Posted on: Sunday, December 9, 2007                                                                              

There's more to Dijon than mustard

By Peter Rosegg
Special to The Advertiser

We were excited about plans to bicycle through the Burgundy wine country, but it seemed the bike tour might be too short a stay. Some friends have rented apartments rather than stay in hotels. Why not give it a try?

Surfing the Web at www.fodors.com, my wife found high praise for a studio apartment for rent in Dijon , the capital of Burgundy , near where our bike tour would end. On the Web, the apartment looked lovely. A flurry of e-mails with the owner, Coco , made it seem even better. So we took the plunge.

Coco , it turns out, is as charming as her apartment. She has stocked it with every imaginable traveler's need, from food in the fridge to a selection of toiletries in the bathroom, cable TV and even an Internet connection allowing free long-distance phone calls. A picture book of previous guests with their notes of praise attests to her hospitality.

As we arrived on our first afternoon, Coco was still cleaning so we had a drink at an open-air cafe nearby. When she finished, she insisted on walking us around the center of town. After that first circuit, it was easy to find the churches, museums and historic buildings we wanted to visit.

Coco began at Dijon's own church of Notre Dame, famous for its dozens of "fake" 13th century gargoyles and a curious carving of a little owl, la chouette, that is said to bring good luck but only if you rub it with your left hand. It is, of course, rubbed almost smooth, even though the present owl is a copy as the original was damaged by vandals in 2001.

The owl has become the municipal symbol of Dijon . A guide- book available from the town tourist office for a euro or two leads you on "The Owl's Way," a tour that follows numbered brass owl markers in the ground. Also, every curio shop and tobacconist window is stuffed with dozens of different owls; even the galleries display artists' flights of owlish fancy.

We had heard mixed reviews about Dijon . One friend found it enchanting; another "too industrial." We found it just right.

While Paris is magnificent and monumental, Dijon is manageable. Within a few days, we felt at home in the old town, starting with the Place de la Libération, a few steps from our apartment door. The huge semicircular open space in front of the Ducal Palace is lined with shops and cafes. At night, dancing fountains sparkle with lights.

Helping to make Dijon even more convenient is a free tourist bus holding about a dozen people that makes a circuit of the town every six minutes or so. Jump on, jump off.

Dijon was the home of the dukes of Burgundy , who vied for power with the kings of France . In the 14th and 15th centuries, leaders with cool names like Philip the Bold, John the Fearless and Mary the Rich turned Dijon into a center of culture and art as well as a prosperous seat of power that extended to Flanders .

Today, their Ducal Palace houses the town hall and an art museum where the intricately carved tombs of the dukes are displayed. For a town its size, Dijon has an impressive collection of art museums and we were able to visit several within steps of our apartment.

Due perhaps to the dukes' influence, sculpture and architecture play a big role in Dijon history. One native son, Francois Rude, created hundreds of heroic statues, including sculptures on the Arc de Triomphe in Paris . An inviting square in the middle of the town is named in his honor.

Another native son, Gustave Eiffel, was the constructor of the Statue of Liberty and, of course, the Eiffel Tower . He also designed the covered farmers market in the center of town. Beautiful churches and classic courtyards are found everywhere.

The narrow, cobbled back streets are lined with lovely shops, friendly cafes and attractive restaurants. Dijon is home to about a quarter of a million people and it seems a quarter of them are students. So many young people walking through town and filling the cafes at all hours gives Dijon a hip and happy feel.

Can you hear the name Dijon and not think of mustard? Probably not. Dijon mustard and Grey Poupon (a type of Dijon mustard) were invented here. Le Musée de la Moutarde ( Mustard Museum ) will tell you all you need to know.

A little secret is that nowadays 90 percent of mustard seeds are imported, mainly from Canada . Dijon mustard refers to a method for the making of the sauce. It was that it was first blended with wine instead of vinegar and mixed with salt and spices. We bought jars for omiyage, of course.

We could have eaten more often in the apartment but those cafes and restaurants beckoned. We found (through the notes left by previous visitors) a cafe called Les Moules Zola that specializes in moules (mussels) in dozens of different combinations. Each serving is a kilo, 2.2 pounds , of mussels.

Our last night in Dijon — indeed, our last in France — we dined in a 13th-century crypt magnificently modernized and brightly decorated into a restaurant called La Dame d'Aquitaine. The name refers to Eleanor of Aquitaine who in a long, illustrious life was queen of both France (1137-1151) and England (1154-1189).

The restaurant honors her well. It is run by a husband-and- wife team; she working the room as maitre d' and he working in the kitchen, which is easy to see behind a glass door.

We shared escargot (a Burgundian specialty) and foie gras for appetizers followed by canard aux baies de cassis (duck with cassis berries) and tournedos in mustard sauce — it was Dijon after all. With local wines it was the most expensive meal of our trip — and well worth it.

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