Dijon

This was a city that we never intended to get to, but once here, we fell in love with it…..so much so, 8 months after our trip I still want to go back and live there. Spent 3 days walking everywhere – great sites, great wine and great food!

Dijon is a city in which we can eat very well in France. If you ever go there, try to eat at Stéphane Derbord (at the Hotel Wilson), he’s a culinary genius. The old city is also very pretty and Dijon is of course the home of the Moutard de Dijon and also the Crème de Cassis (for aperitives). The Art Museum which is the former residence of their Kings is a must-see.

My mum is from Dijon and I still have family over there. Dijon is at the heart of one of the largest wine regions of France. It has some of the best food anywhere in the country. The climate is continental: cold in winter, quite warm in summer. One typical architectural detail of the region is roofs made of coloured slate, like a mosaic. When out there, visit the old town, taste the wine, mustard, creme de cassis, ginger bread and generally enjoy life in a beautiful place.

We visited this city briefly on our own ‘tour de france’ for some lunch. We were suprised there were a lot of nice buildings there (we only knew Dijon from it’s famous mustard). We noticed a lot of little owls on the pavement. Afterwards we learned it was a tourist guide that takes you to all the interesting places. Next time we’ll definitly do this.

I spent my junior year here in 1989 and had a fabulous time. The city is small enough to be walkable, the parks were charming and the museums were free on Sundays. The nightlife was only fair, but I had enough friends to make our own fun.

Best food and drink in France.

I lived here for a year as part of my degree. It was possibly the most miserable year of my life. Beautiful place, with lots of museums, cultural activities and restaurants, so great for tourists. But I found it extremely conservative – my tutors warned me to take out my piercings before I went or risk being spat at in the street! The nightlife was next to nothing, even at the weekends because most French students go home each weekend. Not a good place to be a student!

Alighted here after my first ever trip on the TGV from Paris (started out in London Waterloo). Only spent a day in Dijon itself while I was meeting up with friends. Seemed like a colourful place. My friends had more time than me to sample the local wines and were pretty impressed.

2 bis Rue Du Lycee. My landlady was as old as the year because she was born in 1900 & she was overly concerned about my lack of pantoufles (slippers) but generally very nice. Dijon is only a couple of hours from Paris by TGV and is on artificial Lake Kir (named for the famous Mayor). It is in the center of the Burgundy region and is most famous for its association with teh mustard of the same name. Small enough to walk around, Dijon has many excellent restaurants, theatres and shopping plus accessibility to other towns for wine tasting.