Hugotel Dijon

... is that everything closes for lunch from 12 to 2. They are serious on their lunchtime here, and when its raining and there's not much sightseeing to do in the small towns, well, lets just say we were lucky to have enough wine to get us through it. We also tried a proper french dinner in the town of Beaune, a 4 course meal for 12 Euros. Caity got Rabbit and Tom got Veal, or so we thought. We still aren't sure ...

... We slept in the next morning since we had a late night watching football and check out wasn't until 11am. Breakfast was served starting at 9am though so I was downstairs at 9:15am. I was very hungry and they must have known because the breakfast buffet was loaded down with everything, toast, croissants, pastries, cereal, coffee, milk, juice, and Nutella! I even went back for seconds. At breakfast we discussed what we wanted to do that day and with the 3 hour drive ahead ...

... been travelling another line and wasn't going to stop at where I needed to be. The hostel never bothered to tell me that the bus deviates from line 4 after 2000. This stop however according to the bus route map was only a street away from where I needed to be. Phew! A little sweat on the brow there.<br>Then I spent an hour looking for some place to eat after being directed by the receptionist that there was Pizza 'just across the street'. Being at an intersection; there were ...

... 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 ...

Look, I am very into going to foreign countries and immersing myself in the culture as much as possible. Its the only way to really get to know a place. There is just something about this country (this is my second time in France, first time I was 16) that rubs me the wrong way. I tried to put my preconceived notions aside, but its not working very well. So last night we went to meet Matis parents at their hotel. On the way I got the ...

... my homedawg, PDiz!) And our third roommate, Ayperi, is from Turkey and is an absolute doll. She speaks Turkish, French, and English and helps Paige and I with our French and teaches us Turkish. And we help her with her English. I have been so blessed with wonderful roommates. We ...

... nice little street cafe between the two hotels. Our first French Cafe experience was a good one with a young waitress who tried very hard with her English: So far so good: The laundrette the next morning was a little more challenging, with no attendant we had to rely on signs (and phrase book) until a helpful local came along. It still seemed to take all morning, so the theory that everything takes longer in a foreign country is true: But by ...

... to work its wonders. Turns out theres a english speaking french lady shopping, she hears suggests a doc, the pharmacie calls the doc, the shopping lady translates over the phone! and walks us to the doctors office!!! Insane! We were very happy. The doctor didnt speak english so I did my best to communicate christines problems then my own. At times I was translating between the 2! It made me laugh after, shaun was translating between a french guy and christine. We ...

... rolling hills and ancient farmsteads. Arriving at Dijon there was a dire shortage of placements for the weekend. I paired up with two young inter-railers, Simon and Dennis from Copenhagen. I was amazed at their faultless English. "We picked it up watching TV, it's all subtitled", Dennis explained. After our feed we headed off into town. "It's your 30th birthday, we have to drink beer". Although both just recovering from a hangover and ...