Dec 10, 2010 - Dijon & Burgundy

Today we head down to Dijon, the capital of the Burgundy region (http://www.visitdijon.com/en/dijon_decouverte.htm). Attemted to do the trip using backroads to travel thru small villages. No go. the route we mapped out took us into the high country where it was starting to snow quite heavily, so we had to backtrack to the main Autoroute. Temps are still freezing (-1 to 3 degrees, even in the middle of the day). Even traveling through the low flat valley areas of Alsace and down into Burgundy, there us still evidence of recent snowfalls, and...

Dec 10, 2010 - Dijon & Burgundy

Today we head down to Dijon, the capital of the Burgundy region (http://www.visitdijon.com/en/dijon_decouverte.htm). Attempted to do the trip using backroads to travel thru small villages. No go. the route we mapped out took us into the high country where it was starting to snow quite heavily, so we had to backtrack to the main Autoroute. Temps are still freezing (-1 to 3 degrees, even in the middle of the day). Even traveling through the low flat valley areas of Alsace and down into Burgundy, there us still evidence of recent snowfalls,...

Nov 3, 2010 - Dijon

We are up early and off to Dijon, a reasonably large city. We go right to the old section and are stunned by its beauty – the architecture and the shopping are provincial and sophisticated. We have a cup of coffee first in a beautiful café and then spend several hours walking. Most of the pictures today are of Dijon. We decide to continue north, but first have lunch on the dashboard of the Citroen with one of several specialty mustards we’ve found. We are in France’s northeastern corner, in the Alsace region. The drive is incredibly...

Sep 27, 2008 - Dijon (27-30 September)

A marathon drive (10hrs): taking the direct route from Mont St Michel through the Loire Valley rather than the A1 via Paris did not save time as anticipated, it meant we traveled through every little town along the way at an average of 60km an hour rather than the 130km allowed on the motorway. We were happy to drop the car off at the end of the day with minutes to spare before the closure of the rental company. The Fiat Bravo diesel was the worst hire car yet. Woke up Saturday morning – Grand Final Day – to Michael's muttering that he had...

Apr 6, 2008 - Dijon, France

As we drove from Reims to Dijon the countryside began to get a bit hillier which was nice as we both prefer some hills. We drove through snow and rain, but it is sooooooooo nice to be able to stop on the side of the road for lunch .... I know, I know, nothing unusual there, but to be able to make ourselves a hot chocolate for lunch ... yum! And comforting in the cold. Its also amazing to see recycling bins at all the service stops on the side of the road/motorways - why don't we have them here? Our campsite at Dijon was by the river and on...

Nov 4, 2007 - Dijon

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...

Oct 19, 2007 - Dijon, France

Bonjour (bohn-zhoor) Good day. Ca Va? (sah vah?) How are you? - (the reply) Ca Va. (sah vah.) I'm fine. The translation to English must leave out more than the feeling and the inflection. Our visit here is exciting, fun, and very enjoyable. The sights we chose to see are close to our apartment allowing time to rest and relax when we choose to take a break. Dijon as you know has world famous Mustard plus something you might not know, a long ago former mayor Mr. Kir, created a liquor named Kir (one we have not tried yet), plus the lake here...

May 24, 2007 - Fontenay Abbey, Country Roads & Dijon

After a short night of sleep on the flight we began our drive to Dijon. We took the many side roads though the farming areas in the Burgundy Region and discovered very quaint villages looking as if they were around in World War I. We first stopped at the Fontenay Abbey that dates back over 1500 years. Then on to Dijon, but alas we passed on the Mustard Museum as the caves were calling. We noticed at dinner that night that they served Dijon mustard with rolls instead of butter. Of course I had to taste it and it was, well, acceptable. We...

Nov 26, 2006 - 600 feet from Heaven

Finally we are here! I have been looking forward to arriving in Burgundy for many, many months and a chance to sample some of the world's greatest wines, all pinot noirs nonetheless; my very favourite! And I've been saying that way before that silly sideways movie too. That's the best thing about the wines in Burgundy, there is no blending allowed so when there is a bad year, no amount of vintner's trickery can hide the fact, and really the best wines are easily distinguishable. But is there ever a bad Burgundy? That's what I love about...

Sep 20, 2006 - Dijon (yes, like the mustard)

Off to the mustard capital of France. We were pleasantly surprised by Dijon which had a very compact downtown with a lot to see including a very lively market. The variety and freshness of the foods made available made us a bit envious. The town identifies itself with the symbol of the owl and has a sightseeing trail marked on the sidewalk for several kilometers. The walk lead us through the cathedrals, palaces and other architectural sites in the center of the city. The owl symbol is drawn from a stone owl figure on the side of one of the...

Jul 13, 2006 - Burgundy,France

Bill has kindly lent us his car, kid seat and various other stuff and we are on a short trip to Burgundy, home to lots of villages that Ken has heard of, on the labels of wine bottles, ha ha. First stop Dijon, where we stayed at a motel, and wandered around the town, has cute coloured tiles on the roofs, and some very old, medievel looking buildings and some very swish looking palaces, then off the next morning down the Grand Vin, through the Cote de Nuits, where all the red wine comes from pinot noir grapes, our favorite wine. Had a lovely...

Jul 3, 2005 - Paris via Dijon

Well drove to Dijon for our second to last nite in France. Lovely city with the now familiar history rich city centre. Couldnt get into the Formule 1 hotel and the Etap which we found without a map or help from the GPS wasnt actually complete and opened. Too bad we had to put up with a nite at the Ibis in the closer to the city. Turned out to be a good choice as we needed to do our last laundry before our departure. Dijon being a Uni city had an interesting mix of characters to survey as we waited in the laundromat for the washing then up...