Perhaps you would like a tour of the Beaune Estate? Most people do. It's one of the most interesting things to see in Beauneville.
You can park on Main Street, right across from the big church. There's a walkway leading across the long, gently sloping lawn. The front door is unlocked, so step in to the entry hall.
Through an archway to the left is the South Wing, where the town library resides. Through an archway to the right is the Beaune Museum. And through an archway straight ahead, to the rear of the entry hall, you can see a grand ballroom. Flights of stairs lead to the upper levels; Mr. and Mrs. Greenberg, curator and librarian, respectively, have an apartment upstairs, and there are some offices.
Let's take a quick look into the ballroom. It's empty now, but you can imagine crowds of people dancing on the parquet floor. Denizens of Beauneville come her for weddings, celebrations, and special events like the Apple Blossom Festival, or the Wisteria Celebration or the Rose Garden Party. The back of the ballroom opens to the garden through great french doors. When the weather is nice the doors are thrown open, and celebrants come and go between ballroom and garden. There is usually music at these events, and in the evening you can walk to the back of the garden to the great Wisteria arbor and listen to the music slightly filtered through the night air.
Back to the entry hall. Auguste Beaune built the South Wing as his own private library, then willed it to the town on his death. It's a grand library, with two stories of books. You need a special rolling ladder to reach books on the upper level. There are great wooden desks with little reading lights, and wooden chairs that look like they are fifty years old. Because they are.
There is a remarkable system for book retrieval in the Beauneville Library. You look up the book in the card catalogue, where there is an index card for each book. Then you go get the book yourself, using the ladder if necessary. If you want to check out the book, give it to Mrs. Greenberg; she sits at a round desk in the center of the library.
Don't make too much noise in the library, or Mrs. Greenberg will glare at you; when Mrs. Greenberg glares at you, you know you'd best change your behavior. And make sure that you return your books on time, lest Mrs. Greenberg come knocking on your door.
Where library books are concerned, Mrs. Greenberg is remarkably persistent. Legend has it that she interrupted a meeting of the Board of Directors at Beauneville Trust to demand the return of A History of Erotic Art from one of the directors. He complied, sheepishly.
The Beauneville Public Library does not censor materials considered by some to be offensive. "Why would I do that?", asks Mrs. Greenberg. "Erotic materials are our most popular category".
Let's go back out to the entry hall, and walk on through to the Beaune Museum in the North Wing. Like the South Wing, the North Wing is one large room two stories high. Instead of books, though, the museum has display tables with various objects. On the walls, you can see assorted paintings, drawings and photographs.
The most prominent display, though, is in the center of the room, where the stuffed and preserved remains of August Beaune lie in a glass display case. The children of Beauneville believe it is great good luck to press one's cheek to the glass near August Beaune's face. Of course, this is strictly against the rules, but the children do it anyway when Mr. Greenberg isn't looking (which is most of the time).
Look around the room. There is a story behind each painting, drawing, photograph and artifact. The first, just to the right of the archway leading to the room, appears to be a drawing of a farm...
