There’s something altogether ultra-charming about shopping at a market, picking up the yummiest cheeses and hams for a picnic basket and heading off for lunch at a sun-kissed vineyard in a little village in Burgundy, isn’t there?
I’ve just returned from a wonderful gastronomic adventure in Provence and Burgundy and while there were so many special moments, my picnic in Aloxe-Corton is definitely among the top.
So just for the fun of it, I thought I’d share my cheeky six steps to a perfect picnic in Burgundy!
Step 1: Get your supplies
Visit the local fresh foods market. It helps if you’re there on a market day, of course. All the colours and sounds will assault you and you can jostle with the locals going about their weekly shopping.
See end of article for a list of market days in Burgundy.
Step 2: Pick up the baguette
Step 3: Drive off to the villages
I’m a research-holic so I found some panoramic spots that we were aiming for. One good one is at Pernand-Vergelesses and we were on the way there.
But we hit Aloxe-Corton before that, and decided to visit one of the most photographed buildings in Burgundy, the Chateau de Corton-Andre.
We changed our minds about our picnic location when we saw two cyclists sitting on a bench, facing the chateau and eating their sandwiches.
Well, if the cyclists could do it, so could I!
Well, how could we not do the same? Except we did it in style of course! I walked in to the Chateau, said that I was looking for a simple white wine to go with a picnic… sussed out the friendliness of the person there, and then… asked if I could use their quaint tables and chairs to picnic, which he said yes to, of course.
More importantly, I had only disposable cups with which to drink our newly-purchased wine, so I cheekily asked him if I could also borrow 2 wine glasses. Slight hesitation apart, he agreed and wow, it sure elevated our picnic experience!
Step 4: Do the cheesy before you eat the cheese
Naturally, since you are on the vineyard that produced the wine you are drinking, you have to take photos!
Step 5: Prep the picnic
Hopefully you remembered your Swiss army knife and corkscrew! We didn’t need the corkscrew because the wine guy had helped us uncork the bottle, but the knife was great for cutting the saucisson.
Step 6: Enjoy!
Bon Appetit!
A short list of market days in Burgundy:
- Beaune – Wed and Sat mornings
- Chablis – Sun mornings
- Nuits-St-Georges – Fri mornings
- Mercurey – Sat mornings
- Dijon – Tue, Fri and Sat mornings