Day 3 - Nuits-St Georges to Savigny-les-Beaune (and on to Aloxe-Corton)
Had mueslix cereal with milk, croissants and yogurt for breakfast. They even had American-style coffee, so I loaded up in anticipation of a long day.
The taxi arrived at 8:30 and took me west to the village of Arcenant. The drive took about 25 minutes and cost 20 euro (including tip). The driver was unsure of the trailhead's location so we searched around a bit. Eventually we found a trail marker (shown below).
We should have turned south at the first place you can cross the little creek that parallels the road. I was pleased to be on the trail (GR76) at 9:00 a.m. It starts uphill almost immediately and I turned around to photograph the village of Arcenant.
It wasn't long before I arrived in Echevronne at 10:20. Echevronne is a very picturesque and quiet place. The whole locale may have been the most beautiful part of my Burgundy hike. Perhaps one could rent a car and drive out here for a day of relaxation. But I needed to keep going.
On the south side of the village, I had some trouble finding trail. I had a little trouble finding the GR76 and had to backtrack a bit. But I recovered trail and reached the village of Pernand-Vergelesses at noon. There I had nice break at a well placed picnic table, shown below, before proceeding through the village. The GPS indicates that I covered 4.6 miles this morning.
On my way from Pernand-Vergelesses I walked adjacent to a field of rye. It was so quiet that I thought I have heard the flutter of a butterfly's wings. Wow, it is really quiet. Soon the trail turned (south) into thick forest. I eventually reached a junction of two trails (GR76 and "Center Ville") just above Savigny-les-Beaune) at 2:10 (14h10). So far, I had covered 7.87 miles today. I chose the GR76 route and followed it towards the eglise (church). After resting in a shady spot on the east side of the village, I continued on 2 more miles following roads C4, D18, and the Rue Vercots to Aloxe-Corton.
Arrived at Hotel Villa Louise at 4:15 pm (1615 hrs) after covering a distance of 11.8 miles today! Briefly I thought that I might never hike again. That thought, however, perished when I checked into the hotel. The proprietress (and member of the Perrin wine family) of the Villa Louise informed me that the nearest restaurant (Les Paulands) about 1.5 kilometers away in the neighboring village of Ladioux!
Enjoyed a second beer from my room's mini-fridge and drew a tub of hot water to soak in! After my bath I began to see other people now arriving at this exclusive hideaway. Being somewhat refreshed I decided to walk through the countryside to the restaurant. Although I was the first customer in 7:00 pm (1900 hrs) at the restaurant, I had a great dinner from the Le Borgogne menu and 750 ml of Les Paulands vin rouge. When I left at 8:45 pm, more and more people were coming in for dinner. I was exhausted, content, and meandered (literally) in the twilight back to the Villa. The GPS says my total mileage for the day was 14.4 miles. Wow, what a day!
