Burgundy - Doing the "Parcours de la Chouette" (The Owl's Trail) in Dijon

The Missus was rather reluctant to leave Paris behind, but we had plans to visit Burgundy on this trip. Taking the TGV to Dijon from Paris-Gare de Lyon Station was a snap, though in the typical way, there's basically a cattle call....everyone watches the schedule to figure out what track your train will be leaving from. When they finally list your track...everyone heads off.

Our hotel; the Hostellerie Du Chapeau Rouge was just a short walk from the train station. The staff was wonderful and the room while small, was comfortable enough for a one night stay. There's actually a Michelin Two Star restaurant in the hotel; but I had other things in mind for our short stay. Like dropping off our bags and heading on a nice little walk. The Owl ("Chouette") is the city's symbol and I'd read about a nice little walk known as the Owl's Trail. So we basically headed off found the brass Owl signs on the sidewalk and headed off.

The walk takes you past and thorugh most of the major sights in Dijon, like Place de la Libération...

Place François-Rude, also known as Place du Bareuzai for the statue of the basically nude winemaker treading the grapes, is considered the heart of the pedestrian zone in Dijon.

There a quite a few structures with what is called "Toits Bourguignons", the Burgundian polychrome roofs in the area.

We decided to take a break....the Missus wanted a snack and some coffee, so we stopped in this very colorful shop.

Where we got our caffeine fix and the Missus sampled some macarons.

Which the Missus really enjoyed.

Fortified, we headed off down Rue de Forges, a pedestrian "historical" street full of wonderfully kept and restored structures. You'd head through a doorway and down the dark entrance and find yourself staring at an interesting courtyard. This one is at number 38 Rue de Forges; the former residence of the Jean Maillard, the Mayor of Dijon, originally constructed in 1560.

Finally ending up at Église Notre-Dame de Dijon a good example of Gothic design.

The church is well known for several features; the Gargoyles; 51 of them on the Western side of the church.

There is also the clock, with its Jacquemart is also well known. You'll notice that along with the Bell-Striker, there are several other "automatons". According to the story, the Jacquemart was placed there around 1500. It soon became a favorite of the citizens of the city. To the point that they started worrying about its mental health......thinking that loneliness and extended celibacy might be weighing heavily upon the poor guy. So around 1650 or so; he was blessed with a wife; they called her Jacqueline and the shared duties striking the bell. In 1714 poet Aimé Piron asked that this poor chaste couple be given a child and so a son, Jacquelinet was "born". Needing someone to share the duties of striking the bell on the quarter hours led to Jacquelinette, a "daughter" being added in 1884.

There was one thing I really wanted to see....or actually rub. Around the corner, on Rue de la Chouette (Owl Street), you'll see a rather worn carving in the side of the church.

This is the "Magic Owl of Dijon". Rubbing the sculpture with your left hand while making a wish, will make it come true and I think it worked; more on that in a later post.

After rubbing the owl.....for some reason that sounds somewhat profane, we decided to slow down and relax a bit. So we headed back, stopping at a couple of.....well, this is Dijon, right? Mustard shops to sample the nasal clearing condiments.

As we headed back to check into our room.

So what was it I wished for?

Stay tuned!

Comments

[Docrailgun]

Nut what's a "short walk" for the Missus?
"...was just a short walk from the train station."

[kat]

sounds like start of another great adventure :)

[Kirk]

Hey D - If you've been reading the blog for a while; you'll know that the term "a short walk" could be anything from 1 block to 10 miles.....it's all relative I guess

Hi Kat - Dijon; and Burgundy as a whole was fun.

[Soo @ hungryones]

Cool gargoyles!

[Kirk]

There's an interesting story about one of the Gargoyles falling and killing a money lender back in the 13th Century Soo!