Monday

Nice day again - sadly I was stuck here again because the Rover's new exhaust still hasn't come. Right - I'll get the train to Dijon. Next train is at 14.18. Hung around the flat until then, packed, and went off to Dijon! Trains are direct from here, and it took a couple of hours. First impressions when I left the station were how nice and clean it was - although there were the obligatory few dogshits scattered about. I checked in at the Hotel Thurot (+33 (0)3 80 43 57 46), then went to the tourist office where I got a map and some information on the town, plus a pass which allows entry to all the town's museums for a mere 46ff. From there, I went for a walk; the town's beautiful! The Place Darcy, with its arch, is gorgeous, like a small copy of La place d'étoile in Paris - but with its own personality. There are loads of churches, most active, one empty and some converted into other things (such as the theatre), le Palais des Ducs, which is now the Town Hall, great shops, beautiful old buildings, perfectly preserved, and some fantastic-looking restaurants. Also some nice little art-house cinemas. When I'd finished my walk I had a beer and read my Dijon guidebook, then saw Purely Belter (which goes under the title of Newcastle Boys in France) at one of those cinemas, then had dinner at the Gril'Laure (+33 (0)3 80 41 86 76), which was absolutely gorgeous (if a little undercooked - the waiter argued when I asked for my meat well done) and only a little over a tenner.

The hotel was fine, and not too expensive - the room was quite small, but there was a double bed, my own shower and loo and a TV with all the normal channels, plus Canal+.

Tuesday

Woke up at half eight, had breakfast in the hotel, then went to the station to buy a paper. Spent the morning wandering about the town looking at churches, which Dijon is full of. They're interesting; Catholic churches are so much more fun than Anglican ones, with relics of saints and so on.

I found an English-style tea room called Simple Simon's near one of the churches, so I had to go in and have a coffee there - it was very well done, right down to the pictures of Diana.

There was a market on which I had a look at, then went and had a croque monsieur and a gaufre for lunch and read my Guardian.

I had a bit of a rest at the hotel after lunch, then went to the Musée Maguin. It's an old house, filled with the art collection of the rich family who used to live there. The house is fascinating, showing how the people lived, but the artworks are pretty awful - the Maguins had more money than taste, to my poor untrained eye. Angels with their breasts showing, that kind of thing. In fact, I don't think I've ever seen so many breasts in one place.

After that, I just walked again - did some window shopping and got myself happily lost in the fascinating little backstreets and boutiques.

Back to the Cinema Devosges this evening for Too Much Flesh, a rather bizarre American arthouse film which appeared to want to show just that rural Americans are all weird. Lots of nudity though, which can only be a good thing.

Had dinner at a restaurant overlooking the Place Darcy after that, which included my first ever taste of snails - and very nice they were too. The meal was cheaper than I expected, as well.

Wednesday

Woke up at half eight again, had breakfast, then went out. I went to the station to buy a paper and drop my bag off at the luggage lockers first, then walked for ages, managing to get myself completely lost (rather embarrassingly, since I haven't for the last few days), a fact not helped by the fact that my three maps of the town are rather different. Should have bought an A-Z, or whatever the French equivalent is. Bizarrely, the one in my out-of-date Rough Guide to France was the best.

Saw Le musée de la vie Bourgignonne Perrin de Puycousin first, which I'm afraid I was utterly incapable of taking seriously. In the early 1900s, Perrin de Puycousin opened his museum of country life, with waxworks wearing local dress and illustrating local country customs. Apparently he found his creations so lifelike that he used to talk to them - an image I could not get out of my head, especially since they actually aren't very good! Upstairs the museum's much better - mockups of real old Dijon shops and businesses, exhibits on the town's industrial past, paintings etc. It's worth a visit for that. Also, the building's gorgeous - it's the cloisters of the Bernadine convent, built at the end of the 17th Century.

Next door is the Musée d'Art Sacré, housed in the convent's old church. The domed church is beautiful, and the exhibits are fascinating too - mainly rescued from churches destroyed during the Revolution. Lots of religious statues and paintings, but also lots of everyday church items - goblets, copes, crosses, thuribles and so on. I'd love to know what some of the goblets were worth, compared with the rather battered items at St. James!

Wandered around lost for a while again after that, again thanks to my contradictory maps. I did find the Place President Wilson though, completely by accident, which I'm glad of because it's very pretty - there's a big fountain at the centre, which was lovely in the sunlight. Shame it's so busy though - it seems to be the intersection for all the Routes Nationales which run through Dijon.

Leisurely lunch at La Tartiflette (+33 (0)3 80 30 72 42), where (of course) I had tartiflette and a pichet of wine, and extremely nice it was too. Finished off with chocolate mousse and a coffee and finished reading my paper, and the bill came to just 124ff.

Feeling refreshed, I headed for the Cathedrale Saint-Bénigne and the Musée archéologique. This is brilliant - in the surroundings of the ancient building, which celebrates its millennium this year, you can see relics of even more ancient times, going back to the Romans. Fascinating.

It was getting towards time for my train then, so I went to the Musée d'Histoire naturelle, which is behind the station. Didn't take me long to get round - it's probably good if you've got kids, and indeed there was a school party there. Back to the station, on the train, and home.