15. Dijon Visit in the rain

We don't stop for rain, unless it's really bad! 

No, we didn’t visit a mustard factory! Today we spent exploring the old city center of Dijon, the big city about an hour away, which is the capital of the "Cote d’Or"  …our part of France on this trip.  We’d avoided coming into the center of Dijon all week, based on our negative feelings about the place from driving  around parts of the outer city, where they put all the industry, big box stores, and modern buildings and residences. Yann and Valerie insisted we should see the old part of Dijon, so following their advice we headed over today. Rain was forecast, but we were undeterred! What a good thing.

Walking in to Dijon's old town center

We drive a Ford Galaxy rental car. It would be considered a small-to-medium size car in the USA, but over here the darn thing is HUGE! So, we’re always looking for easy parking, good size streets and no surprises on the road. Upon arriving near the Centre Ville of Dijon, we took the first big-size parking space we could find, and walked the rest of the way into the old part of town. What a good idea, as we got to see some churches, an Irish pub, and a huge ancient stone arch as we hiked in. This is Monday, so many shops were closed, but there was enough business being done by the others that the streets had a fair number of customers and  tourists looking around. 

Dijon history must be pretty interesting, as the architecture of the place is so varied. We saw a lot of buildings that extend out over the sidewalk, with wood beams accenting the design of the structure. This was a constant feature of buildings we saw in Brittany some years ago. Some buildings had elaborate colored tile designs on the roofs or towers or steeples, like we see all over the Cote d’Or. The old train station has apparently been converted to a huge covered market area, where the weekly big market takes place, instead of having merchants spread out all over the town selling from portable tents. That station looks like it came from the same designer who designed the Paris train stations we’ve seen…maybe from the mid-1800’s? Anyhow, the town was fun to walk all over and  explore.

This is REALLY OLD stuff, timbered upper floors extending out over the sidewalk. It reminds us of Brittany

Architecture differs every direction you look

Main plaza up by the bus and tram stop

USA never saw THIS kind of McD food! 

Lynn got to speak some French with some nice guys at a Nike shoe store, while trying to locate a bicycle shop for me. Of course, we visited a huge mustard shop in the middle of downtown, with hundreds of mustard flavors and products to choose from…we avoided the temptation to buy, too hard to get this stuff home in our suitcases. 

 We got hungry, as usual, and found a perfect solution: a sandwich store with an upstairs dining room where we could buy take-away food but still sit down inside to eat! We chose this place so we would not have to eat at McDonalds, which was across the street down the block! After our perfect quick meal, we walked past the McD’s, and saw this poster outside advertising food we have never seen at a McDonald's in the USA. Maybe France can teach us a little about fast food choices?

We were hungry enough to eat a cow, but skipped it. Smart Car decorated to advertise the Grill & Cow Restaurant

We loved seeing the electric tram/train that runs all over this town. Streamlined and very clean and inviting. They even planted grass between the rails in most places!!! LOTS of cyclists riding sensible city bikes and foldies, and lots of rental bikes placed strategically all over the place. This is my idea of a liveable large city by golly!

The rain got kind of bad eventually, so we headed back to the car. On the drive home, we were finally able to listen to the music I have stored on my cell phone, as Lynn bought us a good connection cable. Whew, no more horrible French pop radio or talk shows. Made a stop at an Aldi’s grocery in Nuit-St.-Georges to get some staples. Boy, we hated this place. It was like a low-end warehouse, with weird off-brand products and unappealing food…but they were busy inside, so maybe we are being too picky, huh? I’ve not been into an Aldi’s in the USA, but hope they provide a different atmosphere than this one did in France.

Apparently they don't run the Dijon carousel in the rain!  Lynn loved it anyhow

Thanks for looking at this stuff! More photos are at this link if you'd like to see:

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