Beaujolais

During our little trip, we were based in the Bourbonnais region. It has a relatively small local wine industry centered on the town of Saint-Pourçain. But a little further to the east, over a small range of mountains, lies Beaujolais, a much larger wine appellation in the Saône Valley that's just south of the Burgundy region and just north of the city of Lyon.

This is the view from our picnic spot with the mountains at our backs and the Saône River Valley out to our east. The high mountains on the horizon are part of the Alps. Beyond them are Switzerland and Italy.

It took us a just under two hours to drive from our rental house near Moulins. We encountered some road construction along the way that slowed us down a little. We also stopped at a supermarket to be sure we had a bottle of wine for our picnic lunch, and we made a pit stop for Tasha. Then we crossed the mountains on little roads. Curves, sheer drops, narrow roads. I was relieved when we got to the other side.

The brown of winter vineyards on the slopes of Beaujolais.

As we left the heights, we drove through the town of Beaujeu, for which the region is named. The town sits in a canyon, so it's long and narrow, only a few streets wide, and very nice looking. But we didn't stop in town because we were looking for a place to have our picnic lunch, and we thought that we might find a roadside spot between towns.