[Itinerary Page]The Daily Diary of a Wandering Restaurateur
On the Road in Burgundy
What to do on a Sunday in France? Our first thought was to find a street market, but the Sunday markets are in towns at least an hour's drive away. Normally not a problem but the fuel tank on the car is below half and finding an attended station open today is unlikely. So we opted to stay a little closer to home and not push our luck, diesel-wise.
For your general enlightenment, many gas stations operate in automated mode on Sundays and after hours. All it takes to fuel up is a credit card ... but it takes what is known as a "chip and pin" credit card -- one with a smart chip embedded in the card. European cards have them, North American cards don't.
US cards work in most European ATMs and retail establishments, but the 24/7 automated gas stations and many smaller retailers require the chip. This had been a big issue for us because only European residents could get European (chip and pin) credit cards.
But just recently Travelex, the currency exchange people in most US airports, are offering a prepaid chip and pin card that should solve the problem. I will definitely have one for our trip in May. But I digress ...
So we kept the schedule loose and opted just to do a short loop around the area to see what we could find. Our travels took us to Autun, Arnay-le-Duc, Chateauneuf and Lusigny-sur-Ouche, the real surprise of the day.
The easiest way to fill you in on it all is with some photos.
© 2011 Restaurant Doctor