In which Sid and Doris leave Paris for Burgundian Beaune.
We packed up the little flat (which we would recommend) (the flat, not the packing) and went for a Lucy Jordan, first driving down rue de Rivoli against all the rules. This was on the way to Place de la Concorde so Doris could take this view of Hermann considerably enhancing the view up the Champs Elysees. Other people joined in and took pictures too, fortunately Hermann is a stolid sort and all this adulation is not going to his head.
Driving out of Paris was not particularly frightening but seemed to involve a lot of tunnels which makes for a loud few minutes with the top down, and the chance to check that you are really not susceptible to epileptic fits when you see flashing lights.We found the A6 (car of the day a Cobra in light blue) and put in a couple hours of distance-making, during which we developed a new speed definition, called Hat Max. This is the speed at which a baseball cap fitted fairly tightly on the head just starts to lift, and it happens at 62mph in Hermann.
Then we turned off onto country roads near Auxerre and suddenly we were in France Typique. On the map Doris had spotted a table of orientation so through the vines we went to get orientated. Then we found the old N6 which was once the Parisians’ traffic jam to the sun, and now a quiet N road.
Coming down onto Beaune another panorama with table d’orientation, and the day so clear perhaps we saw Mont Blanc? Or a cloud? [I have put a helpful squiggle on the picture, but if you look very carefully, there really is a Mont Blanc-shaped bit of white stuff there, at exactly the angle shown on the plan. – D.] Then down through the vines.
And in Beaune we did the right thing and went to the Hotel Dieu, which has been a poor house and hospital since 1443 built by Nicholas Rolin, chancellor to Philippe the Good who was Duke of Burgundy. If you are a bit tired it is so easy to walk on by and miss it. It is a great visit showing how the buildings were used down the centuries and the medical care that nuns and lay staff provided. The buildings were restored between 1872 and 1878 by Maurice Ouradou, son in law and pupil of Viollet le Duc who we wrote about a couple of days back. It all connects. The Hospices de Beaune are still funded by vineyards left by the Duke and others since.
The visit ends with a set of tapestries including the tale of St Eloy, who crashed and burned in his attempt to win the #kindnessandingenuity contest. The story goes that he was a blacksmith trying to shoe a difficult horse, and a stranger came along who simply cut the horse’s foot off, shod it, and fixed it back on again. St E tried that himself but you will be unsurprised to hear gentle reader(s) that No Good Came Of It for the stranger was Christ himself and St E did not have the magic gift of Foot Restickage. As a result of this St E gave up blacksmithing and took up sainting instead.
Dinner now. We are not drinking much wine just now, but knowing we do charitable work when we order Hospices de Beaune may bring us round. We are all heart.PS the Logis Belle Epoque where we are staying has a very marvellous staircase window, we hope you enjoy it.