the city of the Dukes of Burgundy, with the palace, the tombs and the owl of Notre-Dame, mustard and the Cité of gastronomy, and from here the Route des Grands Crus that runs down through the vineyards of the Côte de Nuits
Dijon was the capital of the Dukes of Burgundy, the four Valois who from 1363 to 1477 held a state between France and Flanders and filled the city with palaces, churches and marble tombs. From their time there remain the palace of the dukes, with the tower of Philip the Good from which you can see as far as the Jura, the tombs in the fine arts museum, free like all the city's museums, and the half-timbered streets around Notre-Dame, where on the side of the church you stroke the owl with your left hand. It is the city of mustard and of Kir, it has a covered market of iron and glass, and since 2022 the Cité of gastronomy and wine. But for those travelling by motorhome it is above all the gateway to the Route des Grands Crus: just to the south begins the Côte de Nuits, the hillside where twenty-four of Burgundy's thirty-three grands crus lie, and the road runs down through the vineyards to Beaune. In Dijon in winter you sleep at the Plombières stopover, with the bus to the centre; in summer there is also the Lac Kir campsite.
Sleeping
Stops and overnight stays
In Dijon the stopover open all year is at Plombières, west of the city, and it is new: in November and December it is the one to count on. The Lac Kir campsite, closer to the centre, closes at the end of October. On the Côte de Nuits, among the vineyards, there is the free stopover of Nuits-Saint-Georges, and in summer a campsite on the plateaus above Gevrey-Chambertin.
Area camper di Digione a Plombières-lès-Dijon
1 chemin du Vallon, 21370 Plombières-lès-Dijon
a stopover of the Camping-Car Park network, opened in January 2026, with a barrier and booking through the app, on the Burgundy Canal. The operator calls it Dijon Lac Kir, but the lake is 3.5 km away. There are no toilets or showers. To get to the centre you take bus B12, from the Seize Vannes stop, two hundred metres away, to Square Darcy, where both tram lines pass; the operator says you can also get there by bicycle, on the canal greenway. The operator counts 6.5 km to the old town. A supermarket is a kilometre and a half away
24 motorhome pitches
ElectricityWaterGrey waterWi-Fi
12.50 euros for 24 hours plus the tourist tax of 0.88 euros: the page asks for 13.38 euros and does not say for how many people the tax applies. The price list is valid until 31 December 2027. Five hours' parking with the services costs 6 euros · campingcarpark.com
the city's campsite, one star, between Lac Kir and the Chartreuse de Champmol, with an area of sixteen places for motorhomes inside the fence. You arrive from 14:00 to 18:00 and leave by noon. The operator does not publish the closing day at the end of October: in November and December it is closed. Less than three hundred metres away are the Gorgets and CHS la Chartreuse stops; from the Chartreuse stop line B12 goes to Square Darcy. The tourist office says less than two kilometres from the centre and one from the station
16 on the motorhome area, plus the 121 pitches of the campsite
ElectricityWaterGrey waterToiletsShowerWi-Fi
With the operator's price list, valid from the opening on 1 April 2026, in low season the pitch costs 5.84 euros, each adult 3.63, electricity 5.20 and the tourist tax 0.22 per adult: two adults spend 18.74 euros a night. On the motorhome area inside the campsite the flat rate with electricity costs 13.33 euros, and the price list does not say whether it includes the people. The tourist office publishes lower prices · +33 6 66 96 56 26 · camping-du-lac-dijon.com
the stopover of the Côte de Nuits, a small municipal car park with an emptying point, near the motorway and therefore noisy, five kilometres from the Clos de Vougeot. A path along the Meuzin leads to the centre of Nuits, where every morning there is the market under the halles. The municipality does not say whether you can sleep there or whether it closes in winter: those who stop there sleep there all year, and in winter find the water tap turned off. The telephone number is that of the Gevrey-Chambertin and Nuits-Saint-Georges tourist office
8 motorhome pitches
Grey water
The municipality does not publish a rate; those who stop there find it free · +33 3 80 62 11 17 · gevreynuitstourisme.com
a campsite on the plateaus of the Hautes-Côtes, above Gevrey-Chambertin: it is the one that the Côte de Nuits tourist office recommends for motorhomes, because in Gevrey there is no stopover. It also lists a motorhome area at the same address, and does not say whether it stays open when the campsite closes. In 2026 it closed on 15 September at noon
services not recorded
With the operator's price list, two people with the motorhome 17.50 euros a night from 30 April to 1 June and 23 euros from 14 June to 15 September, plus 6 euros for electricity and 0.60 euros per adult tourist tax. The operator does not give the year of the price list · +33 3 80 58 50 13 · camping-chamboeuf.com
In Dijon the motorhome stays at the stopover or the campsite, and you go into the centre by bus and tram; the old town is small and you get around it on foot. For the Côte de Nuits, on the other hand, you need the motorhome, or the train.
From Italy there are two roads. From the west the Fréjus or Mont Blanc tunnel, then the A40 and A39 motorways via Bourg-en-Bresse to Dijon: the APRR stretch from Bellegarde to Dijon-Crimolois costs a class 2 motorhome 37.30 euros (February 2026 rates). In 2026 the Fréjus costs 74.70 euros one way and 93.80 return for motorhomes up to three metres high; above three metres you pay class 3, 204.80 euros one way. From the east you go through Switzerland, by the Great St Bernard (52.50 euros one way in 2026 up to three metres) or the Simplon, then Lausanne, Vallorbe and Besançon; from Besançon Est to Dijon-Crimolois it is 13.10 euros. In Switzerland you need the vignette, 40 francs, and over 3.5 tonnes the heavy vehicle charge
The low emission zone: Dijon has had one since 1 January 2025, inside the ring road and in ten municipalities, Plombières and Marsannay included. It is a "monitoring" zone: an order of 23 December 2025 extended the exemption for all vehicles throughout 2026, even those with the Crit'Air 5 sticker. Beaune has no zone
The low bridges: the tourist office warns that on the avenue de l'Arquebuse and the boulevard Albert Ier the railway bridges are low, without saying how low, and advises entering the city by rue des Perrières, avenue de Langres or rue d'Auxonne
By day with the motorhome: the tourist office recommends the Vaillant car park, on the avenue Garibaldi towards place de la République, paying and ten minutes on foot from the centre, and the free one at the Parc de la Colombière, twenty minutes on foot. It also recommends the Zénith car park, but the Zénith park and ride has a barrier at 1.90 metres: a motorhome will not get in. On the street, parking is paid from Monday to Saturday, and free from 12:30 to 14:00, on Sundays and on public holidays
Divia buses and trams: one hour costs 1.50 euros, 2 if you pay by card at the validator; the 24 hour ticket 4.50 euros. For a family there is the Pass Tribu, valid 24 hours, for a group of two to five people: for four it is 10.15 euros. The two tram lines run every 5 to 15 minutes, every day from 5:30 to a quarter past midnight, and the free City shuttle goes round the centre every ten minutes from Monday to Saturday, from 8:00 to 19:00
The Côte de Nuits begins at the city gates. The Route des Grands Crus follows the old main road, the D974, at the foot of the hillside, and crosses the villages on narrower roads, with stretches at 30 km/h: from the north Marsannay, Fixin, Gevrey-Chambertin, Morey-Saint-Denis, Chambolle-Musigny, Vougeot, Vosne-Romanée and Nuits-Saint-Georges, then the Côte de Beaune down to Santenay. For those who do not want to drive there is the train: on the line to Beaune it stops at Gevrey, Vougeot and Nuits, and Beaune is less than twenty minutes away
Seeing
Sights
The centre can be seen on foot in a day, from west to east and then towards the south: from the Porte Guillaume to the cathedral, then along the rue de la Liberté to les Halles, the rue des Forges, Notre-Dame with the owl and the rue Verrerie, and the palace of the dukes with the square, the tower and the museum. Further south the museums of the rue Sainte-Anne and the Cité of gastronomy. Off the route, to the west, the Arquebuse garden behind the station, the Well of Moses and Lac Kir, close to the stopovers. Tap a marker on the map to open its entry below.
1
Porte Guillaume and place Darcy
Square · free entry · 47.32329, 5.03473
place Darcy, 21000 Dijon
Dijon's triumphal arch, built from 1786 to 1788 by the architect Jean-Philippe Maret in place of a gate of the thirteenth century walls, in honour of the Prince of Condé, governor of Burgundy. In 1791 it became the arch of Liberty, and in the nineteenth century it took the name of William of Volpiano, the abbot of Saint-Bénigne. Next to it, the Darcy garden, the city's first public garden, above the water reservoir of the engineer Henry Darcy, with the terraces and cascades of 1880, the children's playground and at the entrance Pompon's polar bear. From here starts the Owl's Trail: 22 stops marked by bronze arrows in the paving, with the 4 euro booklet from the tourist office.
the abbey grew up over the tomb of St Benignus, the second century martyr. William of Volpiano, who came from Cluny in 989, rebuilt it in fifteen years, with a three-storey rotunda built by craftsmen brought from Italy. Today's Gothic church dates from 1280-1393, and has been a cathedral only since 1792. The rotunda was demolished in that year except for the lowest storey, underground, found by chance in 1844 and restored under Viollet-le-Duc: after years of work it is open again. The roof of glazed tiles in coloured patterns is the first you come across, and the 93 metre spire, of 1896, is the tallest in the city.
Opening hours the crypt, the rotunda, can be visited only with a guide, every day at 15:00, for 50 minutes. The church's opening hours are not published · the church is free; the rotunda 5 euros, reduced 3, free for children · +33 3 80 30 39 33 · cathedrale-dijon.fr · secretariat@cathedrale-dijon.fr
it is in the last surviving building of the abbey of Saint-Bénigne. On the lowest floor, the monks' chapter house of the eleventh century with the wooden and stone votive offerings from the sanctuary of the springs of the Seine, and the only known bronze statuette of the goddess Sequana. The thirteenth century dormitory with its ribbed vaults, where the medieval sculpture is kept, is today closed for works, with no reopening date. The museum is not heated: in winter wrap up.
Opening hours from 1 April to 31 October every day except Tuesday 9:30-12:30 and 13:30-18:00; from 2 November to 31 March only on Wednesday, Saturday and Sunday, with the same hours. Closed on 1 January, 1 and 8 May, 14 July, 1 and 11 November and 25 December · +33 3 80 48 83 70 · musees.dijon.fr · musees@ville-dijon.fr
fra rue Odebert, rue Quentin e rue Bannelier, 21000 Dijon
the covered market, built from 1873 to 1875 by the Fourchambault foundries on the site of the Dominican convent: four pavilions of iron and glass over 4,400 square metres, 13 metres high. It came from a proposal by the firm of Gustave Eiffel, who was born in Dijon, but he did not build it. On the columns there are vine shoots, in the medallions the heads of roe deer, mouflon, wild boar and ox. On market days the stalls spill out into the surrounding streets, and inside there are cheeses, cured meats, jambon persillé and snails. During the end of year holidays it also opens on the other days.
Opening hours Tuesday, Thursday, Friday and Saturday from 7:00 to 13:00; on Saturday afternoon a few stalls stay open · +33 8 00 21 30 00
the street of mansions, between place François-Rude and place des Ducs. At number 34 the Hôtel Chambellan, Flamboyant Gothic of the fifteenth century, built for the wealthy draper Henri Chambellan, mayor from 1490 to 1493: from the vaulted passage you enter the courtyard with the wooden gallery and the stair tower, at the top of which a gardener carries on his shoulder the basket from which the ribs of the vault spring. It is private: you go in on foot, quietly, without pushing the doors. At number 11, inside the tourist office, the Baroque Chapelle des Élus can be visited for free.
Burgundian Gothic of the thirteenth century, with the façade covered by 51 false gargoyles that carry off no water, carved between 1880 and 1882. On the right-hand tower is the Jacquemart, the automaton that strikes the hours, carried off from Courtrai, in Flanders, by Philip the Bold in 1382: later he was given a wife, a son and a daughter, who strike the half hours and the quarters. Inside, Notre-Dame de Bon-Espoir, one of the oldest wooden Madonnas in France. On the north side, in rue de la Chouette, the owl: 35 centimetres high, one metre eighty from the ground, you stroke it with your left hand, the hand of the heart, while making a wish. In 2001 a vandal attacked it with a hammer, and it was remade from a cast. The church's opening hours are not published.
the pedestrian street of fifteenth century half-timbered houses, with their jettied upper floors, today the street of the antique dealers. It used to be called the street of the pig market, and today's name is said to come from the glassmakers of the arcaded workshops. The oldest houses are at numbers 1, 22 and 25. At the entrance, in rue de la Chouette, the Maison Millière, half-timbered with its shop on the ground floor, and the courtyard of the Hôtel de Vogüé. It is a few minutes on foot, and it is the most photographed piece of the Middle Ages in the city.
Place de la Libération and the palace of the dukes
Square · free entry · 47.32126, 5.04142
place de la Libération, 21000 Dijon
the palace brings together two eras. The Gothic ducal palace, with the Bar tower of 1365, the kitchens of 1433 and the tower of Philip the Good; and the palace of the States of Burgundy, of the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, unified by Jules Hardouin-Mansart, the architect of Louis XIV. The semicircular square is his, of 1686-1689, and was meant to frame an equestrian statue of the king destroyed in 1792. Since September 1944 it has been called Liberation square, and since 2006 it has been pedestrian, with three fountains set in the paving. The palace is the town hall and the fine arts museum; the halls of the States can be seen only on the tourist office's guided tours.
46 metres high, built between 1450 and 1460 for Philip the Good on an older tower. You climb 316 steps of a spiral staircase decorated with vine shoots and snails, with a pause at the 199th, and at the top, over 360 degrees, the roofs of glazed tiles and on clear days the Jura. In the eighteenth century there was an astronomical observatory, in the nineteenth the optical telegraph to Toulon. The visit lasts 45 minutes, in French and in English, with at most eighteen people; no pushchairs or bags, and there is nowhere to leave them. In December there are Christmas visits for children at the top, but the dates are not out yet.
Opening hours only with a guide and by booking, at the tourist office. Until 1 November 2026 eight climbs a day from Tuesday to Sunday, from 10:00 to 17:15, and five on Monday. From 2 November 2026 to 4 January 2027 the calendar is not published · 6 euros, reduced for young people 4; free under 3 years, but children have to be registered by name. The tourist office does not give the year of the price list · +33 3 80 44 11 44 · destinationdijon.com · info@otdijon.com
one of the oldest museums in France, founded in 1787 around a drawing school and fully reopened in 2019 after thirteen years of work, with 1,500 works in 50 rooms. Its heart is the hall of the tombs, the former banqueting hall of Philip the Good: here, brought from the Chartreuse de Champmol, stand the tomb of Philip the Bold, begun in 1384 and continued by Claus Sluter, with the procession of hooded mourners that runs below the statue of the duke, and that of John the Fearless and Margaret of Bavaria, finished in 1470. Inside the museum you can also see the ducal kitchens of 1433, with their enormous fireplaces. Only folding pushchairs are allowed: the museum lends one.
Opening hours from 1 October to 31 May 9:30-18:00, from 1 June to 30 September 10:00-18:30. Closed on Tuesday, on 1 January, 1 and 8 May, 14 July, 1 and 11 November and 25 December · the collections have been free since 2004; temporary exhibitions 9 euros, reduced 5 · +33 3 80 74 52 09 · musees.dijon.fr · musees@ville-dijon.fr
Museum of Burgundian life and museum of sacred art
Museum · free entry · 47.31744, 5.03800
17 rue Sainte-Anne, 21000 Dijon
two museums in the seventeenth century monastery of the Bernardine nuns. Burgundian life tells the story of the region through 35,000 objects: on the ground floor the nineteenth century countryside with its costumes and bonnets, on the second floor a reconstructed street of period shops, the part children like best and the right visit for a rainy afternoon. Sacred art, in the church of St Anne, gathers the objects removed from the churches of the Côte-d'Or because they were at risk, with Jean Dubois's canopied altar of 1675; it reopened on 23 May 2026 after more than two years of work.
Opening hours every day except Tuesday 9:30-12:30 and 13:30-18:00. Closed on 1 January, 1 and 8 May, 14 July, 1 and 11 November and 25 December · +33 3 80 48 80 90 · musees.dijon.fr · musees@ville-dijon.fr
opened on 6 May 2022 in the old general hospital, after years of delays. It has 1,750 square metres of exhibitions on the gastronomic meal of the French, protected by UNESCO since 2010, and at the end of the route a cooking game that teenagers enjoy. In the hospital's great chapel the chapelle des Climats explains the vineyard plots of the Côte with projections: it is the right way to begin the Route des Grands Crus. The Cave de la Cité has about three thousand wines, 250 by the glass, and there is a workshop where you make your own mustard. In the park, at the corner of rue du Faubourg-Raines, there is a copy of the Well of Moses made in 1508.
Opening hours from 1 October to 30 April, reception and ticket office Monday to Friday 11:00-17:30, Saturday and Sunday 10:00-17:30; from 1 May to 30 September every day 9:30-19:30. Closed on 25 December, 1 January and 1 May. The wine cellar and the restaurants have their own hours · the permanent exhibitions are free, with a ticket to collect; the temporary exhibition is paid, and the full price is not published · +33 3 80 23 88 76 · citedelagastronomie-dijon.fr · citedelagastronomie@ville-dijon.fr
behind the station, where from 1543 the company of arquebusiers trained. It is the city's botanical garden, of 1833, with about 3,500 species over more than five hectares, the rose garden, the arboretum and the Raines stream with its swans and ducks. In the arquebusiers' pavilion, of about 1608, the natural history museum, with exhibitions for adults and children, and next to it the planetarium, of 2005. The museum does not publish a rate. Three hundred metres from the cathedral, for a rainy day with children.
Opening hours the garden every day from 8:00 to sunset. The natural history museum 9:00-12:30 and 14:00-18:00; on Saturday and Sunday it opens only in the afternoon, and it is closed on Tuesday, on 1 January, 1 and 8 May, 14 July, 1 and 11 November and 25 December · +33 3 80 48 82 00 · dijon-metropole.fr · museum@ville-dijon.fr
here in 1385 Philip the Bold founded the charterhouse that was to be his family's burial place. In the middle of the great cloister, above a well, he had Claus Sluter carve a calvary: of the cross the base remains, a hexagonal pier of about seven metres with six prophets at life size, Moses, David, Jeremiah, Zechariah, Daniel and Isaiah, and above them the weeping angels, carved between 1395 and 1406. The church portal also remains, again by Sluter, with the duke and duchess kneeling. The charterhouse was sold during the Revolution, and since 1843 it has been a psychiatric hospital, still in use: you enter the park and behave discreetly. The tombs of the dukes are in the fine arts museum.
Opening hours every day 9:30-17:30 according to the hospital, 9:00-17:30 according to the tourist office. The tourist office's guided tours in 2026 are on Saturday 14 November and Wednesday 23 December at 14:30 · visiting on your own is free; the guided tour 12 euros · +33 3 80 44 11 44 · ch-lachartreuse-dijon-cotedor.fr
an artificial lake on the Ouche, wanted by Canon Kir and opened by him from a boat on 20 June 1964. It is 37 hectares of water over a kilometre and a half, below the cliffs of Talant, with lawns, paths, a children's playground and the water sports centre; in summer the supervised beach. The Burgundy Canal greenway runs alongside it. It lies between the two stopovers, the campsite and the Plombières stopover: in winter it is a walk, in summer an afternoon.
Dijon has its own autumn, with the Foire gastronomique between October and November and Christmas in the squares until Epiphany. Around it, the villages of the Côte de Nuits live by the wine calendar: the Nuits auction in March, the concerts in the cellars at the end of June, and in October the œufs en meurette championship at the Clos de Vougeot. The Beaune auction, in November, and the Saint-Vincent in January are in the Beaune page.
Next: Foire internationale et gastronomique de Dijon · 31 Oct - 11 Nov
31 Oct › 11Nov
Foire internationale et gastronomique de Dijon
between the end of October and 11 November
the great autumn fair, twelve days at the exhibition grounds, with the gastronomy hall, crafts, tourism and the home. It is open every day from 10:00 to 20:00, with some evenings until 22:00. In 2026 the ticket costs 7 euros, reduced 6 from 12 to 25 years, and the pass for every day 30 euros; under 12 years entry is free, and from 18:00 everyone gets in free on the evenings without late opening. You get there by tram T1
This year's dates are not out yet
Les Nuits d'Orient et d'ailleurs
from mid November to early December
the municipal festival that for twenty-five years has brought to Dijon the cultures from Africa to Asia: exhibitions, concerts, shows, workshops and food in dozens of places around the city. The most awaited Saturday is the enchanted palace, in the palace of the dukes, with henna, perfumes and music
Fééries de Noël
from the last Saturday of November to early January
Christmas in Dijon. The market between place Darcy and the rue de la Liberté, on the place de la Libération the eighteen metre tree and the two-storey carousel, on the place de la République the forty metre big wheel and the ice rink. In the evening, on the façade of the palace of the dukes, a sound and light show; and on 24 December at 18:15 Father Christmas comes down from the tower of Philip the Good, as he has since 1951. In 2025 the markets were open on Monday from 14:00 to 20:00 and from Tuesday to Sunday from 10:00 to 20:00, on Friday and Saturday until 21:00
Vente des vins des Hospices de Nuits-Saint-Georges
in March, on a Sunday
the charity auction of the wines of the Nuits hospital, the little sister of the Beaune one, in the Château du Clos de Vougeot: in 2026 eighty barrels, all sold. You can also buy online. On the same weekend in Nuits there is the half marathon and the ten kilometre race, with a start for children
The Vin'dredis of the Halle Chambertin
on Friday evenings, from June to October
in Gevrey-Chambertin, under the Halle Chambertin, an evening of wine and music every Friday, booked on the website of the Gevrey and Nuits tourist office
Festival Musique & Vin au Clos Vougeot
at the end of June
classical music and Burgundy wines, a week of concerts in the finest cellars and courtyards of the Côte: the Clos de Vougeot, the Hôtel-Dieu in Beaune, the abbey of Saint-Vivant and the château of Meursault, with tastings
Festival Musique au Chambertin
in May and in early October
classical music concerts in the churches and cellars of the grands crus of the Côte de Nuits, from Marsannay to Vosne-Romanée, on two weekends a year
Championnat du monde de l'œuf en meurette
in October
the world championship of the Côte's dish, at the Château du Clos de Vougeot, where cooks compete over eggs in red wine sauce. The eighth edition is the one from 9 to 11 October 2026
Fêtes de la Vigne
in July
the international folklore festival, which brings dance groups from all over the world to Dijon for a week of shows and parades. The last edition, the eightieth anniversary one, was in July 2026, and the next one has not been announced
Remember
Useful tips
In November and December in Dijon you sleep at the Plombières stopover, which has electricity and water filling and emptying but no toilets; the Lac Kir campsite closes at the end of October. At Marsannay-la-Côte, in rue du Rocher, the tourist office also lists a free municipal area, open all year and for the night only: places and services are not published, and before going you phone the municipality
For the Foire gastronomique the motorhome stays at the stopover: with bus B12 and tram T1 you reach the exhibition grounds without looking for parking. Under 12 years entry is free
The city's museums are free and almost all closed on Tuesday; in winter the archaeological museum opens only on Wednesday, Saturday and Sunday, and is not heated
The tower of Philip the Good can be climbed only by booking, with eighteen places per climb: book as soon as you know your dates, and leave pushchair and rucksacks in the motorhome, because they cannot be taken to the top and there is nowhere to leave them
The Owl's Trail is the simplest way to go round the centre with children: you follow the bronze arrows in the paving, and the booklet with the stops costs 4 euros at the tourist office
The Côte de Nuits, from Dijon to Nuits-Saint-Georges, is about twenty kilometres. With a motorhome you keep to the D974 and enter the villages only where there is somewhere to leave it: the little roads among the vineyards belong to the tractors and the grape pickers. The experience not to miss is the Château du Clos de Vougeot, with the car park next to the château; the stop for the night is the Nuits stopover
Those who do not want to drive after a tasting take the train: from Dijon it stops at Gevrey, Vougeot and Nuits, and in less than twenty minutes you reach Beaune. The Côte de Beaune, with the Hospices auction and the Voie des Vignes, is in the Beaune page
For a family in the city the Divia Pass Tribu is the best deal: 24 hours of buses and trams for two to five people, 10.15 euros for four
When entering the city with a tall motorhome avoid the avenue de l'Arquebuse and the boulevard Albert Ier, where the railway bridges are low
Dijon · part two
and then?
What to do, what to taste, and where to go tomorrow.
Experiences from here
What we did starting from here, ordered by driving time.
In Dijon mustard is a recipe and not a place of origin: a decree of 1937 made "moutarde de Dijon" a generic name, the seeds come mostly from Canada, and since 2009 none has been made inside the city. The one made with seeds grown in Burgundy and the region's white wine is Moutarde de Bourgogne, a protected geographical indication since 2009. In 1841 a café owner in the city, Auguste-Denis Lagoute, invented crème de cassis, and the white wine with cassis that the town hall was already serving in 1904 took the name of Canon Kir, the mayor who did most to make it known. Since 1796 Mulot & Petitjean has been making Dijon gingerbread, with honey, and nonnettes. On the Côte de Nuits, between Dijon and Nuits-Saint-Georges, lie twenty-four of Burgundy's thirty-three grands crus, almost all Pinot Noir: Chambertin, Clos de Vougeot, Musigny, Romanée-Conti. On the table there are snails in garlic butter, bœuf bourguignon, Époisses cheese, and dishes en meurette, cooked with bacon and red wine: the most famous are the eggs.
cut the onions, carrots, shallots, leek, veal, bacon and beef into one centimetre dice
chop the garlic and the parsley leaves, and keep the stalks aside
brown the meat and vegetables in the duck fat, add the sugar so that they caramelise, then dust with flour and let it colour
pour in the stock and the wine, add the garlic, the herbs, the parsley stalks, salt and pepper, and leave to simmer for between 30 and 45 minutes
pass the sauce through a sieve, add the chocolate, bring to the boil and adjust the salt
brown the lardons in 30 g of butter, then the baby onions in another 30 g with a pinch of sugar until they caramelise, and cook the mushrooms in the remaining butter; add everything to the sauce
in a tall pan bring 3 litres of water with the vinegar to a simmer, break one egg at a time into a bowl, make a whirlpool with the spatula and let it slide in; after 3 to 5 minutes, when it rises, lift it out with the slotted spoon and keep it in water at 50 degrees
put the eggs on the croutons, the garnish and the sauce on top, and finish with finely chopped parsley
the place de la Libération at night, with the palace of the dukes lit up and the tower of Philip the Good in the middlePhoto: Benjamin Smith, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0the fountains in the paving of the place de la Libération, with the palace and the towerPhoto: Christophe.Finot, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 2.5the semicircular square seen from the top of the tower, with the roofs of the city stretching to the plainPhoto: HJunghans, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0the tower of Philip the Good above the roofs of the palacePhoto: Benjamin Smith, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0the glazed tile roofs of the Hôtel de Vogüé, seen from the towerPhoto: François de Dijon, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 3.0the hall of the tombs in the fine arts museum, with the two tombs of the dukesPhoto: Allie_Caulfield, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY 2.0the hooded mourners in the alabaster arcades below the tombPhoto: Allie_Caulfield, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY 2.0the golden angels holding the helmet above the statue of the dukePhoto: Allie_Caulfield, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY 2.0Notre-Dame with the Jacquemart at the end of the street, one spring morningPhoto: Chabe01, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0the Jacquemart tower above the façade of Notre-DamePhoto: FrDr, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0the owl carved on the side of Notre-Dame, polished by caressesPhoto: Chabe01, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0a child touches the owl with his left hand, in rue de la ChouettePhoto: Jellopi, Wikimedia Commons, pubblico dominiothe rue de la Chouette with the choir of Notre-Dame at the endPhoto: Chabe01, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0the half-timbered Maison Millière, with its shop on the ground floorPhoto: Chabe01, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0the half-timbered houses of the rue VerreriePhoto: Christophe.Finot, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 2.5les Halles of iron and glass, with the market stalls in frontPhoto: Chabe01, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0the fruit and vegetable stalls under the iron vaults of les HallesPhoto: Elekes Andor, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0the Porte Guillaume, the triumphal arch of place DarcyPhoto: Benjamin Smith, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0Saint-Bénigne Cathedral with its green spirePhoto: Chris06, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0the glazed tile roof of Saint-Bénigne CathedralPhoto: GO69, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0the Cité of gastronomy and wine, with the forecourt in frontPhoto: FrDr, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0the vaulted cellar of the Cave de la Cité, with the counter and the bottlesPhoto: Loic maing, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0the shelter that protects the Well of Moses, in the park of the charterhousePhoto: Benjamin Smith, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0the prophet Daniel carved by Claus Sluter on the Well of MosesPhoto: Benjamin Smith, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0the flower beds of the Arquebuse botanical garden, in summerPhoto: Benjamin Smith, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0Lac Kir seen from the east shore, with flowers in the foregroundPhoto: Michi 224, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0the palace of the dukes lit up one December evening, with the tower lit in redPhoto: missbutterflies, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 2.0the Christmas lights on the houses of the centre, one December eveningPhoto: missbutterflies, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 2.0on the Christmas ice rink, in the eveningPhoto: missbutterflies, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 2.0the stalls of the Foire gastronomique in the hall at the exhibition groundsPhoto: François de Dijon, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0
