Dijon, France

Last week we enjoyed (yes, enjoyed) 6 days on the road. We had 2 days that were longer with 5-6 hours of driving, but the other days were just about 3-4 hours. The kids did pretty well considering how long that is to be sitting in the car. We made sure to wear them out at each stop.

The first day, we left our house about 8 but it wasn't until 9 that we actually started driving toward our destination (gas, money, last minute supplies...). I had planned to make a quick stop in Dijon, France for lunch (3 hr 45 min). "Quick" stops always take longer than I think. We found the tourist office for a map and then parked. Strollers (which the kids aren't very fond of anymore) are not ideal for cobble stone streets. So Ezra and Jonas walked. They were ready for some walking anyway. They stay with us or hold our hands pretty well, but are slow and are loathe to be carried if they find something particularly distracting.

Once we left the car, the first church we came to was Notre Dame de Dijon (right). (There are lots of "Notre Dame"s in France). In this picture (left), I'm looking up at the gargoyles on the fascade.

We ate at McDonald's then started our walk around the city center. Dijon was kind of the home base for the Dukes of Burgandy (Burgandy is the "state" that Dijon is in). There was a palace that I'm pretty sure we walked right by, but I wasn't sure where it began or stopped, so I failed to get a picture.

This appeared to be a church, but if we had noticed the sign under the lowest window, we would have been less surprised when we walked in only to find that it has been converted into a theater.

Then onto Dijon's main cathedral, Saint Benigne, dedicated to the patron saint of Dijon. I don't think this tower (left) was part of Saint Beninge--I think it was just something we passed on the way there. I can't remember what it was, or find a picture of it on the internet to confirm. I thought it was a cool picture though, so I wanted to throw it in. :)

The present Saint Benigne (right) was built in 1280-1325.

The Porte Guillaume (left) is a triumphal arch of the 18th century. The French love their arches.

Gustav Eiffel was born in Dijon and designed several buildings here. We went by one of them--Les Halles (right). It was a market place or exhibition center?? It looks kind of Eiffel Tower-y.

You might think "mustard" (or as the french say "moutarde" Hee, hee) when you think of Dijon, but according to Wikipedia, not much mustard is actually made here. Ninety percent of local mustard is made with imported mustard seeds (from Canada). BUT, Dijon does put its own spin on things by making different flavors, such as fruit flavored mustard.

I had planned to stop in Lyon, France as well (about 2 hours from Dijon), but there just wasn't enough time. We went on to Valence, France to our hotel (another hour and 14 mins). We got settled and set out to find something for supper, but figured out that most places are closed on Monday evenings. Fortunately, Subway (yes, American Subway) was open!

This is Valence's main cathdreal Saint Apollinaire.

This last picture was taken in a plaza that had lights shining on the hotel that made it look polka dotted. I have a crazy look on my face, because this was the third try for a picture. Because of the low light, my camera was doing two flashes. The first 2 times, I messed up the picture because as soon as the first flash went off, I was on my way to see if it was a good picture--so of course I missed the real picture when the second flash went off. Argh! This was how my face looked as I was saying to myself "Wait for the second flash!"