Peugeots and mustard

Tuesday 25^th March

We awoke to a foggy and frosty morning with the temperature -2C. Not very promising however the day did improve and by lunchtime was not too bad.

First stop this morning was the Peugeot museum. Plenty to see and Rob was in heaven particularly when it came to the rally cars. I pretended I didn’t know him when he hopped over the barriers to get a closer look inside the car. 

What surprised me was that Peugeot didn't just make cars. They also made coffee grinders, washing machines and sewing machines (among other stuff). Looked very much like the singer treadlies.

From here we made our way to Dijon where we are staying tonight. We first followed a road alongside the river Doubs. This was a very picturesque drive – there were numerous locks along the river and parts of the river were like a millpond. We quickly passed through the town of Bresancon which seemed to be huge and the traffic was horrendous. We just wanted out of there ASAP and decided to stop at the next likely looking town for lunch.

This proved to be an interesting town - Marnay. Three roads met in the middle of the town where there was a bakery, and each road seemed barely big enough for one car, yet they were 2 way traffic. We bought French sausage rolls and a citrus tart for lunch and it was pleasant enough to sit out on the seat in the middle of the town and watch the passing traffic. A nice break.

Our picnic lunch in Marnay

The 3 way intersection in town centre

On to Dijon via the back roads. Found our hotel with the help of Dora. It was only 4pm so we decided to head into town for a bit of a wander. I am impressed with what I have seen of the city so far. There is a large area in the city that is closed to traffic and we were able to park and wander around. We visited the tourist bureau to get information on the Owl Trail (a historic walk) to do tomorrow, and visited the Maille (mustard) shop. 

Dijon - famous for mustard

Carousel in Dijon

Traffic in the city centre doesn't seem too bad but it looks like they have a reasonable public transport system so that could explain it.

War loot from 1383 proudly displayed

We decided to take pot luck at the restaurant at the hotel for dinner as we were both feeling pretty tired and a bit stressed with the city driving. Interesting! There was no menu, a buffet was offered but I looked at the buffet and was not impressed. We just asked the waiter if chicken or steak were possible and that is what we got. We had no idea what it would end up costing and were pleasantly surprised at the end.

Tomorrow we move on again to Vienne (near Lyon). We will stay 2 nights there and get the washing done and have a day’s rest from driving.