January 2014

1st January I arrived in Paris where I was met by Wayne, who took me home for tea and a welcome shower before helping me with my three cases onto the train to Dijon. The irony of what came next is not lost on me. My computer was stolen on the train! I followed up with the station staff at Dijon and it had definitely gone so nothing to be done but get a new one tomorrow. Took a taxi to my hotel and settled in for the night.

2nd January Armed with a City map and instructions from the hotel staff I took the tram to the Toison D’or shopping mall (pictured above – note the blue sky, the weather is pleasantly mild!) and bought an HP laptop, new “Office” program and computer bag. From there to the big Citroen dealership to look for a car. As luck would have it they had a demo model which although only two months old and with a paltry 1000k on the clock, is considered last years model. It is also an automatic, which given current and potential knee problems, is a bonus. It is available by next week and at a good price. Deal done the salesman drove me back to my hotel and has undertaken to pick me and my luggage up when the car is ready for collection. Vive La France! The main transport hub for trams and buses is the Place de la Republique which is currently occupied by the Christmas Fair. Seen in the early morning light with its bare trees it is quite attractive.

Back in the Hotel I unpacked the computer and commenced the frustrating business of dealing with a new and seriously irritating new operating system and the down loading of all my lost docs etc, which happily, are stored in the cloud! A further annoyance was the discovery that the bag was too small for the computer and would have to be returned for exchange tomorrow.

3rd January. After swapping the computer bag I went back into town to take a bus out in a different direction to visit the Ikea showroom. I mainly wanted to apply for the Ikea card and see what options they had in kitchens. This consumed most of the day.

4th January Decided to go to St Jean on Tuesday next to sort out insurance for the car and apartment, get keys, organise electricity connection and hopefully open a bank account. Steve will meet me at the station. So this morning I went into town to get the train ticket in preparation for an early train. The rest of the day was happily spent roaming around this splendid City including a good few hours at the Musèe des Beaux-Arts. The exhibits were divided between religious art and depictions of the court of the Dukes of Burgundy, who were at the height of their power in the fifteenth century. The Ducal tombs were particularly impressive and the detail in the carved marble figures round their bases was impressive.

No expense seems to have been spared where the religious art is concerned with massive and intricate gilded alter screens in three dimensions making an impressive display.

Particularly interesting to me was the detail of Adam and Eve in the garden of Eden. The enlarged detail above shows Eve with horns!

I also popped into the Rude Museum which is housed in one of many unused churches in Dijon.  Rude was a sculptor responsible for some of the panels on the Arc de Triumph in Paris.  Some of his work was moved here to avoid destruction in the war years and other work followed, most of it on a massive scale.     The Place de la Liberation houses an ice rink, shops, including the Gallerie Laffeyet, still have their Christmas decorations up and the city has a “winter wonderland” air to it.

      

5th January. The day dawned bright and clear with the absence of cloud causing a significant drop in temperature.  I took a walk down to the canal and back. As it is Sunday hardly anything was open and I enjoyed the ability to photograph without views obscured by people and cars. A few interesting observations included the extraordinary number of specialist hat shops, the number of small specialist shops of all sorts and the apparent absence of big supermarkets. I like the idea that there is one day of the week when rampant consumerism ceases. What people were out were running, cycling, pushing prams, walking dogs or enjoying a stroll.

         

      

Back in the centre of town the Cathedral provided a stunning example of one of the particular architectural features of Burgundy. the coloured roof tiles.

 

Further on the posts and telegraph building reminded one of just how much space telecommunications took up prior to the digital age and more examples of colourful roofs came into view.

                  

Yesterday I had lunch in a little tea house called La Chouette ( the owl) of which there is much evidence in the city including “the owl trail” indicated by little brass owl placqes inserted into the pavement. I asked the proprietor what this was all about. Legend has it that an architect that was responsible for much of the nearby church of Notre Dame had a pet owl that went everywhere with him and of which he was very fond. After his death a little owl was carved into a wall of the church.

Today I took lunch at a bakery and tart shop. The selection of breads was impressive and the coffee was excellent. All for five euros.

In the afternoon I took a walk down to the Place Republic to watch the French at play and have a cup of mulled wine.

Le Roi des Gallettes is celebrated today and all the patiseries have the tarts in their windows. There are charms in the tart and the first female to get a charm becomes the Queen and the first male the King, The youngest member of the family sits under the table and calls out the names of the people who should receive the next slice.

The next few days were very busy, including the previously planned trip to St Jean, which was a great success. I was able to sort out the insurances and open a bank account and my wonderful estate agent undertook to get the electricity connected, I had lunch and supper with Helen and Steve and took the train back to Dijon. I visited the Prefecture and got all the forms and information required for a French drivers licence and spent a happy day at Ikea choosing and ordering my kitchen which will be delivered while I am away. Booked the Channel tunnel crossings and an hotel en route as it is over 800k I thought it might be a bit ambitious to do it all in a day.

Spent Friday night in the Budget Isis Hotel

in Laon which is about two thirds of the way.

I really love “ma joli, petitte voiture rouge”.

She runs like a charm and, being an

automatic, makes for a much easier drive.

On arrival in UK on Saturday the GPS stopped working which was a bit of a bother as I didn’t have my UK street map with me and I don’t really know the South of England. However the sun was shining and I knew I needed to head west, so that I did and ended up. by a somewhat torturous route, in Brighton as the sun was setting behind the burnt out ruins of the old Brighton Pier which I managed to snap from a stop at a red light. Found a Guest House on the sea front at Lancing for the night and awoke to an equally amazing sun rise behind the beach huts.

14th January dawned bright and clear with the

temperature below freezing and a carpet of

white frost on the green in front of the Cathedral

It is my Grandaughter Charlotte’s 17th birthday today and Nikki is hosting a family dinner in celebration and to wish Henry “Bon Voyage” for his imminent departure to Austrailia. There were four generations present from myself down to my grandaughter Jesica’s two children.

            

         15th January Wednesdays and Saturdays are market days in Wells and as The Crown, where I am staying is right on the market square, I was woken up at 6am by the sounds of the setting up. Took a walk round the market and round the Bishops Palace. Things look very different when the trees are bare and sometimes that is a good difference because so much more of the buildings are visible rather than obscured by foliage. The “swan” in the moat was getting a clean today and this years juveniles were out and about.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Off to Jon & Nikki for dinner.