Start of our Road Trip to France: Dijon

Time for our second road trip of the summer to the South of France! Last fall a friend shared that they would be spending two weeks in the South of France this summer. We hadn't seen Sarah and family since our trip to England before the pandemic. After Scandinavia, I wanted a nice Mediterranean beach holiday, so we happily hopped on board. We toyed with flying, but decided to make a bigger trip of it and see some of the places we'd planned to see during Spring break 2020 that was not meant to be. We timed our drives to avoid the notorious "black Saturday" traffic days in France and did well overall. After we had most of our accommodations booked, we learned that one of Pete's old college friends would be spending the summer in Lyon with his family so we tacked on another day to stop to see them there. 

Our first stop was a B&B south of Dijon. We arrived in this charming city by late afternoon and spent a few hours wandering around. We had our classic road trip lunch at McDonalds (French McDonalds are much better than Dutch) and then as dinner was approaching in Dijon and we were running out of time before bedtime, the kids had Burger King for dinner. They were offered much finer French delicacies: crepes, etc, but they were not having it after a long travel day. 

A lot of old timber framed homes reminiscent of the Alsace

There were little owl markers all over the ground in Dijon. We didn't know where they would lead, but it helped keep the kids moving.

It was a hot summer day so we let the kids loose in the fountains. 

Jude went all the way in! 

Loved that mosaic roof

Picture perfect town square

It wouldn't be a French city without a carousel.

We found the city park, though the playground was pretty lame

Yes, that is a kid full on snorkeling in this public fountain. Right next to the "do not swim" sign 

The unique facade of the 13th century Gothic cathedral

And finally, we found the famous owl, a very small carving in the side of the cathedral. Pete was not impressed.

This city is the capitol of Burgundy and I'd love to return to see more of the city and experience the wine and culinary specialities it is known for!

We continued south 45 minutes to our B&B and after getting the kids to bed, Pete and I enjoyed a proper French dinner downstairs. A great start to the trip!