Tag Archives: Semur En Auxois

Uncategorized

A pet friendly Columbus Day weekend in France… part six

We woke up yesterday, bright eyed and bushy tailed.  One nice thing about taking trips is that you get to go home.  I was ready to go home, although we really enjoyed our weekend in the Cote D’Or region in France.  One quirk about staying in a vacation home is that you have to do some cleaning before you leave.  Louise mentions a “cleaning service” in the guidebook she made for the Tower, but it was not offered when we booked on Booking.com.  For those who would prefer to book the cleaning service, I think it cost 50 euros.  But even if we’d booked it, Bill and I (but especially Bill) are considerate people and wouldn’t want to leave a mess.

We stripped the bed and put the towels in a pile.  Actually, it was very nice that these items were included in the price of the Tower.  A lot of times when you rent a house, you either have to rent towels and linens or bring your own.  I scrubbed the toilet and swept while Bill did the dishes.  He vacuumed the dog hair off the chairs and floor while I loaded up the car.  At about nine o’clock, after our lovely included breakfast, we hopped in the RAV 4 and headed back to Germany.  All in all, it was a very successful trip.  We came home with plenty of good wine, cheese that smells like feet, wonderful French butter and cream, and crusty French bread.

As we were saying goodbye to Louise and her hunky husband who is obviously very good with his hands, Bill said we’d be back.  I definitely wouldn’t mind coming back to Semur En Auxois at all, although it will depend on how much time we have left in Germany.  At this point, it’s a mystery how long we’ll be here.  I hope it’ll be awhile, because I still have a long list of places I want to see.

Next time, we’ll pick a weekend where we can book the dogs so we can visit some of the local attractions and restaurants more easily.  The area is chock full of museums, chateaus, abbeys, and charming places to eat and shop.  This isn’t to say that dog owners should not come to Semur En Auxois.  I consider it a very dog friendly place, especially if your dogs are less high maintenance than ours are!

Hallo Deutschland!

 

The drive back to Germany was pretty easy.  We had little traffic and France helpfully offers plenty of clean rest areas where one can pee for free.  We stopped at one place where they had put a banged up utility truck.  It was all crumpled like it had been in a terrible accident.  I was tempted to take a photo of it because I was curious as to why it was there.  Were they trying to warn drivers?  Was it just a place to put a badly damaged vehicle until someone could tow it somewhere else?  Enquiring minds want to know.

I enjoyed the drive through this mountain pass near Freiburg.  These two mountains reminded me of my family’s hometown of Natural Bridge, Virginia.  The only thing missing was the “bridge” connecting the two mountains.  Both coming and going, it gave me a flash of homesickness to go through this area.

Ditto to this cool cross on a little hill.  I have an Italian friend who claims Europe is full of atheists.  He may be right, but I still enjoy seeing something like this on a public road and it not being controversial like it would be in the United States.  This isn’t to say that I’m a particularly religious person.  I just like it when people live and let live.

I understand there was snow in BW while we were gone.  I didn’t see any down in France, but I did notice a splotch of white on the mountain in the distance as we were coming home.   I suppose we’ll be shoveling snow before we know it!

And finally, the ads on the door at the first pay toilet I used all weekend…  Yep, we were back in Germany, where there are no highway tolls (yet), but you will pay to pee!

 

Whenever I take trips, I typically do a top ten list of things I learned.  I will write that list now and then our trip to Semur En Auxois will be thoroughly explained!  Our next planned trip is next month, when Bill and I will be going to Ireland.  It will be my first time as someone old enough to remember and Bill’s second time (last time was during the 1980s, when there was a depression going on).  It should be interesting!

 

Standard
Uncategorized

A pet friendly Columbus Day weekend in France… part five

Ah… Sunday…  It’s usually our rest day.  And it kind of did end up being our rest day, but not before we took two more lengthy walks into Semur En Auxois.  After breakfast, we got up and took another walk into town, this time going the more direct but less scenic route, using the roads.  We had read that there would be a market in the main square and that was what we were aiming for.  The clouds were out, though, and it was chilly.  When we got to the main square, there were a few vendors out with their produce.  I also noticed a well dressed couple standing off to the side.  Upon closer inspection, I saw that they were Jehovah’s Witnesses.

Adding to the excitement was the sound of a loudspeaker.  It reminded me of being in Turkey and hearing calls to prayer.  At first, Bill wondered if we were hearing some kind of sermon.  But no, it turned out there was a race going on.  The city had blocked off a route for the runners who were in the several races held on Sunday.  I swear, the guy announcing on the loudspeaker went non stop for hours.

I thought maybe we’d pick up some produce, but Bill wasn’t feeling it.  So we kept walking through the town and I got more photos.

Beautiful produce, but the market was pretty small.  We kept walking.

The town is just as pretty when it’s cloudy.

We walked down toward the Pont Pinard again.

Zane was fascinated by the water and the many fishing poles left out…

Some horses grazing across the river.  I was happy the boys didn’t notice them.

I saw this old car several times.  I also saw several more like it.

Semur En Auxois is home to ramparts and towers dating from the 7th century… They are very impressive to see.

I grabbed a shot of some kids running in the race that was going on all day Sunday.

Another photo of the charming square.

Pont Pinard on a cloudy day…

Zane liked walking along the river.

After our first walk, we went back to the Tower and Bill went to the store to load up on wine to bring back to Stuttgart.  Supermarkets in Semur En Auxois are open until noon on Sunday, so Bill took advantage.  He said at one point, a local woman was staring at him as he loaded up.  He thought maybe she disapproved of all the wine he was buying, but my guess is that she had him pegged as an outsider.  One thing I loved about this little town was that despite being very attractive, quirky, and French, it’s also quite unspoiled.  We didn’t hear any other Americans among us, though Louise the proprietor at the Hexagonal Tower said that she’d had guests from American bases in Germany at another property she and her husband owned.  I’m not sure if she’s had other Americans in her tower yet.

I read in Trip Advisor that this restaurant is very dog friendly.  It smelled good and I really wanted to try it.  But unfortunately, our pooches were too wound up on Sunday.

Destined to be a Facebook cover photo soon.

A stairway to heaven?  Or perhaps just to the town…

A picture of the viaduct we crossed on Saturday.

At about noon, we decided we wanted to take a walk back into town and attempt lunch.  We brought the dogs, who had been making some progress at restaurants over the summer.  Alas, as we approached one place, a dog off lead approached Zane.  He did fine with her.  They sniffed each other’s butts and I thought we were in the clear.  But then Arran, our more temperamental dog, got all upset and started bugling.  That caused Zane to start barking.  Then the dog off the lead started barking like mad.  A bunch of French folks sitting in a nearby cafe all started laughing at us.  We walked back through the main square in search of a place for lunch, but my mood was a bit spoiled.  We did pass a musician who caught my attention by playing guitar, harmonica, and singing at the same time.  We probably should have bought a CD.

When we walked back through the square, the same dog who had been somewhat chill when she met Zane came back over and bared her teeth.  Arran went apeshit.  Zane also talked back, but Zane’s tone was more of a “Buzz off, bitch!” than Arran’s “I’m going to tear you apart!”  Actually, I doubt Arran would have hurt her.  He’s mostly all bark.  Mostly, I say…

By the time we got back to the tower, I was really tired.  I wanted to use the Internet, too.  So I went up to the bedroom and got online.  A few minutes later, I crashed… HARD.  I slept for a solid two hours.

When I woke up, it was time for copious wine.  We enjoyed local vino and watched France’s version of Supernanny, which turned out to be surprisingly interesting despite the fact that we don’t speak French at all.  Bill also bought some local cheese called Epoisses.  He says it’s fantastic– rich and creamy.  I think it smells like feet.  Since I’m really not a cheese person, I’ll take his word for it.

If you like stinky French cheese, Semur En Auxois is the place for you.  As for me, pass the wine.

 

I’ll wrap up this series tomorrow.  Now, it’s time for some shut eye in my nice big bed.

Standard
France

A pet friendly Columbus Day weekend in France… part three

I don’t usually try to do a lot of “stuff” when I have my dogs with me on a trip.  They are just now becoming seasoned travelers and still react to other dogs and cats easily.  We usually try to eat in at least one restaurant when we travel with the dogs.  This time, we never did manage to dine out.  I think it was mostly because we used the little kitchenette in the Tower.

On our first night there, Bill and I were too tired to go hunting for dinner.  He went to the grocery store and picked up a roasted chicken and some side vegetables, along with a very nice chocolate dessert.  Naturally, he also bought lots of wine.  Semur En Auxois is in Burgundy, which is a big wine growing region.  Although I had originally wanted to visit Champagne, Burgundy is definitely not a bad place to be if you are an oenophile.  Bill was able to pick up many good bottles at reasonable prices.  Buying wine was one of our missions for this trip.

After we ate dinner, we watched a little French TV and then went to bed.  The next morning, it was bright and sunny outside.  After breakfast, we took the dogs for the first of many long walks!  Louise had told us to follow the disused train tracks near the Tower for a lovely walk that offered views of Semur En Auxois.  Here are some photos from our first look at the town.

A lovely view as we crossed over a viaduct that passes Semur En Auxois.  

A couple more shots.  I had no idea of how pretty our walk would become.

 

Once we crossed the viaduct, we got off the tracks and walked through a neighborhood that led us down to the river.

At the bottom of the hill…

 

Charming Pont Pinard.  My next post will have better pictures of it.

A kind man said “Bonjour” as we passed.

That bridge leads to someone’s private property…

A church in the main square, which we reached after climbing some steps.

These little dog stations were everywhere.  I was glad to see them, though not everyone used them.

A view of the tracks across the viaduct.

Semur En Auxois has a very charming downtown area, complete with lots of shops, a few museums, and some restaurants.  Sadly, because we had the dogs with us, we didn’t try any of the restaurants.  It’s not because they weren’t dog friendly, but because our dogs are still learning how to behave.  They’ve gotten much better since we started taking them with us, though.

Our first walk lasted a good solid 90 minutes or so.  That’s more than twice what our dogs usually get, so they were pretty tired.  We had such pretty weather, though, that we decided to have a quick lunch at the Tower and go for a drive.  We proceeded to take two more walks, which I will detail in the next post.

Standard
Uncategorized

A pet friendly Columbus Day weekend in France… part two

On the morning of Friday, October 7th, 2016, Bill and I were having breakfast.  I asked Bill, “When you think of France, do you think male or female?”

Bill looked at me with an expression that clearly said “WTF are you talking about, woman?”

“When I think of France, I think of females…  Like a soft, feminine, beautiful woman.  When I think of Germany, I think of a big, strong, detail oriented man with an obsession for precision.”  I explained.  “Italy, Spain, and Greece all seem feminine to me.  The Netherlands and Scandinavia seem more masculine.”

“What about Belgium?” Bill asked.

“I don’t know.” I answered.  “Maybe a very masculine lesbian?”

Then I had to stop and laugh because we were having yet another ridiculous conversation.  I don’t really think of Belgium the same way I do France, though.  France is refined and pretty.  Belgium is like a funny kid sister.  I love both countries for different reasons.  It was great to see Belgium last month, but it was also a pleasure to visit France again.  I love to kid Bill because when I first met him, he used to make jokes about France.  He’d never been there before, but had heard a lot of his co-workers joke about how France retreated during a battle.  But after the very first trip we took to France back in 2009, he fell deeply in love.  I can truthfully say Bill is now a Francophile, while I’m probably still partial to Belgium.

After breakfast in Germany, we loaded up our aging RAV 4 with luggage and provisions for the dogs and ourselves.  We set off for Semur En Auxois and were rewarded with a mostly pleasant drive.  The only traffic we hit was in Freiburg, as we drove through the town along with many large trucks.  Once we were past Germany’s sunniest city (and indeed it was sunny as opposed to Unterjettingen), we had pretty smooth sailing.

We stopped at a rest area for a potty break and Bill picked up some sandwiches and snacks for us.  I held the dogs while they barked at some horses that were in a trailer. I always feel badly when they bark at horses, especially since I spent most of my childhood around them.  Maybe some day they’ll learn that horses are pretty cool.  At the next rest stop, Bill made a mistake and got in the truck lane.  For some reason, there was no way to rectify that mistake, as the truck lane led to a parking area where there was no way to turn around.

The drive down to Semur En Auxois is very picturesque and there are opportunities to pull off and visit places on the way down.  Had we not had the dogs with us, we may have done just that.

We passed beautiful Chateuneuf on our way to the Tower.  Later, we drove up to it.

I had told Louise by email that we would try to make it to the Hexagonal Tower by 5:00.  It turned out we would get there 45 minutes early.  It was no big deal, though.  Louise and her husband, who is a master stone mason, live right next door to the Hexagonal Tower.  In fact, though it had the appearance of an old structure, Louise told us that her husband had decided to build it.  They got permission from the town and he built a very unique little “Gite”.  I told Louise that I had actually decided to visit because I thought the Tower was so cool looking.  Who knows?  The Tower may put Semur En Auxois on the map!

The Hexagonal Tower just opened for business in July 2016, so we must have been among the first to try it out.  Aside from the tower, Louise told us that her husband had built their home and they were just finishing up the construction. It’s a very beautiful house.  I was impressed by her husband’s work.  We were not charged a security deposit, but something tells me this might not always be the case in the future.

Louise, by the way, is a very pleasant lady from Great Britain.  I was immediately charmed by her accent and asked where she was from.  She comes from Kent.  I told her that my earliest memories are of England, since that was my dad’s last duty station in the Air Force back in the late 1970s.  I was very young when I lived in England, but I still fondly remember my time there.

Once we met our hostess, we entered the Tower for the first time.  It truly is for two people and is definitely not kid friendly.  In fact, in the ad for the Tower, it specifically states that it’s strictly for two people and children cannot be accommodated.  I’m sure the reason for that is because there is simply no room for more than two people.  Over this Columbus Day weekend, we really got a taste of what it would be like to live in a tiny house.  Here are a few pictures of the inside of the newly constructed Tower.

This is the yard area next to the Tower.  It offers a bit of privacy from the somewhat busy road that passes in front of the property.

This is the inside of the first floor.  You can’t really see it too well, but there’s a counter to the right that has a microwave, two burner stove top, a small refrigerator, dishwasher, and sink.  The house is stocked with cookware and dishes, too.  Behind the two chairs is a small table and chairs for two people.  Louise thoughtfully stocked the tower with books in English and French, as well as some DVDs.

Upstairs is the bedroom.  It is equipped with what I think was a full sized bed.  There’s a tiny bathroom with a rainfall shower.  The Tower is on a septic tank system, so the plumbing could be fragile.  We did not experience any problems.  I loved the way the sheets and towels smelled.  I should have asked Louise what kind of detergent she uses.  I noticed she was line drying a lot.

Big rainfall shower head!

Tiny bathroom with sliding door.

Skylight offering nice natural light to the tower.

Our rate included breakfast, which Louise brought to us every morning at eight o’clock, sharp.  I had hot chocolate and Bill had coffee.  We also had wonderful croissants, bread, jams, yogurt, orange juice, and fruit.

Very nice breakfast!

I must caution those who are attracted to the Tower that the stairs can be a little scary at first.  There is a handrail on the wall, but nothing on the side that faces away from the wall.  The steps are also a bit narrow.  Therefore, it pays to be very careful going up and downstairs.

As you can see, Zane was not sure what to make of the stairs.

 

My only complaint about the Tower was that the WiFi access was rather poor.  We were getting the signal from Louise’s house, which made it pretty weak.  I couldn’t get WiFi at all on the first floor, though it worked okay on the second floor.  Fortunately, I was able to use my phone’s cell signal, too. Also, I would have liked a larger bed, but for three nights, we did fine.  The bed itself was very comfortable, albeit a bit smaller than what we’re used to.

The Hexagonal Tower is in a good location.  Bill and I were able to walk the dogs from the Tower into the town.  I have some gorgeous photos of Semur En Auxois, which I will be sharing in the next post.

Standard
Uncategorized

A pet friendly Columbus Day weekend in France… part one

Excuse the boring title for this series of posts.  I have just come back from enjoying the holiday weekend in Semur En Auxois, a lovely town in Burgundy, France.  Ten days ago, I had never heard of the place.  I was simply searching for a pet friendly vacation home rental for me and Bill, as well as our two hounds, Zane and Arran.  Until very recently, I habitually booked Zane and Arran in a local hunde pension.  But the one we used to use fell in to disrepute and the one we use now is frequently booked early for holiday weekends.

It wasn’t lost on me that Bill and I have had the great fortune of living in Germany together for the second time and we needed to make the most of our time here.  Although we did manage to see a lot of Europe the last time we lived here and in the years between Germany stints, we also know that things can change quickly, especially given our current election nightmare.  In late July, we took our first pet friendly trip and we’ve done several more since then.  Last month, we spent Labor Day weekend in Belgium and rented a vacation house for the very first time.  We decided to try the same thing in France.

So, off I went to Booking.com, which is where we had luck the first time we rented a house instead of booking a hotel room.  Originally, I thought we’d go to the Champagne region.  Bill and I visited there in 2014 when we took our most recent hop from the United States.  We enjoyed visiting Reims and Epernay, but I wanted to go back and spend more time visiting Champagne houses.  Unfortunately, I had some trouble finding suitable accommodations there.

I expanded my area and searched in Nancy, Dijon, and Beaune.  It was the same story.  I was having a hard time finding a place that had all I wanted– parking (preferably free), free WiFi, and pet friendly (preferably free).  I also wanted to find a place where we weren’t sharing walls, if at all possible.  Part of the appeal of vacation homes as opposed to hotel rooms or apartments is that we’re less likely to annoy someone if our dogs bark.

We did find one place near Dijon that looked very promising.  It was at a winery, which was a huge plus!  And, at least on Booking.com, it was supposedly pet friendly, too.  Then I did some more searching and found the place listed on other sites.  On those sites, it said pets were not allowed.  I got the sense that the owner was one of those people who will rent to pet owners if she has to, but would definitely prefer not to.  When I rent a place, I don’t want to be merely tolerated (although in truth, that’s probably the situation most of the time).  Anyway, I figured she’d rather rent to pet free folks and I’m fine with that.

Just as I was about to tear my hair out in frustration, I found a very unique property in Semur En Auxois.  It was called simply “Hexagonal Tower for Two”.  It was a nice, generic name, kind of like the title of this blog post.  But the property was far from generic.  What I was looking at was literally a tower intended to host guests.  And it was pet friendly!

Yes, this is a tower for two– count ’em– two people…

 

Although I had never heard of Semur En Axois before and had no idea of how to pronounce the name, I did some checking and thought it looked like a very picturesque place.  So I made a booking request and quickly got a response from Louise, the proprietor.  She advised me there would be a small supplement for the dogs (30 euros for both dogs over our three night stay).  Booking.com took payment for our stay and we’d need to pay Louise cash for the dogs.  That was fine, so we made our plans to visit.

The first thing I learned is the pronunciation of the town’s name (say-moor-ohn-ohk-swah).  Next, we plugged it into our GPS and were advised it would take about 5.5 hours to get there, mostly by way of excellent French high speed highways.  Then, when I looked for it on Google, I was advised it was actually seven hours away.  Nope– turns out the GPS was right.  If my series makes you want to visit, plan for about six hours tops on the road.  Also plan for tolls, though I don’t think they were excessive.  I think it came to about 30 euros each way.

Standard