How lovely it was to find myself back in Beaune last September, for the last 2 nights of our new Burgundy tour.
Beaune is rated a 3*** attraction by the Michelin Green Guide, ‘Worth a Journey in Itself‘. It’s a beautiful medieval town, still entirely surrounded by its old city wall, and at its centre, the Hospice de Dieu, a 14th Century hospital built for the poor. It served as a hospital, believe it or not, until 1971. These days it’s a museum, and boasts perhaps the most spectacular roof I’ve ever seen.
Click on the photo to enlarge it, it’s amazing (thanks, as ever, Patrick).
So that’s the 3*** rating taken care of, but Beaune has another lovely little card to play, late at night, on our walk home from the restaurant. The town puts on a ‘Lumiere’ show every night. On one street corner, we watched a giant cat climb out of a window high up on a belltower and clamber up and down the walls. It’s quite a surprise!
We’re armed with a map of the town centre, which shows where these ‘son et Lumiere’ can be seen, and it’s a wonderful little ‘extra’ from Beaune to us.
They’re known as Les Chemins de Lumières, and are designed to showcase the city’s rich historical heritage through immersive, 3D-projection.
There are 30 or so of these installations, and highlights are the Hospice de Dieu, naturally, and the Tour de l’Horloge (the clock tower). That’s my favourite.
Lumieres-a-Beaune-Collegiale
It’s such a special little ‘extra’, I do wonder why we don’t have any in the UK!
