Old School Charm

There is a certain kind of civility here in Switzerland that we have lost in the US, I think. The other day I was walking Norton and I noticed two boys; they were probably between the ages of 11-13 riding their bikes home from school. They stopped at a point were they would part ways, and I was stunned when I saw the two boys shook hands to say goodbye.

So quaint and so civil!

Burgundy Part Deux

So, what made our trip to Burgundy so successful? Festivals

This, my friends , is the way to go when tasting wine in a country where you are grasping for words from one college semester of French from almost 30 years ago (crap on a cracker, I was in college 30 years ago?). 

I managed to find 2 different wine tasting event in Burgundy that weekend. All the winemakers in these tiny towns open up their doors or vans and give you a taste of their lovely wines. For around 5 euros, you receive a glass and tasting from about 10 to 15 different winemakers.  It seemed like such a bargain and eliminated the need to learn how to say “dégustation, s'il vous plait,” followed by the international hand signal for drinking.

They weren’t too crowded, but had enough people to make it festive.  Some of the venues had bread, cheese wine and sausages for sale as well. We picked up our lunch provisions and had a hearty picnic.

I found these events by going to a regional wine website and following links until I found the actual site for the event.