Happy birthday to Cindy’s Dad. We toured the Burgundy wine country today and had a wine tasting in a wine cellar. The wine was so good we even bought a bottle. We also succumbed to the chocolate store we found. Oh well, it is almost Easter and there has been no bunnies in sight. We toured the Hotel Dieu in Beaune which was built by a rich politician (Nicolas Rolin) and his wife to atone for their sins. It was a religious hospital for poor people and rich alike with the best rooms being for the poor people. The hospital was built in the 1443 and was still in use until the mid 1980’s. It is now a museum. The ceilings and walls have wonderful paintings. The beds all had monk warmers which was a portable wood burner to warm the bed. The name came from the old monks. In the monasteries, one monk had the job to lay in each persons bed to warm it up before the person got in. The name stayed on for the hospital too. The hotel/hospital (all public buildings are called hotels, even police stations) was so modern that they only had 2 people in a bed instead of 4 irregardless of sex. The ceiling was very high so there was more air for the bad air of the sick to escape to. The patients were cared for by sisters and by the politician and his wife. He made sure that the stained glass windows showed their likenesses along with the religious icons.