And So it Begins: Burgundy and the Voie des Vignes

BEAUNE, France – Today was my first ride in Burgundy and … it reminded me why I love cycling here in France.

But first, I have to admit … I wasn’t feeling it yesterday when I arrived in Beaune, in the rain, after three days of trains from Hathersage and then London (we visited relatives and hiked in the UK) to Paris to Dijon to Beaune. Mostly in the rain. I missed Susan, who went home from London, and I just wasn’t ready to ride. Wait … am I complaining about having to ride in France? I apologize. That’s just ridiculous.

I got over my travel-induced malaise as soon as I got my rental bike and started riding. It was overcast but my weather app said the it wasn’t going to rain until this evening and, for once, it was spot on (which means it’s raining now as I write this). I decided to do the famous Voie des Vignes (Path of the Wines) bike path/route. Burgundy is wine country and the place is filled with vineyards and vineyard towns, houses of wine, millions of bottles of wines, people drinking wine and beef cooked in wine (beef Bourgogne). And cyclists. Lots and lots of cyclists. And a large percentage were on eBikes.

The Voie des Vignes runs about 15 miles from Beaune to Santenay, and the whole way is on the little side roads that run through the vineyards. So, no cars, only an occasional vineyard vehicle. There were people working in the fields, plucking and picking at the vines. It was a pleasant ride. Yes, I’m using the word pleasant. It was mostly flat, I was surrounded by vineyards and went through the following vineyard towns: Pommard, Monthelie, Meursult, Chassagne-Montrachet. They all seemed to have fountains in the center of town and several wine-tasting houses. It was tempting, but wine on a bike ride makes me sleepy. Instead, I had an apple and some nuts and raisins.

This was a great introduction to Burgundy, a relaxing, scenic ride through the vineyards. I was starting to feel it. This seems like a great region for cycling and plenty of routes to explore.

When I arrived in Santenay I had a decision to make: How to get back to Beaune. I could have gone back the way I got there. It’s kind of a different ride and view when you ride it in the opposite direction, right? But no, I decided to head west and then north to Nolay, which seemed like it was on or near the top of the ridge over to the right I’d been following from Beaune to Santaney. A little climbing seemed appropriate. I like climbing.

I wound up doing a lot more climbing than I bargained for.

The 8 Ks to Nolay were on a pedestrian, multi-use path. It was a gentle, gradual climb through non-vineyard fields, a few cows and some woods. Easy. Soon after Nolay … the real climbing began. It was a longer, steeper climb than I had thought, as the top of the ridge was way, way up higher than Nolay. Maybe another 200 meters over about 2 miles. It must have been 8 or 9 percent the whole way. I struggled.

And then, a long downhill into the town of Orches, which is quite scenic and sits beneath the cliffs that rise above.

Speaking of the cliffs that rise above Orches … yep, my climbing wasn’t quite done and I had another mile or two of steep grades to the top of the cliffs. And then …

A long, long downhill! For like 10 Ks, all the way back to Pommard. I feel like I’ve heard of Pommard wine, right? It sounds like a famous wine name. But maybe I’m imaging it.

Rode back to the hotel, checked my Strava and it was a 42-mile ride with 2,331 feet of climbing. All in all, a great first day. My malaise is a mere memory. Here’s my Strava map/info …