On our way to SouthernFrance we made a stop-over in Dijon. For a day we stayed in Dijon and started in the morning with strolling around the city.
Dijon is famous for its extraordinary mustard – although (as I learnt) the mustard is no longer produced in Dijon. It’s the result of an unfortunate court decision – decades ago – that stated that there is only one way to create Dijon mustard, but it’s not restricted to the area of Dijon. So anybody may produce Dijon mustard as long as he sticks to the well defined, original recipe.
Furthermore Dijon is well known for its Burgundy wines – and some special cheeses (think: Comté). We got a taste of everything … during this stop-over.
So we started in the morning at about 10 – 11 am from our hotel near of Place de la République where there were the remains of the seasonal Xmas market.
The city was rather deserted at this time of the day. The sky was sometimes blue, sometimes more cloudy, however, it didn’t drizzle – only in the afternoon it became unpleasant.
We walked through lots of narrow alleyways lined with old houses and their enthralling fronts – if half-timber, if sculptured, if large windows w/ small panes …
Our 1st stop was at L’Église Saint-Michel which is rather crammed in between streets and houses.
At this point in Dijon a very 1st church was said to have been build in 889. There was some development during the following decades … and in the 16th century finally today’s church appeared.
After a peep into the secularized L’Église Saint-Etienne, now housing a museum (the Rude museum with his main works like the Marseillaise (part of it: see below) & a large book shop …
… we arrived at La Comédie with an old-fashioned merry-go-round in front.
Just around the corner we found Le Palais des Ducs de Bourgogne, a spacious structures w/ buildings and courtyards & more inner courtyards – once the powerhouse of the leaders of Burgundy, now housing an art museum & the office of the mayor.
Seamlessly we found ourselves suddenly in the main shopping mall which led us to the Place Darcy also still in Xmas mood.
After some refreshments & snacks we proceeded to the Cathédrale Saint-Bénigne. The building goes back to 6th century and was rebuilt several times – once even becoming one of the biggest churches in Southern France. Today’s structure goes back to the 18th century.
… & finally: good-bye to Dijon, a beautiful city where relics of the past & modern life have merged!
