Moutarde de Dijon

Monday, August 16^th

Another grey, cool 14 degrees, rainy morning in Chagny but we were determined to go to Dijon today. We would take one of the large golf umbrellas Celeste has and that might ensure that the sky would clear. It had worked that way Sunday for the market. Breakfast and off to Dijon. Celeste of course wants to feed us at lunch but we told her that they were not to wait for us but eat and we didn't want them to change their schedule on our account. She reluctantly said she would make something that we could have later when we got back --reminds me of my mother and how she had to feed you.

We arrived in Dijon and the rain and stopped but we brought the umbrella along anyway, it is insurance. We parked below the ramparts of the fortifications built by the Comte de Guise for the numerous squabbles between the Dukes of Burgundy and France. (Marc can correct me here if my memory fails me). If you have seen the film of Cyrano de Bergerac with Gerard Depardieu you will have seen the wall as they used it in a battle scene. Left the car and headed into the streets of medieval Dijon, headquarters of the Dukes of Burgundy for centuries. There are still so many timbered medieval buildings and narrow, twisting streets. The main street of the old town is Rue de la Liberté and when you come out into this wide avenue there are pennants with medieval coats of arms fluttering all along the street hanging at intervals from the store fronts.

One of these wooden storefronts is the home of Maille la moutarde de Dijon. It has beautiful window displays and jars from centuries back. I have forgotten how long they have been at this location making their mustard, 17...something rings a bell and I will look it up. You can buy one of their many mustards which are unique as they use vinegar made from the wines of the Burgundy region and some mustards are made with the Marc de Bourgogne, a spirit made from the pressings of the grapes after wine is made. They also have their own line of vinegars and now olive oil which they import and flavour. They have two huge marmites on an old polished wooden counter and you can choose the jar you want and then which mustard you want them to fill it with. Luckily, we can get Maille mustard at home too and my favourite is a l'ancienne, a grainy type. My problem with going places like this is that I want to bring the foods and jars and bottles back and they are heavy and there is the danger of them breaking in my suitcase. Before the security scares I was able to just carry breakable things in my carry on but unfortunately no longer.

We strolled through the large square, Place de la Constitution, in front of the Palace of the Dukes. All around are hotel particuliers, homes of the nobles, from the 1600 and in the center modern fountains gushing water at different heights. We decided to visit the musée des beaux arts which is housed in Dukes' palace. They have a beautiful collection and the surroundings are very regal, they were powerful people who lived in here after all.

Then we bought light picnic supplies just to tide us over till dinner as we had a few more stops before we returned to Chagny. Dijon is 53 kilometers from Chagny but on the way back we wanted to take the scenic route, la route des grands crus, which is a route departementale that runs through the vineyards. On our left and right as far as the eye could see, growing up the hillsides were names such as Chambertin, Musigny, Moret St. Denis, Clos de Vougeot, Vosne Romanée, Nuits San Georges and then back along the Cote de Beaune wines.

We stopped at Fixin on the side of a vineyard and rolled down the windows to listen to the silence. It wasn't raining but too wet to sit outside so we had our lovely fresh, crusty bread and jambon in the car with the fresh air coming in then off to have a look at a little chateau on the way. We pulled in through narrow streets and parked in front of Chateau de Vougeot. We got out and walked around a bit then back in the car back to Chagny, continuing along the Route des Grands Crus.

Dinner was ready of course shortly after our return. Celeste is one of those cooks that seems to quietly and effortlessly just make dinner happen. It is surprising when you sit down and you think 'when did she make that' but there it is right in front of you looking delicious and ready to be eaten. Since the main meal is at noon this was a light dinner of fresh green beans tossed with sliced boiled potatoes and minced garlic and olive oil. (This is not French but southern Italian handed down from our mothers and grandmothers and still a favourite summer dish of my kids) Then there was a platter of thinly sliced grilled eggplant dressed with basil, olive oil and spicy , finely minced fresh pepper, all from the garden. Grilled pave, which is similar to our strip loin and cheeses and fresh bread and for dessert a sweet Cavaillon cantaloupe melon. this was all washed down with a bottle of 2003 red Mercurey from their Domaine. Too late to have coffee.

So ends another day with us full of wine and excellent food.