Wine tour 2012 - day 7

Having to leave Beaune today, we were all busy packing but with my friend having bought a lot of things she had to send some of those by post to avoid severe overweight penalty when returning to HK. As a result David took us to the local post office to check. There was some special wine containers available for shipment, but all were small (good for 2 bottles only) and so we went to a specialty store further away, which fortunately got the necessary polyfoam boxes for her.

After returning to hotel I also bought a bottle of Ramonet Batard-Montrachet to fill up my box. Having bought just 6 bottles in Burgundy was a bit disappointing to me but I had told David to let me know when he got news of some good stuff I could buy.

Checking out with a lot of luggages, we headed back to the post office to ship our goods. It cost me Euro 145 to ship back a box of 6 bottles, which was not cheap. But in order to relieve myself in the coming travel it was a good decision (and by the time we were back the wines were already delivered too).

With all the exercise, we all felt hungry so we went to another Michelin restaurant - Caveau des Arches. Offering good food, the setting of the restaurant is very interesting, underground in the vault of an old fortified bridge of the 16th century.

Then we were back on the road, taking a 3-hour drive to Colmar in Alsace. Very different to Burgundy, Alsace got a totally different feel with the mountains and the much more colorful buildings greeting us. Upon arriving we checked in at Hotel des Tetes, and we were all saying 'wow' on the beautiful mansion.

Located in the heart of Colmar, the hotel was a mansion dating from 1609 and now classified as a historical monument, and actually one of the most famous one in Colmar. The rooms were all nicely decorated and spacious, with also an inner courtyard for breakfast and drinks. Benny actually got the best room with the only balcony, and when we stepped out many tourists waved to us as if we were stars...

Taking a walk around before going for dinner, the color, architecture of buildings, it was such a relaxing and serene experience.

At La Cocotte de Grand-Mere, just a short distance from the hotel, we had our Alastian meal with fresh and seasonal produce, which prepared us for the exciting second part of our journey on the next day.

(to be continued...)