Today we head down to Dijon, the capital of the Burgundy region. Attempted to do the
trip using backroads to travel thru small villages. No go. The route we
mapped out took us into the high country where it was starting to snow
quite heavily, so we had to backtrack to the main Autoroute. Temps are
still freezing (-1 to 3 degrees, even in the middle of the day). Even
traveling through the low flat valley areas of Alsace and down into
Burgundy, there us still evidence of recent snowfalls, and every now and
then, flecks of snow blow onto the windscreen.

Still, the scenery is quite beautiful - broad rivers and valleys, small villages, heavily forested slopes.

After about 4 hours driving (including 2 hours backtracking) we arrive in
Dijon where we plan to stay for two or three nights. Freezing cold
temps, but dry and clear. Hopefully the weather will hold to enable us
to explore the Burgundy region .

Today was a day for exploring the hinterland of Dijon. Our planned route
is taking us south from Dijon, passing thru the villages of Marsannay La Cote, Gevrey-Chamberlin, Vosne-Romanee, Nuits-St-Georges , Beaune , Volnay, and Puligny-Montrachet - about 120km round trip.

This route was to take us thru the heart of the vinyard area of Burgundy. The slopes are covered with vines, stunted and bare for the winter. Chateau's can be seen dotting
the landscape, surrounded by ancient low stone walls which look like
they would fall over any minute.

As we pass thru the villages, we are struck by the apparent absence of life. Apart from the
cars parked on the sides of roads, we don't see a soul. Its as if they
have all packed up and gone south for the winter. Still, its enough to
just gaze at the architecture of the houses and the cobbled narrow
streets.

We stopped at one of the larger villages, Nuits-St-Georges, for some lunch. We picked the first restaurant we cameacross, and did we pick a gem!!. Inside the atmosphere was warm and
friendly, and we were greeted by staff who seemed genuinely pleased to welcome us to their establishment. Julie had a soup-de-jour (a local specialty), while I opted for a classic, Beef Burgundy. Superb. Again, if you want to experience real french food, forget the rubbish they
serve up in Australia, you have to come here for the real thing. the flavors are like nothing you have experienced before.

After lunch, and reaching the last village on our route, we returned to
Dijon. Back in our hotel, time to plan the next days travel, book the
next hotel, before heading out for a walk thru the town to find another
place for a gastronomical experience (and once again we hit paydirt -
finding a small eatery which served up delicious authentic regional
dishes).

Tomorrow promises to be a long driving day - we are heading west to Orleans, a trip of about 3 hours. Ah well, someone has to do it.