The next stop in our canal boat adventures was a trip to Dijon. We chose Dijon because we wanted to make sure we were comfortable with our new boat. Especially going through locks. The Canal de Bourgogne between St-Jean-de-Losne and Dijon is almost perfectly straight and has 22 locks each way, which was excellent training. To learn more about locks click here.
The Heart of Dijon
The city of Dijon is quite large with a population of 150,000 people. Dijon is the birthplace of Gustave Eiffel (famous for the Eiffel Tower) and of course Dijon mustard. It is the capital of the Burgundy region. The city centre is quite beautiful with lots of winding streets and interesting architecture.
The Place de la Liberation is the central square in the heart of Dijon. It is right in front of the Palace of the Dukes and States of Burgundy which was originally built in the 14th century. The video below highlights its beauty. It also highlights me struggling with French pronunciation.
Food
Dijon is a foodies delight with many incredible restaurants and an enormous food market which operates four days per week. The market has every type of food imaginable and is located right in the heart of the city. The fresh fruit and vegetables we bought here were sensational and lasted a long time.
Ivan made a new friend at the markets. Patrick’s middle name is Ivan and therefore that was enough to become besties. Patrick was providing wine tasting, so that endeared him to Ivan immediately. When Patrick found out we were Australians he decided to test himself and drew a map of Australia from memory with all the capital cities. He was pretty good! I don’t think I would do as well.
The Dentist
Ivan had a bit of trouble with a tooth while we were in Dijon so we needed a dentist. I Googled dentists in Dijon and found plenty of them. The disturbing thing I found were multiple comments saying how hard it was to get an appointment. We were still not confident speaking French on the phone so instead we set off on our bikes with a whole page of dentists. The first one said that the next available appointment was 6 months away. But at the second dentist we had success!!
We were very fortunate to meet Docteur Simon Gobry whose assistant Charlene had spent 2 years in Australia. They were both incredibly helpful and Docteur Gobry scheduled an appointment for the following day. Perfect! Charlene’s English was brilliant and she was able to translate Ivan’s symptoms. Our French certainly doesn’t extend that far. Ivan was sorted and the bill came to €28 Euro! Whaaat? That’s about $46 AUD.
Final thoughts on Dijon
Dijon is a great city with lots to see. I would recommend staying somewhere close to the heart of the city centre in the older section and spending 2-3 days exploring on foot. Make sure you visit the food markets as it’s a wonderful experience. We were very fortunate to be on our boat Laura in the marina near the city centre. Here’s Ivan’s take on Dijon and France in general.
English 
French