Due to the constraints of our travel around France, we're ending up in Beaune on a Monday in Mid may. My wife's dream is to ride bikes to the vineyards and do some sampling of local wines. We are having trouble finding things that are open, or information whether certain things are open.
Moving dates around is not an option---Any advice here?
I see there was another post similar to this that no one answered in January. Hopefully someone with knowledge sees yours. Otherwise I suggest googling the wineries in the area you want to visit to check their hours of operation.
A suggestion would be to book a guided tour through Bourgogne Evasion. We used to live in Bourgogne and did this once on a lark. We met our guide and picked up our bikes at Parc de la Bouzaise on the west side of Beaune. It was a pleasant outing and the wineries were small (as those in Bourgogne often are) and good. They would know which ones would be accepting visitors on a Monday.
I'm headed to Bourgogne in a couple months as well. As I haven't been, I don't have reviews for you but here is what I am planning on:
https://www.rendezwine.com/en : this site helps you books wine tastings with wineries in Bourgogne - hopefully some will be open on Mondays!
I'll second Bob on Bourgogne Evasion - I'm planning on booking a half-day tour with them. Bob, thanks for sharing - glad to hear you enjoyed it! They're listed both in the RS France guidebook as well as on the Beaune tourism office website.
So many places in France being closed on Mondays (including restaurants, which also often close Sunday evenings to) can really catch you out.
We were planning a trip on the Calais Dragon (after seeing it mentioned on here) on the one day we have available for Calais, only to discover that it has a day off that day!
I find it always helpful to email the local tourist office and ask your questions. I usually have answers within the hour!
I have a friend who had a very pleasant bike ride along the river in Beaune.
We'll be there in October, but just for lunch!
Thanks all! We ended up booking a guided tour!
--And to whoever warned us about riding bikes intoxicated, we're from Wisconsin and can handle a few sips of wine haha
Peter,
You may feel comfortable biking after wine-tasting, but the French police are usually VERY strict. The blood level for alcohol is lower in France than in the US. Just be careful.
As written, the limit in France for legally riding a bicycle is 0.5 gram of alcohol per liter of blood or 0.25 milligram of alcohol per liter of air exhaled.
And the limits are strictly enforced. By that I mean that if you're caught riding over the limit, expect repercussions. I believe it's currently a 135€ fine.
But (and it's a big but) traffic enforcement in France is much, much, much less prevalent than in the U.S. You can drive for years in France without encountering a case of someone having been pulled over by police or gendarmes.
The reason is that French law enforcement relies on automatic measures to catch infractions such as speeding, tailgating, and red light running. French police devote much less time (almost none) to active traffic enforcement, unlike American police, who tend to use traffic enforcement as a fundraiser for local governmental coffers, or as a fishing expedition to find people to whom the police want to demand "compliance.".
That said, there are checkpoints in France. I've encountered precisely two in over a decade of living and driving here: one related to Covid travel restrictions, and one related to catching celebrants who may have done too much celebrating at D-Day commemoration events in Normandie.
So yes, you could get "pulled over" for riding a bike while over the limit. It could happen. But unless you're out on a public road making an obvious nuisance of yourself and endangering either yourself or others, the probability of that occurring is vanishingly small.
Drink responsibly. Bike responsibly. But be realistic.
