon time. Gil drives us through beautiful vineyards, winding through charming French villages with chateaux in the distance. We stop at a chateau, check out the view from Roche de Solutré (ex-French president Francois Mitterand's favorite nature hang-out), hit up another winery--this time, for some Beaujolais.

(photo: Roche de Solutre)

Later. Back in the car, Gil's French voice is smooth but strong, like his broken-in leather jacket. The hum of his Volkswagen lulls me to sleep, I jolt awake when the car stops--at yet another winery.

Sometime later. We hit up one more winery, where we have 1 euro glasses of wine. I love France.

Thank you, Gil, for the best wine tour, ever. C'est la meilleur tour que j'ai jamais fait. :D

I can't believe he actually lives in this region. When I get old and retire, I'm movin' wine country, so I can become an expert du vin and take mesmerized foreign youngsters on tours.