Dijon 1

Mention Dijon in a word association game and chances are that it will be followed by "mustard". But this capital of the Burgundy region of France has many other attractions including gastronomic ones. So it was a region of great interest to me. This is the Porte Guillaume in the centre of the city.

B had already found accommodation for us in a hotel so after depositing  my backpack, we went walking in the city. This is a beautiful half-timbered house.

A rather more solid building.

And a big one that wouldn't all fit into the frame.

A beautiful courtyard that is unmistakably French-looking, in the late summer evening light.

We dined at a Burgundy restaurant and the cuisine was very decent. This is the Porte Guillaume again, by floodlight.

An attractive bistro in the centre of the city.

The Darcy in the name of this cinema comes from Place Darcy, which is where the arch in the previous pictures is located. Obviously the boy wizard was also popular with audiences here.

Tahiche

At the town of San Bartolomé I found a decent pizza for lunch, although the "crab" was really seafood extender.

You must be tired of reading about César Manrique by now. He was born in Arrecife in 1919, trained in Tenerife and Madrid and became an internationally successful artist.

After he returned to Lanzarote in 1968, he undertook to build structures that harmonised with the unique landscape of his home island. As a painter, sculptor, artist, architect, and landscape planner he's left his mark everywhere on Lanzarote.

Sadly he died in a car accident in 1992, but the Fundación César Manrique that was set up in his former home and studio in Tahiche to this day lobbies for sympathetic development. One of the results is relatively few high-rise developments on Lanzarote.

Taro de Tahiche is set in the lava fields from the volcanic eruptions. The rooms are actually huge air bubbles left behind by the solidification of the lava.

It is a beautiful and peaceful house.

I had a lovely time walking through the rooms.

Even though it was mid-afternoon, I sat and enjoyed cool breezes in the shade outside the house.

There is a small garden too.

His huge wind sculptures are instantly recognisable Lanzarote landmarks.

Note from the future: This wind sculpture, Fobos, was an important story element in the 2009 Pedro Almodóvar film Los Abrazos Rotos (Broken Embraces).