Floating over Burgundy

On the last morning of our FrogAPC, Sherlock's Wine Merchants, Cook's Warehouse Wine Tour 2011, all 9 of us were up and on a bus at 6:30 am, headed to our take off location for a hot air balloon tour!

Heart-shaped lake in Burgundy, as seen from a hot air balloon

For everyone except for me, this was a 'baptême' or maiden flight in a hot air balloon.  I choose Air Escargot as our carrier of choice - I love the name and am happy to report that the owner and pilot, Pierre, has 36 years of experience and managed to float us just over the treetops up to 4500 feet and back down, then land the balloon, with 10 people, in a 10 foot space between vineyards and a field of rapeseed.  It was an amazing flight!

From left:  Michele, Don, Krystle, Jennifer, Crystal, Franck, Rose, Joe and Elaine floating over Burgundy!

After landing, we headed off immediately to meet Alex Gambal, an American who decided to move to Burgundy and begin making wine about 20 years ago.  He welcomed us into his winery on the main ring road of Beaune in a casual American style that allowed everyone to be at ease, ask lots of questions and learn a great deal about his wines, the region and what it's like to be an American living in France.  We tasted some lovely wines and enjoyed a great picnic lunch with Alex.

The evening ended with a rainstorm.  Luckily the worst of it fell as we were getting settled into a little pizzeria just down the street from our hotel.  It's as if the weather was hearing the feeling of sadness that I had because our week had come to an end.  But never fear, more adventures are on the way!  Saturday morning, Don, Joe, Franck and I headed through the Alps into Italy for an Italian wine and food extravaganza, so stay tuned!  Our fellow travelers were headed for places as diverse as Paris, the French countryside and Turkey!