The world is small, don’t you think? We’re convinced that it is. Surprised we haven’t met anyone that we know. There are lots of Americans here so it wouldn’t be a big surprise. We almost met Lance Armstrong (meaning we saw him on TV). We saw a Bob Brownson look-alike. See above. But alas, we knew it couldn’t be our friend Bob. This man that sat near us in a brasserie was wearing a pink shirt and blue suede loafers. Well, not loafers maybe. More like a blue suede slipper. We decided after a protracted debate that it was not Bob.
So this morning we went down the spiral marble staircase to go to breakfast. It was the same spiral marble staircase that moi (me, Dianna) almost broke my neck on. Having consumed a bit more vin (wine) and a bit of gin (for medicinal purposes only), I ventured up the stairs with computer in hand (could only get a wifi signal sitting on top of the router downstairs) and, of course, half a verre (glass) of vin rouge (red wine). Opps, I slipped, fell, bruised my knee but took all defensive measures on my way down which lasted either 2 seconds or 2 minutes (I’m not sure which) and saved most of the vin and all of the ordinateur (computer). The vin looked fashionable against the marble…it gave it more colour (color). Lucky for me I only have aches and pains. I really could have broken my neck or my tete (head). Some might think that an improvement. But I digress.
At the breakfast table another couple came down for breakfast. They were from NYC. And she worked for Goldman Sachs. Now, me, I might have said, “well, I work for a sanitation district in New York”, not wanting to admit to anyone that I worked for that newsworthy (and I mean newsworthy not in a good way) organization. So we grilled her (just kidding) politely about Goldman. Got all the usual talking points, but what else could she say? She loves the company, that’s what she said. Oh, well, a good defense is a great offense and she was pretty darn good. Well, now, what could we possibly have in common with someone in NYC that works for Goldman? It did not reveal itself until they asked where we were from. Ray, being a little smartie pants, said, “we live in Cayucos, California.” We usually never say that because no one knows where the heck is so. But here we are in a village in France and Ray reveals our place of residence. Well, Joe (the significant other of the Goldman woman) exclaims, “My friend just bought a restaurant in Cayucos by the pier!!” Well, OMG. None of us could believe it. But it was true. His friend from junior high likes to buy restaurants and turn them around. So, he bought Schooner’s in Cayucos!!
So, after breakfast we headed out of Dijon (about 30 miles away). Before heading there, we decided we should go visit an old hotel/hospital in the village of Beaune. I’ve included a few pictures.
After that we discovered a farmer’s market so we bought salami, cheese, apricots and a bagette (and some fruit pate) and headed to Dijon via a road that curled around the vineyards between the two towns. We were searching for a winery where we could buy some wine. Not easy to do between the hours of 12 to 3. They close down for lunch. We finally saw some people sitting on their porch and stopped and asked them if we could buy some wine. Winery owners live in the house above the caves that house their wines. Oui, he would sell us wine. We bought trois botellas (three bottles) of pinot noir for 20 euros. C’est bon (this is good). We then found a place for a picnic and shared our lunch with une insecte (a yellow jacket – manteau juene?)!! or deux (two). After our picnic which included a bottle of wine, we had to, well, relieve ourselves. The guys went first. I tried to duck out of sight by descending a colline (hill), just 5 feet of so. All went well until I was “finishing up”. All of a sudden, I lost my footing and starting falling down the hill. Somehow I managed to stop myself, gather up my small packet of kleenex and climb back up. The guys ( waiting in the car )were, well…I wouldn’t call it “shocked”, that I had experienced such an adventure. Anyway, we pulled away and I realized that I didn’t have my small camera. So back to the scene of the “unfortunate incident” and I found my camera at the bottom of the hill. What a hoot. Averted another would-be disaster. We figured that we had more fun doing all that than say, going to a restaurant for lunch and use their facilities like normal people. But, hey. I digress.
Recycling bins found all around France, even in the countryside.
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