Sofitel Dijon La Cloche

History - facts

by Kuznetsov_Sergey

Burgundy is the east province of France. The Burgundian duchy during several centuries played an important role in the history of France. Within the childhood and Charles's VI adolescence the true owner of the country was much expanded its borders and his own possession duke Phillip the Courageous. His son Jean managed to eliminate Orlean duke and to take Paris, but he terminated his life by hand of a murderer. The son of Jean - Phillip the Kind entered the union with England and ruled in the whole territory of the northern and eastern France. Burgundy achieved the greatest power at Charles whom, hardly has not embodied the dream of his}ancestors to create huge empire in borders of Flanders and Lorraine. He captivated Lui XI, but lost in fight at Nancy. So the decline of the duchy began.

Kir cocktail

by bzh

The kir cocktail is one of the most simple in the world but it is so nice when done when the right ingredients. The cocktail was first called "blanc-cassis" or "blanc-cass" as it was made from white wine (white = blanc) and balckcurrant liqueur (blackcurrant = cassis).

It only became known as Kir when Canon Félix Kir, who was mayor of Dijon at the time and for whom it was the favourite drink, started offering it to visitors of the Dijon city hall. Canon Kir was very popular with the people of Dijon and he eventually allowed local companies to use his name for commercial purposes. The cocktail then became known as "un kir".

The kir mix:
1/3 Crème de Cassis, from Dijon
2/3 White wine, Bourgone Aligoté is best

You can replace the wine with Champagne and it becomes a "kir royal".
You can also replace the white wine with (Breton) cider and it becomes a "kir breton".

Walking down to Notre Dame....

by timtrina

This was our favourite street in Dijon - filled with the most incredible chocolate shops, pastry shops, cheese shops and of course, souvenior shops filled with jars of Dijon mustard (who knew there were so many different varieties of Dijon mustard???) There are some great craft shops along here too, which give you the chance to buy something unique to take home.

Salle des Gardes: "Les Pleurants" (Mourners) (3)

by hquittner

The figures below are called “pleurants” (an adjective) . I do not know enough about early French to know why the correct term "pleureurs" was not used. All of the figures appear to be male as the term indicates. The figures are different in physical attitude, facial features, folds of dress, etc. They are all moving in a clockwise direction through the structure and are frozen at a moment in time in a realistic manner. They are not posing frontally as most prior works would have them, but are interacting with one another. (In larger forms Sluter does this in his works at Champmol also). It is said that the figures were derived from living models and represent various levels of the royal retinue rather than paid mourners (the Carthusians), but we have no details. The conceit is more delicate than can be imagined and must be seen. The work on the second tomb has a rougher realization of the cloister-like atmosphere seen in the first tomb; the choice of a more varied arcade and niches does not add to the effect, but this is quibbling. It is still a masterpiece. It is worth reading the stories of how these great works barely survived the destructive furor of the Revolution. How simple rioting men, who had never seen them, were so affected that they recognized the pieces as a heritage not an object of hatred and refused to lay a hammer to them.

BEAUTIFUL FIELDS of MUSTARD

by ViajesdelMundo

"ARRIVING BY TRAIN"

THIS PHOTO WAS TAKEN FROM THE TRAIN; FIELD AFTER FIELD WAS JUST GORGEOUS IN BLOOM!

IT IS EASY TO WALK FROM THE TRAIN STATION TO MAIN PARTS OF TOWN AND FIND A HOTEL NEARBY, AS WELL AS MANY SMALLER EATING PLACES. A LITTLE FURTHER INTO TOWN OF COURSE ARE MANY NICE RESTAURANTS, SHOPS AND THE HISTORICAL SQUARES (see tips).