Mini European Tour Day 1 Dover to Dijon

And we’re off! We’ve been planning this trip for a while now which has entailed changing routes numerous times to coincide with the best weather!

We headed to Dover Friday night and stayed in a little B and B to save anyone getting up too early and driving from London in the morning, we therefore got a cheeky lie in and arrived at Dover Port bright eyed and bushy tailed (minus the slight Google map mistake). The ferry crossing was simple and quick, especially as we paid a tad extra for priority boarding and the club lounge (just £12 extra per person each way and with a complimentary glass of bubbly on arrival you’ve pretty much made back your £12!)

We then exited at Calais and began the 5 hour drive to Dijon (yes like the mustard!) These first roads were more motorway style and simply took us the quickest route to our destination to cover the distance. We arrived in Dijon at the lovely Logis Hotel des Allees just a 15 minute walk from the centre of Dijon.

We had a great dinner at an authentic French Restaurant ‘Le Petit Vatel’ – it’s always easier to parler Francais when the waiter speaks very little English and you’re forced to do so! So here’s my 2 useful French sentences of the day:
1. Avez Vous une table pour quatre S’il Vous plait? (Have you a table for 4 please)
2. Est-ce-qu’il ya une Bistrot ou un restaurante par ici? (Is there a Bistrot or restaurant near by?)

So a little about Dijon: it’s very bicycle friendly! Gustave Eiffel (yes of Eiffel Tower fame) designed the market hall. Here is a picture of some very Dijon-esque architecture:

The famous La Chouette (the owl) can be found carved into the Notre Dame, it is a symbol of luck so make sure you stroke it with your left hand and make a wish! (Careful you don’t miss it though as it is waaaaay smaller than Wikipedia leads you to believe! It also doesn’t look much like and own anymore with all the touching!).