Memories of Maille
Mustard of all things brings us to Dijon, the next episode of our very own French Food Safari. Dijon just happens to be in the Burgundy region as well - Pinot Noir country (yum, yum and yum). In short, the region is food and wine focussed - never mind, we'll try to make the most of it. Our travel day turned out to be quite long with the 1pm train from Reims to Dijon being cancelled. We hopped on the 3pm train, finally arriving at our hotel just before 7pm. The day was pretty miserable - rainy and cold so all we managed was a quick trip to the local supermarket for supplies then an early night in, crossing fingers and toes for some sunshine (Adelaide's weather has been warmer than the French Spring so far).
We had timed our first day in Dijon to coincide with market day at the famous Dijon Les Halles. Again, yum yum and yum. Maybe we can show you how beautiful the produce is rather than ramble on.....
Saturday morning market - Dijon style
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| G's breakfast :) |
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| Poultry |
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| A selection of meats & poultry |
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| Beef, beef & beef! |
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| Snails stuffed with garlic butter |
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| Fresh herbs |
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| Fresh Garlic |
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| Les Halles... |
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| Getting our Saturday morning mkt fix |
We nibbled our way around the market then headed to the tourist office to get ourselves a guided walking tour of the city called The Owl Trail - "La Chouette". This was a brilliant way to not only walk the gorgeous streets of Dijon, but to also soak up a bit of local history as well. Some of the houses date back to the 12th century (half-timbered houses) whilst others feature beautiful glazed terracotta roofs. Our talented tour guide Georgina did a fantastic job with the hours passing quickly.
Sights of Dijon on our "walking tour"
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| Portè Guillaume |
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| Darcy Garden (white polar bear - another good luck symbol) |
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| Glorious weather |
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| Tiled roof Dijon style |
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| The Owl Trail - "La Chouette" |
On our walking tour we also came across a wedding party. Below is the Groom carrying on/in his bike his bride... The rest of the wedding party followed on bikes and were all ringing their bells through the streets. This went on for at least an hour....G had to take a mother of the bride pic as she cycled past Max Mara - she cycled very well with style!
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| The newlyweds cycle through the streets of Dijon |
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| Mother of the Bride |
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| Place des Ducs de Bourgogne |
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Place des Ducs de Bourgogne
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| Streets of Dijon |
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| Tiled roofing in Dijon |
We also squeezed in a visit to the Maille mustard shop. G has fond memories of a pot of Maille on the dinner table when she was a kid and still eats this stuff by the teaspoon (literally) so it was very high on her "to do" list. We weren't disappointed and tasted some limited editions - 2 of which will soon be on their way back to Australia!
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| Maille mustard shop |
The history of the owl and Dijon relates to a sculpture of an owl on the cathedral which is a local symbol of good luck. Tradition has it if you make a wish and rub the owl with your left hand it will come true. Caz can now let everyone know that her wish was for a little sunshine. She's not sure whether it was La Chouette at work or not, but the sun finally popped out for the whole afternoon.
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| La Chouette |
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| Caz making her wish |
Caron and Caz strolled down to Place des Ducs de Bourgogne, Dijon's main square to sit with a glass of wine and people watch for a couple of hours before we all headed here for an alfresco dinner and people watching. The sun certainly lifted our sprits after some dull, wet days. Georgina finished the day with a glass of the famous Kir Royale (champagne and blackcurrant liqueur). Perhaps a new favourite drink for G?
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| People watching |
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| Kir Royale for G |
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| Fountains in the square |
We started our second full day sharing coffee and more people watching as the people of Dijon got on with their usual Sunday morning. Another gloriously sunny day meant more time to enjoy wandering the streets. Caz and G visited the
Museum of Fine Arts only to find the floors we wanted to see closed so more walking and an early lunch in a local park - which just happened to have their own local artists there displaying and selling their work. Dijon art - tick!
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| Artists market |
We were so spoilt with the weather for our afternoon's activity - a Segway tour! Brilliant fun and a great way to get around (Georgina wants to buy one now). Although we were the only people in the group who couldn't speak French we felt included and simply enjoyed our time on the Segways.
We ended the day with an early dinner and back to our hotel for some rest before another travel day. Our train trip will only be 20 minutes tomorrow as we head to Beaune. We are staying just out of the historic centre but the trams here are brilliant and the city is so easy to get around on them.
Neither of us had any expectations of Dijon and have thoroughly enjoyed our time here (yet again!). Dijon has a wonderful mix of the very old and new and they have a great, and well deserved, sense of pride in their history and how they have well they have preserved and respected it.
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| Caz relaxing on the streets of Dijon |
