View from Hotel Du Golf terrace

Our train journey to Seyssel went smoothly. Plenty of room for our bikes and nice to pass back through some of the countryside we had cycled through although the railway line did take a different route in several places.

We arrived in Dijon in good time late afternoon to relax before heading out to dinner at L’Essential. The hotel we booked (Hotel Nomad) had a pool and I enjoyed a refreshing swim. Would stay there again as it was very comfortable (efficient aircon) and walking distance to the centre for restaurants, excellent parking as well as a small supermarket where we could get fresh milk.

Our drive in the EV was a bit more stressful than the journey down. A combination of high winds, heatwave, and a lot of rapid charging as well as having the bikes on the back meant our fuel /recharge efficiency dropped significantly. It was particularly noticeable the following day when we drove up to Saint Omer and our journey time was probably a couple of hours longer than it would have been in conventional car when we would not have to limit our speed to the same extent or spend so much time recharging. I think it was made worse by the fact that we had not anticipated the reduction in range so did not plan that well for it. As an aside when we came back to Europe in mid August we had a much smoother journey as we cut our speed a bit and had planned for more recharges.

The Hotel du Golf was comfortable and had EV chargers so was a good stop over. The restaurant was okay but expensive in French terms for what it offered. However, at the end of a long day it was nice not to have to drive somewhere else for dinner. We also had beautiful evening views over the golf course which was special.

As a footnote on our next trip back to the UK from Switzerland in October, we tried out the Chateau Tilques just outside St. Omer. although better than our first stay in St Omer in 2024 neither of us thought it was as comfortable as the Hotel du Golf.

On the upside we had an outstanding meal at the Origine resturant in Gouy en Artois which we would both like to revisit. The previous night we stayed at Les Tonnelles in Bar sur Seine which was also very good, although next time we probably wont need the top floor suite! Dinner was very good. I had a lovely soup topped with a lightly breaded scotch egg which was outstanding. Less so the pumpkin tart which was a bit too much. Mike had fish of the day which he enjoyed and the pumpkin to start. The wine was not the greatest and interestingly most of the other patrons (French) just had a glass – so probably overpriced for what it was.

Interestingly just down the road from the hotel is an organic champagne estate with tastings and rooms. May be worth a visit sometime we are next in the area although the wine tasting and tour takes 3 hours!