Entre Les Murs

Dijon

Finding ourselves possessed of an uncancelable hotel reservation, we booked tickets on the TGV and took off for a flying visit to Dijon.

An afternoon proved adequate for a cursory exploration of the old centre of town, although we could certainly have spent much longer.  There wasn't time to properly explore the wine region, and I regret missing the mustard museum; instead we walked around the old city centre, visiting the shops and a couple of museums.  The first of these was the Musée des Beaux-Arts for an hour or so.  While no Palais du Louvre, it contained more impressive works than we expected and proved a gold mine for my "Dogs in Art" collection.


We spent a similar length of time at the Musée de la Vie Bourguignonne.  A bit of a pioneer village in an old convent, with a number of interesting more contemporary exhibits, including a collection of Eiffel Tower tchotchke (Gustav Eiffel was from Dijon) and a recreation of a late 19th century shopping street, with a drug store, butcher shop, millinery, hair dresser, and several others.

We had dinner at the baby restaurant of a recommended chef, called Bistro des Halles, so named because the market hall was across the street. Clearly not a place that closely guards its culinary secrets since our waitress happily provided precise details to a question about a recipe.

posted 30.6.07