We walked/hobbled into the Tourism Office and collected a city map and advice about cafes at the light tour for tonight. We then went to a café for a light breakfast, before going over to the most recommended place to visit in Beaune.

The Hotel Dieu or Hospice de Beanne has a 500-year history as a hospital, mainly for the poor. It was set up and funded by a local, and staffed by nuns. Over the years it had other donors including people who donated an area with vines. Other legacies have extended the vineyard and it makes very prestigious wines sold once a year by auction which still funds a hospital, although not on this site.

John was also happy to visit the site as it was mainly inside and so not so hot. The audio guides were part of the entrance fee and not too detailed, so we wandered and listened and took photos.

The hospital for the poor was set up in 1443 by the chancellor to the Duke of Burgundy and his wife. Nicolas Rolin and his wife Guigone de Salins had a great vision and the building was made with the finest materials, hence has lasted all this time. The area was coming out of the 100 years’ war and much of Beaune had been decimated. The building was for the poor and most disadvantaged. He also provided funding for white bread to be distributed daily.

He was a good administrator with knowledge of hospital institutions so he placed it under the spiritual authority of the ‘Holy See’, free from any charge, and it was mainly staffed by nuns. The elderly, disabled, sick and destitute were welcomed, treated, fed and also given spiritual guidance.

We started in the stunning courtyard and saw the lovely colours of the tiles on the roofs, which is typical of the region we were told. The outside is quite austere so the colour here is more noticeable.

We then went into the Great Hall of the Poor, which had beds on both sides as they would have been when it was a hospital. This room had no fireplace and the commentary said that it was cold but the beds were heated with both pans and hot bottles. There were some parts where there was a ‘sister’ attending to a patient, dressed as she would have been through the years. The end of this room was the chapel, although we heard the original fine tapestries and decorations were destroyed in the past.

The next rooms did have fireplaces in them. We heard that people who could afford it could also be cared for and paid for this. The rooms also acknowledge the support of various people over the years who helped fund the original purpose and allow it to be extended. The original amount Nicolas and Guigone had donated to fund everything was not quite enough for the needs of the area so extra donations we welcomed. They had royal support at times which helped. One King was disturbed that men and women were treated in the same area and gave the funds needed to separate them.

The next area showed us some of the medical items used over the years, with comprehensive descriptions of their use. Living in the 21st century, we have a lot to be grateful for I decided.

The pharmacy/laboratory area was interesting as well. It was explained that the original area was much smaller and this was as it was in the 18th century from memory. The local apothecary decided that the nuns should also be able to prepare medicines, and after training they did formulate some of the potions. We saw a series of what we assume are empty bottles labelled as they would have been, with the comment that earthenware was perfect to keep items dry. There were also scales, mortar and pestle, and a very large grinder.

The kitchens are always interesting. Here it was explained that the sisters would arise early to make bread and not finish until the evening meal was served, the patients had a final check and the kitchen was left spotless. From the start there were gardens to provide wheat and vegetables and a farm for eggs, milk and meat. There was a 3 tier spit introduced later to make cooking easier, and a hinged chain to help get heavy pots from the fires. St Martha presided over the kitchen. We were told she is the patron saint of kitchens, but it appears she is really the patron saint of housewives.

The final rooms told us more of the history of the hospital and held items that were used in the past, including a number of chests used for storage.

The area finished with details of the wine auction, before the obligatory gift shop. In 1457, Guillemette Levernier made the first gift of vineyards to the Hospices de Beaune, and this tradition was to continue for five centuries. Today, the wine estate is around 60 hectares, of which 50 are devoted to Pinot Noir and the rest to Chardonnay. Entrusted to 22 winemakers handpicked by its manager, this exceptional vineyard accounts for 85% of premiers crus and grands crus sold at auction on the third Sunday in November, organised by Christies. All proceeds from the sale benefit medical treatments at the Beaune Hospital and the maintenance of its historic listed buildings.

We walked back to the apartment by going past the main church, the collegiate Basilica Notre-Dame de Beaune. It is one of the last great Romanesque churches of Burgundy and Its construction was begun in the middle of the 12th century. Service was just finishing so we did not go inside but had enjoyed the sound of the bells. Next was the Hotel de Ville which we took photos of before exiting the historic area via the Porte Saint Nicolas. This is relatively new as it was replaced in 1770.We are staying in the St Nicolas area so that put us on the path to home, with a sidestep for a cache. 

I was ready to put my foot up and we both blobbed out for a while. I had planned a rural circuit for the afternoon but when we looked it was a bit long. I cut it back and may have left out the best bit as we were happy to be in the countryside, but otherwise the trip was ordinary. Hence we defaulted into looking for a couple of caches.

The first took us to a most unexpected Roman column down a one-way county side road. We had not been able to read the listing in French but did pick Roman column from the title ‘La colonne Romaine roma’.

We then went to a windmill but it was both less interesting and we couldn’t find the cache. We then drove home via the backroads, spying a very scrawny fox in a field.

On our return John watched the World Cup Final, while the skies opened and we had thunder and lightning. The temperature had been 31C and dropped to 19C.

We went to the Japanese restaurant we had spotted on the way home and had checked out on the internet. It had a good name, but also did takeaways, so we felt we were safe as we couldn’t book. We hadn’t counted on the chef being sick and the whole place with a sign on the door saying they were sorry, but closed. So we carried on into the historic areas amid the locals going mad and screaming around hanging out of cars, celebrating the World Cup win.

We found a place that had a space near the middle of the town. By then I was over food so had an omelette and then dessert but John managed a full menu. We discussed just staying on in the area to see ‘light up Beaune’, but it was a little cooler by now and we would have had time to kill. So we went back to the apartment and rugged up (well added a layer) and collected the information, which I found I basically knew.

‘Light up Beaune’ runs during the summer from 10.30 pm until midnight. 7 major buildings have a light show which proved to be more detailed than I was expecting. I knew the Notre Dame Cathedral was meant to be good, but we found others also had light shows displayed on them, while others were just well lit. Our plans went a bit awry as it was after 10.30 pm when we got back. We had intended starting at the far end and walking back but ended up doing a funny order and not covering them all.

We saw Porte St Nicolas and the Hotel de Ville lit as we moved into the town but what proved to be the Chapelle Saint Etienne had a lovely series of scenes projected on to it. We went to the Hotel Dieu and saw the familiar scenes of the beds and the pharmacy before going to the Cathedral, which we made our last stop. If we were not getting a bit foot sore with a walk home to face we may have visited a couple of others but I was happy with what we had seen. We had thought we would drive into the area and walk from there until we were put off by some of the crazy driving we had seen. But still it was a nice way to end the day and the walk made for a sound sleep on our return.