Driving straight through to Belgium from Girona, Spain doesnʼt make sense to me when you know whatʼs just seven hours up the road. Beaune, France lies in the heart of Burgundy and is a very important city for this wine growing region. All of the red grapes are Pinot Noir and some of the worldʼs most expensive wines come from this area. Google a bottle of Romane Conti or La Tache if you are thirsty… Choose a Grand Cru, Premier Cru or even ʻVillageʼ wine if you want to compliment some great food.

Beaune, France is a medieval city is that it is almost completely surrounded by a wall or moat. Every building within is built above the ʻcavesʼ that store Burgundy’s precious wines.

Veronique Drouhin grew up walking to school through Beaune’s underground labyrinth and even learned how to ride her bike beneath the city. Every year the Hospice dʼBeaune holds a wine auction to determine the value of each producers wine for that year. The terroir and the domaine are very important, but it is the auction that determines the final value for the wine. Like in real estate its all about location, location, location and in Burgundy, the Monks have cataloged the production and quality of each plot of land going back several hundred years.

For our dinner in Beaune we chose a Premier Cru from Pommard. Pommard is a village that lies on one of our Burgundy ride routes. I planned on riding this route to loosen up the legs before driving on to Gent, Belgium. I also wanted to show our new guides Chateau Rochepot and some of the roads I used to train and race on.

Beaune Cycles

French mechanics often remind me of artists when I see them working on a bike. Therefore, I decided to stop in and see Christian Tallant of Beaune Cycles to have him look my bike over. I knew that Christian had been a mechanic during the Tour de France many years ago, and his bike shop always has something of interest.

Christian put my bike in the stand and meticulously went through the bike as we shared stories and reacquainted ourselves. Before I left the shop, I signed the world map that was on the wall and listed the years that I did the Tour de France. We took a few photos and said our good byes.

Gent or Ghent

Gent is my favorite medieval city in all of Europe. There is a museum in a castle that is dedicated to the art of torture, but Iʼm fond of Gent for other reasons. Back when I rode for WordPerfect, Gent was close by and was the only place you could go and find Mexican food. It wasnʼt particularly good, but after several months of racing in the cold North, Mexican food reminded me of home. This restaurant was also frequented by Greg Lemond when he was based out of Kortrijk. The waiters always acknowledged our return business and seemed to appreciate knowing a couple of pro riders.

Before we arrived in Liege for the Tour de France, prologue I had mission to fulfill. There are over 450 micro breweries in Belgium and since retiring from racing, Iʼve been back to sample more of what was “verboden” in my race days. My quest was for a beer that can only be found in select stores within a 10kms radius from where it is brewed, Adriaen Brower. Adriaen Brower sponsors part of the Tour of Flanders route which is just one reason to like this beer. The first reason is that it is ʻthatʼ good.

Adriaen Brouwer

Thanks for reading.

Marty