A rainy Monday in wine-drenched Beaune, France, has offered an opportunity to briefly review the events of the past several days. It’s been a real change of pace for a couple reasons:

1. We’ve been spending a lot of time in the car, especially the long drive over (and partially through!) the Alps from northern Italy to central Switzerland, and then a few days later into France. It’s taking some time to readjust to this more vehicular—and therefore less active—American lifestyle! I honestly can’t wait to ditch the car again in Paris.
2. Our circle of adventurers has expanded from 2 to 4, with Maureen’s dad Jim and his friend Judy joining us in Switzerland and accompanying us to France. Unfortunately, their luggage decided not to come along for the journey (or SwissAir made that decision on its behalf) so they’ve unexpectedly had to adopt a less materialistic lifestyle.

Here’s a quick summary of what we’ve been up to:

Swiss treats. Who knew that Bern, Switzerland, was so awesome? It’s a clean and beautiful city with a fascinating history, gorgeous architecture, and the friendliest people we’ve encountered in Europe. Having Maureen’s cousin Mary Kay and her wonderful family (shout out to Reiner, Luca, and Elena) as hosts and tour guides made it even more special. Thank you guys!

Down, but not out. As if lost luggage wasn’t enough, Jim seems to have come down with the flu. So while Maureen, Judy, and I explore Beaune, he’s been getting intimately acquainted with his hotel room and CNN International. He’s on the road to recovery—or perhaps just completely stir crazy—and is joining us for our winery visit this afternoon. We’ll let you know how that works out.

Subterranean wine. Tourism here in Beaune is centered around its fine wines, and we’ve been doing our part to support the local economy. Yesterday Maureen and Mike took a self-guided tour of the caves at the Patriarche winery, culminating in a self-poured tasting of nearly a dozen wines sitting on candlelit barrels throughout the cellar. I can’t imagine such an honor system model ever working in someplace like Napa, where many visitors seem to value their wine tasting as much by quantity as by quality.

Au revoir for now.