After 3 days in Lyon we drove to Dijon, taking country roads, which are slower, but much more interesting. We stopped for lunch in the beautiful village of Tournus.
This delightful town on the River Saône has a wealth of old buildings, alleyways, antique shops, cafes and restaurants. Tourism is clearly an important part of the local industry here, also as a base for the surrounding vineyards. We took a detour back to our car and took a few pictures on the way;
Dijon
We arrived in Dijon, checked into the hotel, and as it was only 1 km to the centre, we took a walk into town for dinner. About 2/3 into our walk, a women spoke to us in French. We apologised for not speaking the language, thinking she was asking for directions. She switched to basic English and told us the story of ‘La Chouette’, the Owl, one of the symbols of Dijon, and were to find the little Owl on the side wall of the Notre-Dame Church. She then wished us a pleasant stay in Dijon and went her way. What a nice welcome from a complete stranger, clearly a proud local !!!
A great way to see Dijon is to follow the Owl’s path. There is an app, or a map can be bought from the local Tourism Office. As the brass markers are clearly on the footpath and we did some research ourselves, we thought we can follow the path without the need of the official map. That worked for a while until the path went off into different directions and then the markers disappeared under scaffolding and building work. Luckily we had mapped out the things we wanted to see ourselves and abandoned the Owl’s path and followed our own map.
From our hotel in the north, the first point of interest was the Place de la Republic. This is a very pleasant place with a nice fountain in its centre and trees for sitting down in the shade. Such a pleasant difference to many of the boring public squares in Lyon.
A few hundred meters further south is the historic preserved centre of Dijon with one of the most important sites first up, the Notre-Dame Church, a gothic, Catholic church dating back to the 13th century. There are a few unusual characteristics to look out for.
First up the main, west façade. Whilst there are 3 gothic arches leading to the entrance, the upper part is made up of 2 arcaded galleries giving it a square look rather than the more traditional heavens pointing church roofs. The arcades are decorated with ‘dummy’ gargoyles (not water transporting drain spouts) representing human beings, animals and monsters. The decorative carvings in the main entrance arches were unfortunately hacked off and destroyed.
The clock tower has four metal automatons. Two of them, called Jacquemart and Jacqueline, sound the hours by striking a large bell with a hammer. The other two, their ‘children’, Jacquelinet and Jacquelinette, strike the quarter hours, each on a small bell.
Inside, on the right side-altar is a wooden statue called Notre-Dame de Bon-Espoir (Our Lady of Good Hope), dating back to the 11th or 12th century, it is believed to be the oldest statue of the virgin Mary in France. Several miracles have been attributed to it. The Swiss army which had laid siege in Dijon in 1513 shall have suddenly left their camp a couple of days after the desperate citizens carried the statue on a procession around the neighbourhood and prayed asking for help.
On the north side is a worn image of what is believed to be an owl, ‘La Chouette’. The owl became worn over the centuries due to superstition of good luck and that wishes would be granted to everyone who stroked the owl with the left hand whilst making a wish. More elaborate versions prescribe that one has also to walk from the left as otherwise a dragon hidden in the stain window would take the wish away.
La Chouette – Dijon
Dijon is a real joy to just wander along the many small local streets and take in the view. There are so many historic buildings to see and also many of the ordinary houses have interesting decorations and details worth noticing.
At the west side of the historic centre is the train station, not that interesting in itself, but there are two parks worth visiting close by. Just to the south is the Jardin Arquebuse, which contains a botanic garden and the nature historical museum. This park is not that spectacular, but a peaceful escape from the busy city.
On the other side of the station, a couple of block north is the much nicer Parc Darcy. This park is very popular with the locals during the lunchtime. There is a copy of the famous white bear of Francois Pompon and a beautiful terrace reached by the double-sided staircase around the water feature.
Back towards the historic centre is the Dijon Cathedral (Cathedrale Saint-Benigne) with its straight lines and simplistic lack of decoration. Just across the road is the old Saint Philibert Church, and a few steps further another church like building, the Theatre Dijon Bourgogne – Parvis Saint-Jean.
Another noteworthy church is the impressive Saint-Michael Church with its gothic and renaissance mix .
…and another former church building is La Nef, today the city Library.
La Nef – Dijon
Finally we are heading to one of the main place in Dijon, well technically 2 places. The semi-circled Place de la Liberation and the Place of the Dukes and Estates of Burgundy. The old palace houses today the City Hall and the museum of fine arts. The ‘Tour Philippe le Bon’ (or Terrace Tower) is open to the public and as reward for climbing the 316 steps offers a superb view over Dijon. Booking required at the tourist office, max. 18 people.
Rentree festival @ Place de la Liberation- Dijon
Did I mention how beautiful it is to just wander in the streets of Dijon….well here are some more picture from the historic centre;
Overall, we found Dijon, although a bit touristy, to be a much nicer than Lyon. Not only the history and walkability of the historic centre, but also the architecture and food. By the way, the cocktail Kir (with white wine) or Kir Royal (with Champagne) and Crème de Cassis (black currant liqueur) has its origins in Dijon and was invented by Felix Kir who was Mayor of Dijon.
Au revoir petit chouette de Dijon
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