The ‘Good’ Tower and Facade of the Ducal Palace

The last time we were in Dijon center was 2017, it was freezing cold and although we had bought tickets to climb the Philippe le Bon Tower (commonly referred to as the Good Tower) we decided we could not face it and had a nice lunch and caught a taxi back to our hotel. The next morning driving to Switzerland I thought we had a puncture as the tyres were making such a strange noise on the autoroute – instead it was because it was so cold.

This time we stayed closer in to the center of town in the university district so we could walk in for dinner. The hotel apartment ( Adonis Dijon International ) we stayed in was slightly awkward to find, and felt like it may once have been a hall of residence. However it was very clean, a good sized room, simple kitchen but all we needed and very comfy beds. Fortunately the room was not painted bright orange like the hallways!

On arriving we went exploring for a local boulangerie to get supplies the next morning, about a kilometre away – good distance for a short run to get croissants the following morning when rain was threatning!

We walked into town for dinner, giving ourselves time for a little sightseeing in the old quarter highlights were:

  • The Good Tower, lit up standing proud behind the Ducal Residence. It was built between 1450and 1460. Apparently it is about 150ft high (316 steps) with 7 floors and it has an unusual (trapezoid) shape because it was built over older ruins.
  • The Musee de Beaux Arts / the Ducal Palace. This is a huge collection of buildings. We initially looked onto it from the Place de la Liberation.
  • The Church Of Our Lady, a 13th Century gothic extravaganza, beautiful to walk round the outside at night.

Dinner at L’Evidence was excellent. Coincidentally Mike found out when chatting to the chef at the end of our evening that he had trained at the Pyramide restaurant (Resturant Link ) under Henriroux   which we visited when staying in Vienne on our cycle tour. The chef was really touched to find we had been there and that we have been on a gastronomic adventure over the last few weeks.

  • Our starters were very unusual and tasty. I had snails with baby beetroot and oyster mushrooms
  • Whilst Mike had a cold plate of small rounds of swordfish accented with broccoli puree. This may not sound fantastic but was beautifully presented and the blend of different flavours worked very well.
  • For our main courses Mike had scallops on a bed of creamy leeks whilst I had escallopes of veal served with a mix of autumn seasonal vegetables including chestnuts. Very tasty, the veal was melt in the mouth and some of the best we have tasted.
  • Our waiter was most accommodating so we shared a plate of cheese and then shared a chocolate mouse desert on chocolate shortbread

Given the range of flavours we decided to sample wines by the glass and put ourselves in our waiters hands to recommend what wines we should drink with which course. He did an excellent job and put us at our ease by allowing us to taste each different wine before he poured. After such a lovely meal it was good to walk the couple of kilometers back to our hotel, especially as the threatened rain shower held off until we were back.

In summary an excellent evening. We would both love to return to this restaurant and would stay again at the hotel.

Our drive back to the UK held another treat which was a stay over in Calais. The hotel was no great shakes but well located, and close enough to walk to dinner. We visited Au Cote D’Argent. I preferred my meal to Mikes. I started with a crème brulee foie gras with slithers of roast duck breast. Absolutely stunning and very unusual.  The texture of the foie grass served warm as a very light mouse with a slightly sweet crumbly topping was delightful. Something to write home about. I followed this up with a very well cooked cod fillet topped with hollandaise sauce on mashed potatoe. All for Euro30! Mike pushed the boat out and went for 3 courses – well 2 and a half as he shared his gastronomic plate of desert samplers with me. My favourite was the crème brulee, what a surprise. To start with he had cold crab meat in a light white sauce topped with avocado mouse followed by monkfish in a light saffron sauce on a bed of spiralised vegetables for his main meal. It was shame that the monkfish was a bit.

Probably a restaurant we would go to again but not one we would go  out of our way to visit. However, to experience a really good meal on the edge of a ferry terminal is more than we could have expected and it rivalled any restaurant we have eaten at in North Wales. We have just got really picky with having had a number of outstanding dining experiences this holiday.

Click on play below to see a video of our photos in Dijon