Woke up super early this morning around 0700 to find the sun just peaking over the cow fields but encouragingly with a light blue sky above, having the potential to be bluer as the day went on. I had my coffee and pain au chocolate before setting out for the day under the new Sun to Lac de Settons in the Morvan national park. It was a long drive about 40 miles which took around 50 minutes through some beautiful rolling green landscape. The range of tree types was huge from broad leaf types through to pines and Christmas tree types. The landscape was so verdant which was not surprising as it seemed to rain every few days in between long bursts of sun. Once I arrived at the lake I was somewhat disappointed, not so much with the lake but more with the weather, although it was sporadically sunny it was still quite cool, especially under the canopy of trees. I didn’t feel that I wanted to walk along the bank of the lake in the cool and having seen the lake, I decided given the short time I had in this region, I preferred to head to Beaune again. I felt I did not truly see all Beaune had to offer, so I punched it's coordinates into my satnav, which barked back at me that it is over 50 miles away and would take more than an hour, a price I was prepared to pay.
Getting out of the Morvan was slow as the roads twisted and turned around every bunch of trees. As soon as I got out of the Morvan it was straight and fast roads. I reached Beaune around 1330 and started to enjoy the hustle and bustle of the town without disturbance from the weather. I entered the hotel dieu and explored its history, it's amazing roof tiles and the work it did to care for the dying. I was amazed to hear that the worked continued but in more modern buildings elsewhere and that it was financially supported by wine sales.
After the visit I went for a drink in the nearby square to watch both the locals and tourists promenade, drink and talk. Time had caught up with me and it was time to head back to the Gîte and pick up some bread for this evening's meal. I bought some delicious baguette campagne from Beaune boulangerie and headed home. For dinner I finished the Brie and the fromage chèvre before sitting out on the veranda with a glass of wine. Tomorrow I am due to head further south to Cannes so time to clean the Gîte and pack up.....