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).