Well, it certainly began with a different feel. After spending the last few days in storybook land, my first impressions of Dijon were definitely not sweet and cutsie. But then as Clive reminded me, Dijon is a city and comes with all the city stuff. The buildings were a bit on the grimy side. Not a lot of pretty going on, central city-wise anyhow. But certainly a ton of history, art and character.

Our intention today was to follow the historical trail around the city. It was meant to take an hour and the weather was warm and sunny as we set out for the Information Centre to collect our brochure. The Information Centre itself was in a former palace…

so that was a good start.

We then walked around, seeking out the brass plates in the cobbled footpath that corresponded to the information in our brochure. It was this sort of stuff…

Which was all ok I guess. It just wasn’t pulling my heartstrings – until we came across

MUSEE DES BEAUX-ARTS DE DIJON

Situated on La Place de la Sainte-Chapelle, the Fine Arts Museum of Dijon is enshrined in a princely palace (I copied that bit from the brochure :-)). It was created before the French Revolution and has over 50 rooms of permanent exhibition, which “will take you on a trip through history, from ancient Egypt and classical antiquity to contemporary creation”.

It was amazing – and free!

We spent a couple of hours in that wonderful museum. It was truly a feast for the soul.

And then we came outside to rain. And we had left our raincoats in the car. And we got very wet. And I was extremely hungry. And most of the eateries were closed, due to it being Sunday.

And I turned into not-so-cheerful Renie – even though it was Clive who was actually sick.

So we flagged the rest of the historical walk, drove back to our accommodation in Fixin, ate toast and yoghurt, and had a sleep.

Bonne nuit. xx