Our morning cup of coffee in bed, made by me in the kitchen downstairs for both of us, has already become de rigeur. Conquering the stairs while holding two hot cups of coffee has become our equivalent of Everest without oxygen. Not a drop spilt, so far.
View from our bed (pic by Mary)
On Tuesday, on our third passage through the nearby town of Semur-en-Auxois (pop 4,500) we'd decided that a visit there would be worthwhile. Today seemed suitable, so onto the day’s itinerary it went, the single entry so far.
Arriving there mid morning, after a ten minute drive from Flavigny, we noticed that the temperature was at least as low as that at our base. Although we were both rugged up, only one of us had a warm hat (beanie), Mary having failed to anticipate that such an item of clothing might be needed. So a search of the few local shops was instigated to remedy that oversight. After several failures because it’s spring and the boutiques no longer stock winter items, Mary was presented with a choice of two woollen hats, one, hand knitted and multi-coloured with four little peaks on top, was deemed suitable and so I got my black beanie back. Our exploration of the medieval centre of the village and its immediate approaches could now start.
Satellite view of Semur centre, annotated (pic by Google, annotations by Photogene)
The shopping area, Semur-en-Auxois. That's me in the bottom left corner, in the black beanie. (pic by Mary)
Meat delivery to boucherie, French style. (pic by Mary)
The cracked tower. Crack appeared suddenly over 400 years ago. Still being investigated…
Crack zoomed
View from bridge toward east. River slightly flooded. (pic by Mary)
View to south from the bridge. (pic by Mary)
Mary in her new hat, looking west from the bridge.
By now, hunger pangs and the temperature were indicating a hot lunch was needed. While we could have eaten in Semur, we opted to try our luck at a different village, warming ourselves up in the car as we went. Veneray-les-Laumes loomed out of the misty rain after about 20 minutes. The Maps App was indicating that a couple of restaurants were here, but on-ground foot recce found that they had long ago closed, but the wreckage was still obvious. Then we stumbled upon a footpath advertisement for Louise’s Bistro. Relying on instinct to figure out where it might be, we got lucky and found it within a couple of minutes. It was packed with locals, from genteel oldies like us, to workers having an extended lunch. And there was a vacancy for us.
The main choices. We chose the €13.50 menu. Fantastic! The four courses were mavellous and we washed them down with a half litre (between us) of local vin rouge. €27, total; about $40 Aust/US!
Well contented, we were home by mid afternoon for a nap and awoke to find the sun trying to peep through at around 6:00pm. Looks like the weather’s on the improve.
Thanks for reading
Kev and Mary
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