World France Bourgogne Dijon

Learning the Fench way

Dijon Nov 4, 2007

Dijon is the home of mutarde (mustard).

It is also the home of a very organised tourist office. In the streets of Dijon there are all these little gold arrows which lead to numbered stops (like the one in the photo). At the tourist office you get this booklet called 'The Owl's Trail' and you follow the arrows around town reading the booklet as you go. It's a very simple way to do a sort of guided walking tour - and it went past all the good sites in town.

The trail is named after the owl (although it doesn't really look like an owl in the photo). The owl is the good luck charm of Dijon. What you do is rub the owl with your left hand and make a wish. I made my wish - but I can't tell you what it was, just in case it doesn't come true!

While I was in Dijon I also went on a wine tour through the Burgandy region called the Côte d'Or. It was quite interesting, although since I am not really that knowledgable about wine I am sure some of what the guide said went straight over my head. The picture of me is next to the Romanée Conti vineyards, which is apparently some of the best wine in France.