Beaune

Just past Dijon on the Burgundy path sits the delectable and tiny town of Beaune. Beaune is Dijon on an even smaller and even quieter scale, leaving us no choice but to slow down and take time with our strolling and sampling feasting.

 

Here we had to-die-for-Dijon chicken...

See?

With this view to boot!

Though most go to Beaune to sample wine, the city's medieval hospital is an undeniable highlight of the short trip. 

Up close the painted tiles don't look like much, but together they form one heck of a show-stopping roof.

No private rooms in this 'ole place

Seeing this gives me a new appreciation for modern-day medicine...

...especially because it appears as if Absinthe was used for medical treatment in former times. Then again, depending on who you ask it may still be used.

And then it was time for dessert...

No, not the barrels...the wine, silly. 

March aux Vins charges 10 euro for unsupervised (and by unsupervised I mean unlimited) wine sampling. All wines are, of course, regional. Trucking through the caves on our own was a whole new experience for me, and we certainly made the most of it.

Wines on offer were displayed in stations and visitors are able to move from station as slowly or as quickly as they like. Only a handful of others were visiting when we were so we had the run of the place.

When fully satisfied with our dessert we made our way back to the train station to spend our last evening in darling Dijon. We didn't go back empty-handed, though. Souvenir tasting glasses, mustard jars, a handcrafted ceramic vase, and more mustard weighed us down. No complaints here--this day is one I don't ever want to forget. Is there any way all of my mustard can help with that?

Dijon

Oh, France. You gorgeous, gorgeous country. Not only do you boast the culture capital of the world in the north and the ritzy glam of Monaco in the south, you offer tourists traveling between the two a plethora of charming cities named from food. You are too delish kind.

Certainly, Paris is fabulous. Not many who have visited will disagree. And a LOT of people visit Paris--so many that most of the Parisian highlights are as congested as a first-year teacher during flu season.  I wouldn't trade my trip to Paris (well, maybe to get my stolen iPhone back), but the crowds cause some stress. In the end, none of us returned to Hamburg feeling anything but relaxed, with many thanks to the laid-back charm of the city of Dijon.

Dijon lies at the beginning of eastern France's Burgundy Wine Region. Not only does it boast life-changing Burgundies and a world-renowned wine school at it's university, it is famous for mustard. Though dijon mustard is no longer produced in the city and most dijon mustard seeds are imported from Canada, Dijon's selection of mustards stands alone. And, as luck would have it, the symbol of darling Dijon is the owl. I'm sure you can imagine my shriek when I recognized this fun fact.

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To see all the must-see sights in Dijon, all we had to do was follow the owl path...

Follow that cute owl around town: check.

Owls were the star of the show in our too-good-to-be-true apartment, too. We booked it just two days before we arrived and were, of course, skeptical. To our surprise the apartment was the most charming of any we have stayed at. Not only did it have everything we needed any more, our lovely landlady didn't even request a deposit OR the rate in full. "Don't go to the ATM to get cash now! Enjoy yourselves and just leave the rest of the fee in the drawer with the keys when you go." Whaaaat? No. This can't be.

Ha! Hard to find a welcome better than that.

For every owl we saw, there were 100 jars of Dijon mustard. And nearly just as many flavor varieties.

Cassis-flavored Dijon mustard

Dijon with tarragon

Classic in a tube!

We came home with much, much more mustard than I have ever carried--or thought about carrying--in my life. My personal favorite is seed mustard that has herbs de provence streaming through it, and both bottles were gone in one week. We've had many dinner parties since we arrived home, and I'm wondering if our friends are using us for our Dijon. Honestly, I wouldn't blame them.



While owls, wine, and mustard make Dijon unique from all other cities I've visited, it's scenery deserves the same recognition.

Owl Street

Strolling (you don't walk the darling Dijon streets, you stroll them) through Dijon inevitably leaves you feeling peaceful and satisfied. Here, you feel like you've found the quintessential small European town: cafes, window flowers boxes, and cobblestone. Lucky for us, Dijon threw in owls, wine, and mustard for good measure (/for our pleasure). 

Versailles

For one hundred years Versailles was the cultural heartbeat of Europe. That's what can happen when one man, Louis XIV in this case, spends half a year's income of Europe's richest country to transform his father's hunting lodge into a monarch's palace. Built in the early 1600s at the height of the glory of the French monarchy, this breathtakingly sophisticated chateau--the most visited chateau in Europe--is everything a divine palace should be: enormous, ostentatious, and stunningly gorgeous. 

 

Versailles is divided into three parts: the Chateau, which is the main palace, the Domaine de Marie-Antoinette, the queen's estate, and the 200-acre gardens. The Chateau housed the folks residing in the Palace in many, many "apartments," each as sophisticated and gorgeously decorated as the next. Though it wasn't mentioned in our travel books, I am fairly certain that the concept of 'gaudy' was invented on these grounds. I can hear Louis XIV's proclamation now: "No corner shall be left un-gaudified!"

interior court of the Chateau

This room, the Hall of Mirrors, is 250-feet long, with 17 arched mirrors matching 17 windows offering a view of the royal gardens. Mirrors were a luxury at the time they were installed. Much later, this was the room in which the Treaty of Versailles was signed, marking the end of World War I.

A bit much, sure, but I love, love, LOVE this wall treatment!

The views of the royal gardens were stunning from here, and then we went outside...

It is hard to imagine something more pristine than these royal gardens exists. Having the opportunity to stroll through these beauties is definitely one of the finer things in life. 

After taking our time to see each and every nook and cranny, we visited Marie-Antoinette's estate. It was like stepping into a 17th century fashion magazine.

 

When we learned the gift shop wasn't selling any of these glam garments, we waved goodbye to the high fashion and concluded our breathtakingly beautiful tour of Versailles. As over-the-top flamboyant as the palace may be, the Palace of Versailles ranks near the top of the most beautiful of places I have had the privilege of visiting so far.