So I’ve left the Champagne region and headed over to Dijon for my next stop. It’s the 19th November and my aim is to also try to get to the Beaune Wine Auction which is on this weekend.

But first, Dijon. Imagine my delight to find out that there are owls all over the town.

The owl is the unofficial totem animal for this town and the most famous one is on the corner of the Notre Dame Cathedral where it is said that if you touch it with your left hand, you’ll have good luck. Owl in French is “chouette” and as Dijon is the City of Sciences, Arts & Learning, it’s quite fitting to have the owl as it’s symbol.

Dijon is known as the town of 100 bell towers obviously because of the many churches however, what strikes me about this place are the wonderful “maisons à colombage” style where you can see the beams and cross-beams on the external walls.

Similarly, they have these distinctive tiled rooves of that region which can be seen in the video below. (A few years ago I did another Virtual Tour where I discovered the Hospices of Beaune nearby which was a medieval hospital and wrote about it in this blog too – the hospices have the same style of triangular patterned roofing). I’ll be heading over to Beaune this afternoon to visit the Hospices again but this time, rather than see the exhibition, I’m instead going for the WINE TASTINGS!

Anyway, back to Dijon is the city of the Burgundy region (once again, known for its wines) and I was surprised to learn that they have over 700 vineyards with 84 appellations of the wine.

I’m unsure of the latest figures as there’s a crisis in France currently with regard to red wine but unsure if this area is impacted. Namely, sales are down thanks to climate change and changing consumer tastes, and the French government offers vineyards money to pull out the vines and decide on alternative industries for their land and grape production. Quite sad really as this video shows (it’s in French though)…

Now, there’s always a jar of REAL Dijon mustard in my fridge because I love it on grilled meats so I decide to take a tour of the place where it’s made.

Dijon was lovely but now it’s time to head out again and travel towards the Maconnais and Beaujolais before turning east into the Alps.

Chamonix, here I come!