Paris to Dijon

Wednesday, June 04, 2014
Dijon, Burgundy, France
We woke up early enough to have a full morning exploring Le Sacre Coeur and the Montmarte area. But this didn't happen. It was raining. And seemed to want to keep raining - no views over Paris, no street artists; and we didn't want to get wet! So there are 4 free Metro tickets on offer, as we decided to try for the 9.23 train for Dijon instead. (Had intended taking the 12.38 train.)

No trouble finding our way round the Metro - but very crowded at that time of day . And so many stairs!! Up stairs, over a railway line, down the other side etc etc. Anyway we got to le Gare de Bercy and got on the train for Dijon. (I forgot to mention that this blog is for other Eurailers as well as letting my friends know what's going on. So there may be prices mentioned and other boring stuff.) So this train was a Regional, but we had our First class seats and there were no extra charges. It took 3 hours - and it was raining in Dijon too!

We checked tomorrow's trains (which was good - but a waste of time as you'll see next blog entry); had something to eat as we'd missed breakfast; and then checked into the hotel. Nice big room - spread out a bit, and then decided on walking even if we did get a bit wet. Dijon's centre is fabulous to walk around. For a start, it is very old, so there are old buildings and cobble stoned streets. We passed Cathedrale St Benigne and then St Philbert just on the 15 minute walk to our hotel. We decided to head to Notre Dame (Dijon) as that was in the old area and also on the Owl's Trail . The Owl's Trail - owl arrows on the pavement show you he way to go: you can buy a book for 3.50 Euro or just wing it like we did. Whenever we got a bit lost, we'd find an owl and follow it. I rubbed la chouette with my left hand for luck - when I finally found her! She's on the outside of the left side of Notre Dame (number 9) - we'd even stopped there, and didn't see her first time as she is so small. A lovely city to walk around. We were in and out of the little shops, but still enjoyed the Rue de la Liberte which is very wide and impressive.

We had dinner at a place that was under new ownership - 2 brothers and they'd been there 2 months. They prided themselves on fresh food. "Le Flagrant Delice" - food was tasty and a bit different.

Have to go - have another day to do yet. And it's a doozy!
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