Dijon - More museums and historic sites

Flowers were beautiful in May!

Election campaign posters for the European Union Parliament. Unfortunately, there were many that had been vandalised or damaged.

I went to see Well of Moses sculpture. It was in a big area that looked like a college campus or some kind of a research facility as I saw cafeterias, pharmacy, and laundry facilities within that area. But it turned out to be a hospital complex with multiple buildings for different field of medicine, I guess.. It was a bit gloomy, partly because of the cloudy weather but also the closed, dreary atmosphere of this place. It is just the opposite side of the city center across Dijon station, but it was a totally different world with few people.    

Well of Moses sculpture that was carved in the 1300s.

I also went to the Archeological museum, which was also a quiet and somber place, especially the church and some sculptures in a stone-build structure in the basement. It was another place to take a time-trip to the past leaving all the noise and liveliness of downtown.

The second day of grand re-opening of the fine art museum. There were so many people. It's impressive that they are all dressed nicely and highly intersted in art.

The museum building itself is an exhibistion.

Saint Michael Church. Because I missed the concert at another church, I sneaked into this church when they were having a Sunday evening mass. It was an intersting experience to watch people pray and sing. There was a scene where people shook hands with strangers sitting around them. I think it is a symbol of loving your neighbours and helping each other. Young people were also there. They tend to sit in the back, just sitting quietly. I don't know how serious they are, but they are somewhat at least because they were there at their own will. 

I often saw a piano at major stations. This is for anyone to play, but not to make bad noise. It is very French because people including children obey the rule and only those who know how to play it touch it. I saw a young man with his backpack on playing some jazz-like songs while waiting for a train. I liked it a lot and people around him seemed to be enjoying it. 

Charles-de-Gaulle airport was a very spacious, clean and well-lit airport. The chairs and couches were very confortable. And the best thing was that hot water and tea were free at the Relay convenience stores there. 

A church near Well of Moses built in 1300s again. It was under rennovation. 

A tower near the church. It's hard to believe it has been here for 700 years..! 

Dijon - Apartment, Fine Art Museum, Magnin Museum

I was happily surprised by how big the apartment was! It was quite convenient to eat breakfast and supper here with a teapot, microwave, and a fridge. I prefer to stay at an apartment with a kitchen or kitchenette rather than a normal hotel with no such equipment. It feels more like home and it's convenient to eat things I buy at supermarkets and delis.

A huge living room with stairs that go down to the basement... 

Beautiful, stone-walled bedroom! 

The stairs lead to another living room with a couch and a TV. The room next to it is the bedroom. This place is huge, and can easily accomodate more than 1 person. 

The inconvenience is that the owner is not there to help you when you need something - I couldn't figure out how to connect to the WiFi, but the owner was quite responsive to my emails athough it was in French! I wouldn't have survived without Google Translate!! At this place, I had to lock from inside, too, by turning the key not just turning a handle or something. And one time the lock did not turn from inside, so I couldn't go out! This time, I waited for an hour until the owner actually came to help me in person. The lock easily turned when he turned it from outside. I don't know what happened, but it's a downside of living in an old place with an old door lock... I really had to remember the specific way of turning the lock correctly.  

 

At the ceremony of the re-opening of the Fine Art Museum, there was a tightrope performance! He first danced and jumped at the edge of the roof of the building, and then started walking on a rope up above us. 

There were full of people beneath him, nervously watching... It was really a white-knuckler. 

Then in the middle of the rope, he took out a ribbon, and let it go down. On the tip of it was the key to the museum!! 

Thanks to him, the government official got the key and was able to open the gate to the museum.

The gate.

The festival went until midnight - there was a music performance by 7 or so players sitting on a chandelier hung by a crane. The crane... it is strange to see one in the middle of the place with historic buildings and churches. 

Musée Magnin. Magnin museum has a lot of paintings and sculptures collected by the Magnin family. The mansion itself is a historic one and has many many rooms with different decorations. It's beyond my imagination how rich those people were. 

Dijon - more bakery, more city-walk

Aux Délices de la Chouette. Another very nice bakery on Rue de la Chouette.

Meringue owls!

Pain au lait & Pain au raisin. Pain au raisin is rich and a bit too fatty for me.. I love pain au lait sans sucre (milk bread without sugar on top)! 

Notre-dame - our lady church.

This gate and inside is open to public.

The Medieval age is still here.

Public library!

Grand theater.

Under the Sun, people enjoy dinner and conversation. It's still bright at 7 pm!

Fine art museum was re-opened for the first time in 10 years after rennovation work! 

Dijon - bakery, conference, history with an owl

Every morning, I tried different bakeries! It was so much fun to just look at the beautiful breads they have, and it was very hard to choose one. They have coffee, but it was more like a espresso-style, bitter, small-serving drink, which was interesting.

Bread is very reasonably priced - many small ones are about a euro, and bigger ones are 2-3.

Cute decorations. Judging from this, baked sweets are almost as common as they are in the US, but people are skinnier... Why?

Place Republic. I took the wrong tram on the first day, so I had to come back here to take another line. It happens on the first day of a conference!

Then after the conference, we came back to downtown to attend a guided city-walking tour. The guide spoke Spanish, French, and English. And a lot of times her talk was a mixture of French and English words with Spanish accent. Some researchers from Spain and Latin America understood her better, I think. Anyway it was a very informative tour.   

So many buildings are from the Medieval era.  

High-class condo located downtown is gated, but our guide somehow sneaked us in.

Inside this palace-like buildings do residents live. Inside must be pretty modern with electricity and heating, but the work to preserve the exterior is amazing.

Near my apartment.

Cathédrale Saint-Bénigne de Dijon. 

Concert was held on one of the nights I was there! I was very excited to go, but I missed it because I thought it was going to be from 19:00. But it was actually from 17:00.... It was shocking!! Have to go there again sometime. 

Cathédrale Saint-Bénigne de Dijon. The bottom part of this church was built 1000 years ago. I imagined people piling up the huge stones to build the church here. I truly felt the history..

An owl is the symbol of Dijon because of a statue of an owl found in the Church of Notre-dame. Just follow those chuettes (owl in French) and you will be guided to major historic sights in Dijon.