Hotel Du Stade Dijon

... really got what, but it all tasted good.<br><br>Our trip to Burgundy would not be complete without a stop in Nuit-St. George, where we again employed the "look for the sign of whoever is open" tactic and were not dissapointed. We got to try some excellent Pinot, C******nay, and even some Aligote (a white that they mix with Creme de Cassis for an aperitif) from some of the local producers. <br>Now its up to Champagne!

... Dinner was very good and everyone was satisfied despite ordering in French (the restaurant didn't have any English menus...oops). We made it back to the hotel for most of the Florida/Georgia game. The woman was again not very helpful in helping me get connected to the wireless but eventually I got it figured out. Angela's mom and I broke into one of the bottles of wine she had bought that day and we all sat around my laptop watching the game until after midnight.<br ...

... hours. <br>I got to Dijon at about 1840. My guidebook said the tourist office would be open until 1900 so I could get a map but it closed at 1830. Luckily I had copied down the directions to the hostel from the internet just in case. I had to take two buses. However, the second bus' monitor wasn't working and it was only by chance that I turned to look at the name of the next stop which I thought was mine, and so got out. Lucky I did though because I found that the bus ...

... so we rode in. Pastis and a (small) glass of rose for 2.20eu. Bit of a difference to Troyes where we were charged 8.10eu for a beer and a cold cafe au lait.<br>The site is fre but requires tokens for electricity (3eu for 1 hour) and water (3eu for 100 litres).This is pricey by French standards (the usual charge for 100ltrs of water - where not free - being no more than 1eu) but not too bad for such an attractive site.<br>One novelty spotted - a large BMW ...

... from Troyes to Dijon and just beyond to Beaune seemed, as I'd feared it would, to go on forever. There was some dramatic weather with torrential rain just north of Dijon, which at least took the heat out of the day for a while - it had been very very hot in the depths of the afternoon... But at last we pulled into Beaune and soon spotted a 'Camping' sign; it was easy to track the site down. 'Cent Vignes' is municipally ...

... outside, only to find the actual price is higher than advertised. The &euro;2.50 sandwich turns into a &euro;4 sandwich, while the &euro;1.5 coffee actually costs &euro;2.50. Most recently this happened today, in McDonald's of all places. A huge board outside advertised the price of an ice-cream cone at &euro;1. Purchasing two of them set us back &euro;3. Did we question any of this? Of course not; we didn't want to sound like cheap tourists.

May 11th, Friday: We spent our day in Dijon, which is a lovely city. It was easy to get there on the TGV train, which I had purchased our tickets online before we left the USA. I printed our receipts and just showed them to the ticket man who validated them. Since we were up and out early, we purchased our croissants at the train station. Dijon is a fabulous town with lovely streets and buildings. One of ...

... it wasn't a nice room at 28 Euros a night but the view was good and outside of a bed, what exactly do you need a nice room for? It even had this weird wash basin in place of a toilet in the room, I don't know exactly what it was for but I guarentee you I wasn't washing my face in it. Our first night we went super cheap and had salami and crackers and cheese for about 5 euros total so our spending that day was in the low 30 dollar range. Europe on 50 dollars a day? We can do it way ...

... thing putting them off was the weight of food in their stomachs and the constant drizzle - which is why we retreated into the warmth of the refuge to eat. We seemed to wave everyone else off until we were the only ones left without an excuse. I packed away and said goodbye to Maurice who was taking his regular morning doses of espresso. He suggested we meet up in Genève where he currently lives. I was waved off into the rain with my wet ...

... fun in the place since we played a bit of Volleyball and other social activity... only the 2 girls refused to participate and stayed aside somewhat angry. I tried to do some laundry which is needed and especially to get some sleep! --------------------------------------- --------------------------------------- ----------- September 23 Last of job finally, which ended by mid-afternoon because of a storm, rain and lightning. Everybody was way more happy (for most). I ...