Dijon and Chateauneuf-en-Auxois

Always happy dining at Chapeau Rouge, William Frachet in Dijon

My favorite dining companion

You would think our cruising life revolves around food.  Perhaps it does.  After all, we are eating 3 meals a day, most of which I prepare on board Rabelo.  But we do enjoying the French cuisine and so going out is a treat.  We returned to one of my favorite restaurants Chapeau Rouge.  As always the food was delicious, the service impeccable, and my dining partner the best.  We had the Burgundy menu of snails, frogs legs, egg meurette (egg in a wine sauce), beef bourgogne, regional cheeses, blackberry meringue, ginger bread soufflé, and then some more desserts.  It sounds like a great deal of food, but the portion sizes are perfect.  My only suggestion is that it might be time to change the menu.  Either that or have a seasonable menu as an option which they have done in the past.  My photos are interchangeable with pictures I took last year.  Still, every morsel we ate was perfection.

 

Dijon is a favorite place for us to visit.  We find it appealing with its elegant medieval and Renaissance buildings, as well as lively pedestrian streets.  The city is rich with history which you can easily explore on foot by following the Owl’s Trail which gives you the a tour of the highlights there.  It’s considered good luck to rub the owl found on the wall of a church along a side street.  Of course we always need to give it a rub.  I do keep thinking of the germs on that worn out owl.

  

I always take friends for a quick visit to view plaster casts of the work of the French sculptor Francois Rude.  The copies are housed in the transept of the 11^th century church of Saint-Etienne in rue Vaillant.  Admission is free and seeing the magnitude and brilliance of his work is worth it.

Napoleon Bonaparte by Francois Rude

Mail delivery in Dijon

Our friends Sandy and Alain came for a quick visit to Rabelo between their travels to Israel and Brittany.  I think we all agreed that next time they would spend more time with us.  They still managed to relax on deck while we cruised along the Burgundy Canal.

Alain doing a little drawing

Sandy doing a little crochet work.

Lovely ecluse and lock house.

We decided to explore the castle of Chateauneuf-en-Auxois this visit.  It is located at the threshold of the Auxois region and was built on the rocky spur encircled by the valleys of the rivers Creuse, Vandenesse and the brook of Commarin. It is an imposing fortress overlooking a wide open landscape.  It is thought to be one of the most interesting examples of medieval military architecture in Code d’Or.  The keep is the only remains from the 12th century.  The 5 round towers and the outer walls were built from the 12 to the 15 century. 

View of Chateauneuf with mustard fields in the valley below it. 

Beef with a little mustard added.

Aren't these Charolais cows lovely?

This is the way cows should be raised.

View from the road walking up to Chateauneuf

Chateauneuf-en-Auxois

View from inside the Chateau grounds looking out.

Courtyard of the Chateau

One lone tree adorns the courtyard, with the ancient keep in the background.

Sandy and Alain pause for a picture in front of the well.

Every time we visit Chateauneuf-en-Auxois we are thrilled with the views.

The town of Vandenesse below Chateauneuf-en Auxois