We woke up a bit earlier so we could eat breakfast and then go explore the various stalls, as today was Market Day. Lots of vendors and lots of people -most seemingly enjoying all the interactions and sales.

There was music being played in the bandstand in the Place Carnot, which was just a few steps from our hotel. While I was getting dressed, I thought I heard accordion music. Upon further review, the rest of the band joined in with him. They were playing Gypsy Jazz and we hurried getting ready so we could enjoy them for a while.

Much like the market in Chablis, there was a blend of vendors and artisans. There was also a brocante or thrift area with all sorts of items for sale.

Unfortunately, we had to move along. We had a reservation for an 11:30 tour and tasting, plus lunch at Domaine Comte Senard in Aloxe-Corton. The drive from Beaune only takes fifteen minutes, but finding a parking spot will take about the same amount of time.

Aloxe-Corton is a very small village. They told us that only one hundred people live there. The main livelihood there is wine. We saw two hotels and six wineries, a church and the road out of town.

When we arrived at the Domaine, we were greeted by our host, Baptiste and taken on a short tour of the grounds. The property is beautiful and has some nice views over the surrounding vineyards. The vineyards date back to 1857 when Jules Senard planted six hectares. Today, they have nine hectares and the wine-making duties have passed through the family down to Lorraine Senard, great grand-daughter of Jules.

They had a secret cellar that was found by one of the gardeners. It was behind a door that had stone piled in front of it for years. The cellar was over 800 years old and was dug by the monks. It was interesting and creepy at the same time.

Next we headed inside for our lunch and tasting. The lunch included a tasting of six of the domaine’s grand cru wines – two whites and four reds. The meal started with some gougères (warm cheese puffs), then a pork terrine with salad greens. The main plate was bœuf bourguignon with potatoes dauphinois (cheesy potatoes) and then dessert was a warm gingerbread tart with a cassis filling.

Lunch was delicious, as were most of the wines, and they paired well with the food. Our favorite wine was the white, that we had two different vintages of. Since we were more enamored with the white wines, Baptiste let us try another wine that wasn’t Chardonnay.

It was a Pinot Beurot (Pinot Gris) that we enjoyed very much. So if you’ve been counting along, this turned into our fifth mixed case of wine that will meet us at home.

Domaine Comte Senard was certainly worth visiting. It’s a family run domaine that makes very nice wines. They were very friendly and were wonderful hosts.

Before heading back to Beaune, we made sure to drive up to get a look at Corton Hill. It’s intriguing to think that this particular spot is where every producer tries to buy land. Some of you probably have backyards that are larger than some of the climats being tended here. But they make some great wines from those small climats.

Back in Beaune, we just relaxed for the remainder of the afternoon. A little snooze helped to refresh us too.

Dinner time rolled around and we had a reservation at Le Carmin. I was looking forward to eating there, as I had read about it online and most of the reviews were great. We even had to dress up a little bit as it’s billed as a more refined restaurant (and surprisingly, they accepted our reservation).

It’s been fun trying to speak as much French as we can. Once we try, we’ve noticed that most of the folks are very encouraging. Tonight was no different, our host and servers were extremely nice and just helped us over a few rough spots.

As for the meal, it was another dandy one. It was a five course tasting menu, plus an amuse-bouche and after dinner petit-fours. Our wine for the meal was a bottle of 2020 Méo-Camuzet Chambolle-Musigny.

The meal itself consisted of Duck Foix-grois, lobster fricassée, roast bœuf fillet, a cheese plate and dessert – Sue had a soufflé and I had a fig tart. Everything was delicious and the restaurant exceeded our expectations.

The finale of the evening was the grueling two minute walk back to the hotel, but we persevered. Change clothes, wash up and we both blissfully dozed off; another great day having passed.