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Before leaving we check the address of Austreale Camping-car workshop and discover from their website that they're closed for holidays, so that's the fridge going unrepaired for now.
We leave the CCP site and start what turns out to be a lovely drive north. The roads are smooth and straight as we pass through lots of small towns on the Cote de Nuits route. Open countryside with masses of vineyards, and grapes grown in different ways. Instead of leafy, spreading vines trained along wires many here are single stemmed bushes wired to reach vertically and they are taller than those further south.
We pass signs for Burgundy, Beaulolais and Macon wines. North of Macon city the landscape becomes a little hillier and a few corners, but all open road making driving a real pleasure. There are tractors to overtake and another MoHo follows us for miles, making us concerned that we don't want him going to the same destination as us and having the last free spot so Nick hustles Mary*Lou along enjoying the freedom to 'drive' the road rather than the controlled negotiation of obstacles that has typified our last few weeks.
We drive through Cluny, an important town of Burgundy; its 12th C abbey was the lagest Christian church until the Vatican, and it had authority over priories and monasteries from Poland to Portugal. Napoleon founded its national stud and it is still a major equestrian centre today. Another town, Cormatin, had no horses but was overrun by cyclists using its old railway route.
As we turn in towards the city centre at Beaune our follower goes straight on while we make our way to the aire. There are six official spaces and about thirty vans at a guess. MoHo's are tolerated in car spaces and three are queuing so we drive through the bus station and see the queue has formed because a van has lodged itself against a height barrier. We drive back down the bus parking and while three vans wait for a space in the carpark, we slip unnoticed into the vacant camping car space - Result.
There is good wifi and although it's been a sunny day, clouds are building and the showers start so we delay exploring the town until tomorrow.
Having run down fresh goods because of the fridge, Ali puts her white macon and goes to the nearby supermarket for a pizza and a box of plonk as we would rather not glug all of the good bottles before we get home.
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