South of Beaune

Today, Thursday, we went out early to run more errands.  There is an endless list of things that need to be done, and slowly but surely R and I try to get them done.  Everyone has their “big” thing to do on their list, like clean out the garage or something.  For us, it’s organizing the cellar or cave, and we need some kind of system for organizing the bottles.  So this morning, we went off to check out the Coop, where you can buy all sorts of things related to wine, wine making and viniculture.  Given the season, right inside the door there are two models of what is called a bidon, on wheels~

You’ll see this closer up on my travels today.  Bidon basically translates to our word can.  In this case it looks more like a barrel, cut open on top and with slits cut in the bottom.  This is the inside of what I call the 1.5 model, which is half again as long as the little one, which is just one can~

They had two kinds of racks, both fabricated stone, and expensive…..

You can find all kinds of interesting stuff here; pipettes, bottles, wooden crates and fancy boxes~

It was so cold today, below freezing…..R wanted to go to Mr. Brico again, and this time we noticed the little pond in back was frozen over; there is usually a rubber duckie floating on top, that’s frozen, but you can still see the little goldfish down below two inches of solid ice, but still alive and swimming around~

Anyway, I’m digressing.  We went back to Brico because R thought the racking systems at the Coop looked like what he had seen out in front of Brico, which are pre-fab stone barbeques.  Surely you can buy just the bottom part, right?  No, wrong, this is France.  I had to go through the exercise for R anyway…..ask the salesman if we couldn’t buy just that lower piece.  Times 10.  Non.  Of course, non….

Time to get back home, and have a snack.  The baguette was delicious, with fresh goat cheese~

No time to eat, I wanted to get out and get some photos in while there was still light; but you can’t really rush around here; you are more likely to get behind one of these buggies, high enough to go above the vines~

I was in Pommard before I started to get a few shots in~

Beaune and Burgundy in winter are less colorful than in summer, but no less interesting, to me.  I am fascinated by the changes that come with the seasons.  Even in the grey winter, the vineyards stretch as far as the eye can see~

I climbed the hill above Volnay.  There is a light haze this time of year as the grapevines are trimmed back to their original short length, before the spring growth.

There is work to be done all year, 5+ days each week.  Here you can see just a few of the smokey bidons which are burning down on the valley floor.Singly or in groups, at this time of the year everyone is trimming the vines and throwing the cuttings into the bidon.

But I had another mission today, to find some moss, to use for some décor.  Up above Nolay I found just what I was looking for~

And I filled the laiton cauldron I had with me; thank you Guy, I love this copper~

Then I was back to more photos….harder to find shots this time of year than in summer, when you see beauty at every corner; this time of year it is more about the stark beauty~

This is now one of my favorite photos, ever; it captures Burgundy in Winter.  Love this.  I could crop it further but leaving it intact here.  Elizabeth from Eiffel Tells blog, this makes me think of you and wish you were here with me today; he is pulling his bidon behind him~

A few other shots, but none as good as that one~

I continued on to Chassagne and Puligny Montrachet.  The stone which marks the entry to most parcels looks even more solid this time of year~

What was not frozen today was muddy.  It’s a really miserable time to be outside working.

It’s all work to be done by hand, and while many of these parcels are small, there is an absolute ton of work do be done.  Daunting?

I hate to take their pic sometimes, everyone is bundled up in jackets, hats and boots; they seem pretty miserable with the cold, except maybe the dog~

Best to stay close to the burning bidon for warmth~

And one last image; these silhouette of the chairs was interesting against the winter sky~

Unfortunately yesterday I also picked up a virus on my laptop, and that was several hours to fix so I am now behind in my blogging.  BUT, in the last two days some wonderful things have come my way, so stay tuned, and fingers crossed this laptop makes it!!