Day 18 - Lyon to Dijon

Distance Walked: more than I liked, Alcohol Consumed: 2 glasses of Burgundy (of course)

Check out of my Lyon apartment was 10am, I came up here to Dijon bright and early.  Dijon isn't quite as set up for tourists as the other places I've visited.  I'm staying in a serviced apartment again.  This one has a reception, however it shuts from 1pm to 3pm so the staff can have a proper lunch.  I made to my apartment before closing time and left my suitcase before heading out for my own lunch.

The square around the market was packed with bistros and cafes so I chose one because I liked the sound of the dessert on the menu du jour - chocolate and figs.  The entree was something with eggs and mushrooms which sounded OK to me.  I didn't understand what the main course was but I figured this far inland it is unlikely to be fish.  Below is the menu.

It turns out this is a very trendy and upmarket place.  Still they found me a table, even with my hiking boots and daypack, and the service was prompt and cheerful.  They gave me a madeline flavoured with mustard (of course) for an amuse bouche and the bread was a tiny loaf served in a paper bag, as if I had bought it from a boulangerie. The entree turned out to be a mix of mushrooms fried with a lightly poached egg on top then the whole thing topped with a foam.  Don't they know foams as so last year?  Main turned out to be a fillet of white fish topped with a puree of olives on a bed of white beans in a tomato sauce.  The fish was tasteless, and therefore harmless, but the bean mix desperately needed salt.  The dessert was a disappointment.   A scoop of tasty chocolate ice cream and a short crust tart with a fig artfully sliced and arranged on top.  The fig was tasteless as it wasn't ripe.  I should have known not to get it as figs aren't in season any more.

After lunch I wandered around for a bit.  Dijon was never important to the Romans.  This is the only sign of their occupation I could find.

Most of the (ancient centre of) the city looks like this, which is just fabulous.

After 3pm, I went back to check in.  There are many mansions in the centre that were owned by various aristocratic families.  These take up a city block with emposing entrances and courtyard gardens.  My hotel seemed to be in one of these.  You walk in through what appears to be the carriage entrance to a central courtyard.  However, once past the facade all the buildings are modern and a bit shabby.  They appear to date from the 1960s.  Still it is a spacious and comfortable apartment, and I got a lift to get up to my floor rather than lethally slippery stairs.  It is also very central so I have great views from my 3rd floor windows.

I next visited the  Musee de la Vie Bourguignonne - Musuem of Burgundian Life.  It shows life in this region from the 18th cenntry through to the early 20th century.  It was a fabulous museum.  On the ground floor there were mannequins dressed in traditional costumes in tableaus representing different stages of life - birth, childhood, marriage, middle age and old age.  Then there was a section all about daily life - baking bread, making cheese and butter, cooking and so on.  Each display had the relevant objects and a series of cartoon drawings describing how Albertine (a servant?) would use them.  All the descriptions were in French but the cartoons were well drawn so I got the gist of it, but I wish my French was better as I knew I was missing a lot.  My favourite drawing was Albertine getting exciting because they family had bought a fancy new wood burning stove so she didn't need to cook over an open flame any more.

Upstairs were reproductions of 11 shops from the last 19th century/early 20th century - just fascinating.  One was of a shop selling a particular brand of biscuit that used to be/is made here.  The factory that made them took up a whole section of the city - there was a model.  There was also a very early film documentary (pre talking movies) about how the factory made the biscuits.  They were very proud of how mechanised the whole process was, not human hands involved.  It was an interesting contrast to current times, when hand made things are considered special, not the reverse.  It is clearly all about what is rare and what is common.

The  final section of the museum was mostly about famous products of the city - mustard, of course, but also cassis and similar liqueurs and gingerbread, and also about people.  There was a rather moving display about a father and son, with photographs, postcards, letters home and various official documents about them.  Father served in the 1st world war and got a medal.  Son served in the 2nd and was captured and put in a camp in Czechoslovakia.  When he was released he got hold of a push bike and rode it all the way home.  I'm not sure if these two men were famous in any way.  I think it was just that they had items from them to illustrate their life story.

After this museum I went back to my apartment for a rest.  My legs are very weary after all the hills yesterday - particularly my shins.  I also checked out places for dinner as I didn't want another disappointment.  I decided on a restaurant that serves traditional food called Bistro de l'Amiral Dijon.  It was on Admiral Somebody-or-other street.  I set off to find it but it was marked on my map as Rue Somebody-or-other and I only remembered the Admiral bit.  I wandered around in the right general area for a while then decided to just stop at the next restaurant that I came to - which turned out to the one.

For entree I had fois gras, which was delicious (as always) but was served with toasted bread that was slightly sweet (brioche perhaps) which was a little odd.   For main I had beef bourguignon, which was very tasty but was just cubes of beef in a (delicious) sauce.  It was served with a little side dish of mashed potatoes, which needed more butter and cream, not something I would have ever thought I would say about a French dish.  For dessert I had a creme brulee with gingerbread spices, mainly nutmeg from the taste and not so much ginger.  Still it was good.

I think I'm going to have to eat exclusively vegetarian food for a few weeks after getting home, just to balance out all the food I've been eating here.