Well, all week the armchair forecasters were saying nice on Saturday, terrible on Sunday – the weather that was! As it was, the rain and wind arrived early – midday on Saturday. This was one day where everyone was happy that it was 8°C and not 1°C!

The Irancy Saint Vincent parade started in the dark of the early morning, from high on the hill above Irancy into the town below – by torchlight and with handy flames by the side of the the route; representatives from all over Burgundy with their own ‘Saint Vincent’ statues.

Still, for the first 5 hours or so everybody stayed dry, if still a little wind-swept! By mid-morning there was a 2km line of slowly moving cars to the parking areas – in fields. I really don’t want to think what the parking was like on the Sunday after plenty of rain. Le Bien Public put Saturday’s visitor numbers anywhere between 15 and 20 thousand – well done Irancy!

The town was well decked-out and with multiple tasting venues – though to be honest, there were so many people at each ‘tasting station’ we preferred to walk the town and enjoy the atmosphere – and it was a lovely atmosphere. For lunch we queued almost 30 minutes for what turned out to be the last of the ‘parmentiers de canard’ – French shepherd’s pie made with duck! – but it was hot and tasty – luckily-so, as it was now raining as well as windy. The glühwein never looked more attractive, particularly as we had to walk back up the hill (to the parking) in the wind and rain!

I hope the weather (and the muddy fields) wasn’t too bad on Sunday – we were already back in Beaune by Saturday evening.