Back Down the Bourgogne - July 22-28

More rain but less wind was on the agenda as we headed back down the canal toward Dijon. Luckily the scenery is very nice.


By Sunday we had returned to Dijon. On Monday after making Tim's train reservations for his Tuesday morning departure, we hit the town.
Since the weather was some better, we decided now was the time to make a trip up the Tour Philippe Le Bon. Built between 1450 and 1460, it was constructed on the site of another tower from the 12th century that had itself been built on the ruins of a Roman tower. It's 46 meters (about 150 feet) tall and gives a commanding view of Dijon's old quarter.

Looking East. St. Jean on the left and St. Philibert to it's right.

Place de Liberte. If it weren't raining this place would be jumpin'! The buildings facing it were the seat of the Ducs of Bourgogne government of old.


Dijon has many architecturally interesting buildings but we were especially taken by this Art Nouveau wonder.

And here, Tim demands satisfaction at the Palais de Justice.


They're building a tram system in Dijon. When it's done in 2013 it will be great. The current 20 minute walk from the marina to the train station will be cut to a 1 or 2 minute tram ride and you'll be able to cross the whole city in just minutes. In the meantime, since they decided to build both lines at once, major portions of Dijon are a mess. The area around the train station is especially bad with all the streets torn up. We thought this piece of construction belonged in an art museum.

Tuesday morning Tim left for Frankfurt and we did some shopping. Wednesday was museum day as all the museums in Dijon are free. Did you hear that? Free! Still no bike riding as the weather was still icky. Thursday we made the first lock at 9 am headed down the boring stretch. This time a big boat got to the front of the line somewhere along the way and delayed everybody but the only major rainstorm happened during lunch. Luckily we hadn't planned to get to the St. Jean town quay (now reopened) because we wouldn't have made it in any case. We staked ourselves to the bank just before the last lock on the Canal de Bourgogne at 6:50 pm. The last lock would wait until the morning. By 9:30 am Friday we were through the last lock, back onto the Saone River and secure at St. Jean's town quay.