DIJON 2: Dijon was the first place I started to test out my French that I've been trying so hard to learn (I have grammar books, ooh it's getting serious now), encouraging that I can survive on my own without too much difficulty! Getting there slowly anyway... More of Dijon's lovely old buildings
I really couldn't fathom why there was a large polar bear sculpture in a park in Dijon, it was chilly there, yes, but it's quite unlikely any of the locals have seen one of these wandering around lately...
So of course I was even more puzzled to see this smaller sculpture in the museum (and it wasn't the only one!), plus little bears in shops, stickers on windows and souvenirs with polar bears on them! Bizarre and an as yet unsolved mystery!
Hey guess what, Dijon has a tower! So of course I had to climb it: nice view of the medieval streets
Gargoyle!

Dijon has lots of beautiful medieval buildings, as well as Renaissance ones. OK I like buildings...
Riveting stuff: all the different stages of making mustard. The thing that really interested me though was that the seeds to make Dijon mustard are no longer grown in Dijon, or even in France. They grow them in Canada and export them back for production! However, it can be manufactured elsewhere and still called Dijon mustard as long as they follow certain processes. Globalisation! An old fashioned mustard press
Some of the weird and decorative mustard pots they had on display in the museum: particularly odd was the toilet bowl you can see in the bottom left corner! Makes your mustard so much more appealing don't you think?