Around Dijon

I loved walking the streets of Dijon. Having decided that the tours in this region were far too expensive, I spent much of my 3 days there wandering the old streets. The churches were great - beautiful architecture with a serene atmosphere. There were several markets, both undercover & open, selling food, spices & wares. I accidentally wandered into a chocolate shop & somehow managed to walk out with a selection of delicious hand made chocolates which I devoured over the next two days. There’s a nifty free bus that takes you right round the city area & you can jump on/off at any time. My Ibis Hotel was right over the other side of the station & took a good 20 mins to walk back to - not so pleasant at night.

Historical Walking Tour of Dijon

At the Tourist Office I booked in for a historical walking tour of the city starting at 5pm for 2 hours duration. There were a group of mixed nationalities on the tour, but the guide spoke only French & English, & her English was a challenge for her but we prompted her along. The tour was excellent, taking in the major sites & getting some historical background of the city. I met a tourist guide from Prague (originally from Germany) on the tour & we later had dinner together. At this point in time, it was great to have an English conversation as I hadn’t really had a good one for 3-4 days. The company, conversation, food & wine made for a wonderful evening.

4th June 09 - Dijon

After arriving & settling into the Ibis Hotel just a small walk from the train station, I ventured out to the Tourist Information centre to find out about this town. I was especially interested in the wine tours available in the surrounding area as I’d heard from a couple of people that the vineyards here are wonderful. I soon found out that the minimum cost for a 3-4 hour vineyard tour was 75 Euro (AUD150) & even then you were only visiting one or two vineyards to taste perhaps 6 wines. So I decided against the wine tours & bought some wine from the supermarket instead. To check out the countryside, you really do need a car for this area.