When in France, one must drink wine, no?

It took a mere 3.5 hours to drive to Dijon, the capital of the Burgundy region in the east of France. We had a cheap and fun weekend -- 29 Euros to stay in a Formule 1 hotel in Dijon, then 12.50 to camp in the municipal campground in Beaune. Happily, the weather was on our side, sunny and warm, and we made the most of being surrounded by lovely wine!

Burgundy is much bigger than I thought. It begins north of Dijon with the Chablis region of wine production -- Chablis is made with Chardonnay grapes. South of Dijon you find the Cote d'Or, which includes the Cote de Beaune, Nuits St. George and more. The vineyards stretch on and on along gentle slopes. Pinot Noir and Gamay are the main red grapes produced in Burgundy.

We were thrilled to find ourselves there during harvest time - all across the vineyards you could see small groups of workers picking the grape clusters by hand. Compact and tall tractors travelled along the rows of vines following the pickers and carrying the boxes of grapes. In the sleepy villages, you could smell the recently crushed grape juice, and see the gentle excitement of the first phases of wine-making going on. A dreamy way to spend the weekend, for sure.