Burgundy Day One

Our beautiful house for the weekend in Burgundy, France

May 2015 marks the 35 year wedding anniversary of Koen’s parents Dook and Els. All of the children wanted to do something special, so we planned a weekend getaway to Burgundy, France for all 8 of us. The date was made known, but the destination remained a suprise until the day we departed!

We chose a beautiful house in Saint-Germain-Des-Bois, in the countryside to stay for the weekend. Koen and I drove down with his parents. To break up the trip, we made a quick stop in Péronne for lunch and to stretch our legs. Péronne is in Picardy, France and boasts a big history for such a small country town. The Museum of the Great War is located in the old chateau, and the whole city has statues and monuments dedicated to the Australians and WWI. Why Australia? I had the same question and looked it up once I was back home in Antwerp. At the Battle of Mont Saint-Quentin, Australian troops stormed, seized and held the key height of Mont Saint-Quentin (overlooking Péronne), a pivotal German defensive position on the line of the Somme.

The four of us arrived in Saint-Germain-Des-Bois at Moulin du Merle, at exactly the same time as Koen’s sisters. We had already done groceries and enjoyed the evening cooking together, drinking wine, and playing games all night!