Remember this name: Global Greeter Network

Beaune, a walled town in the Burgundy region of France, was on our list of places to visit during our time in the area. In searching about Beaune (pronounced "bone" like a dog bone) months ago, I saw that a visitor to the town could request a private tour -- a free tour -- through an organization called Global Greeter Network.

Global Greeter Network is an all-volunteer effort of people who are crazy about their home town and would be happy to show you around. Hmmm, this sounded interesting!

No money exchanges hands, no car rides are involved. The Greeter often wants to keep his or her foreign language skills up and appreciates the opportunity to meet people from other countries. You meet your Greeter at a time convenient for both of you, usually in the town center, and your greeter will walk the town with you, usually for an hour and a half.

That's how we met Philippe.

Philippe was born and raised in Beaune and was a joy to be with, as we walked and talked and saw the town's treasures.

Philippe spoke excellent English although he told us he was as good as a 5-year old. He had difficulty understanding English but we all figured things out.

He showed us the "biggies" of the town as well as his architectural favorites. He took us to courtyards and hotel patios and other places not only off the beaten path but also, in some cases, not necessarily open to the public. We found out Philippe is a retired taxi driver so he knew a lot of people and a lot of places.

There's nothing like being with a local. When Philippe showed us the Notre Dame church (below) in Beaune ...
 

... and I told him how much I liked it, he said the rear view of the church is even better, he thinks. He took us around to see it (below), something most people don't see. I agree with Philippe!

hilippe told us about Beaune adjusting to increased tourism (and what something like VRBO is doing to rent prices for locals), and showed us the location of his grandfather's store from decades ago.

Here are some more photos of beautiful Beaune (below) that we saw in our tour ...

We learned about the history, the economy, the people -- and even why Philippe had to learn German in school instead of English in the 1950s. We even talked about the U.S. president and the French president!

At the end of our walk, Earl tried to give Philippe some money and he said absolutely not! He was just happy to show us his town.

They are not in every city but Earl and I will be using Global Greeter Network whenever we can.

Thanks for reading my blog!

Jane