Dijon 2

We got up, packed and left our luggage with the hotel, then went for a walk around the city. Les Halles (central market) was on Rue Odebert and there were also stalls on surrounding streets. We found a stall selling Vietnamese snacks and bought a couple of nem (spring rolls). I missed the vendor's question about whether I wanted it heated in a microwave. An Asian woman nearby offered to translate. It turned out that she was Malaysian, married to a Frenchman.

I found this collection of grandfather clocks with bulgy "stomachs" interesting. And the vendor had to transport all of them on a vehicle to the market! Must have been an artisan.

A cafe with a pair of beautiful stained glass panels.

Old streets. Notwithstanding these, Dijon looked like a prosperous city.

Patterned tile roofs are a feature of the region.

A charming cafe with many blends available. While we were around there, we overheard a local introducing some visitors to coffee in English so we followed them around a bit to take advantage of her commentary.

This building looks really old.

Tradition has it that rubbing this chouette (owl) on a corner of Notre Dame de Dijon will bring good luck. Obviously generations of visitors have taken this suggestion and worn down the features of the owl. Incidentally what an onomatopoeic word, chouette.

And the French love puns as much as anybody else. The name of this restaurant reads: Com 1 "fish icon" dans l'O, or Comme un poisson dans l'eau (Like a fish in water). Presumably fish are the main offerings on the menu.

It looks like Rousseau found being a real-estate agent more profitable than being a philosopher. (The business is probably named after the street it's on, which in turn is named after Jean-Jacques Rousseau.)

The fruit section of the covered market. Strawberries, yum!

For lunch we bought a roast chicken from a stall and a baguette from a bakery and took them to a nearby park. It was a filling lunch for two. Then we caught the train to Besançon, which will be in the next post.