France, Part 7-A Day in My Life

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Note: All of the events described in this entry occurred sporadically between August 2006-January 2007. For more updated trips and entries, please refer back to this blog at a later date. An entry that takes place in the present day will NOT include a note like this. Thanks and enjoy!


As you have noticed, dear readers, I did a lot of traveling around France and around Europe for that matter by November 2006. However, I was not in Europe strictly to backpack, I was genuinely in Dijon to study the French language, and then I was hoping to study at the University of Burgundy classes related to one of my majors during the Spring 2007 semester. However, as you will see, plans will change. Nonetheless, I will give you a brief overview as to what my life was like on a day to day basis living in Dijon.

My life in Dijon can be categorized into two periods: 1) Living with my Host mother (August-October 2006) and 2) Living in the Residence International des Etudients (October 2006-January 2007). I will discuss my routines according to where I lived.

August- October 2006: I would get myself up at 7 am, get dressed, brush my teeth and then grab breakfast, which would normally be a glass of milk. I would then walk from my host mothers apartment to the bus stop (5-10 minute walk) which was in front of the Gallerie Lafayette. I would take I think it was the No. 5 in the direction of Universite. I would get off at the University of Burgundy, and attend class until noon. We would take breaks from our classes every 2-3 hours for coffee and snacks (the science building on the University of Burgundy campus had a coffee machine where you could make yourself an expresso, cappucino, noisette, really anything) and also get a snack from the vending machine. I would go to the cafiteria for lunch around noon because at the time I had a big group of friends that I was hanging out with during class breaks and at lunch time (1 American, a Norwegian, two Japanese, a Pole, an Italian and a Spaniard.) I would then head home around 5 PM GMT, where I would then go into my room and do homework and talk to my mother on the phone and listen to music. I would then have dinner around 8 PM GMT, which would normally include a salad, a meat dish of some sort and then some runny cheese with bread. Our meal was accompanied by very cheap red wine and water. Sometimes it would also be accompanied by one of her homemade fruit tarts. I only go out with friends twice during my time at her house. The first, is with a Swiss German and her friends who offered me to go out with them at L'Atmosphere a local bar popular with international students. I got to try a kir for the first time (white wine with creme de cassis) and enjoyed a lovely conversation with her and all her friends. We then started dancing salsa once the DJ got rolling. My second time was for the going away party for the Norwegian friend in my group of friends, who was going to start her studies at the University of Strasbourg in October. We take her to a bar located on rue Berbisey, a wine bar to be exact. Rue Berbisey is filled with bars and clubs as well as restaurants. At first we went to an Australian bar before we went to the wine bar, where we had really cheap beer. We then share a bottle of beaujolais among all of us and talked the whole night through.
Before all my good friends left to go back to their universities in October, one of the teachers took several classes on a tour of Dijon, where we got to see Musee des Beaux Arts, which contains a massive collection of fine arts by Burgundian, French and international artists as well as the graves of the Burgundian dukes, which is a must see. We also got to go up Tour Philippe le Bon, which gives you a wonderful view of the city. We were then taken to Cathedral Notre Dame, and told the story about the Black Virgin and also the fact that during the French Revolution that some of the art on the front facade of the cathedral was destroyed. We were then taken to Rue de la Chouette and some other streets where we got to see historic houses from as far back as the 12th century and also the famous owl on the side of the cathedral de notre dame, which you customarily rub with your right hand for good luck. From that point on, I rubbed that owl every time I was in centre ville.

October 2006-January 2007:

My daily routine changes because now I was living by myself and therefore I had to rely on myself for food because the cafeteria in the residence hall was awful. So my morning still remained the same, but now I took the No. 3 bus to the university from Park des Sports. My class routine stayed the same until all my friends left, so I decided to go get my lunch either from the boulongerie across the street (she had a deal where you could get a drink, sandwich and dessert for 6-7 euros) or the sandwich shop up the street. There was a McDonalds, however I only visited it twice when I was desperately craving food from home. Once class ended at 5 PM GMT I would take the No. 5 bus to centre ville and do my grocery shopping either at Monoprix or Gallerie Lafayette and buy my groceries for the week or two weeks. Eventually to save money I started to bring my own lunch or eat lunch at home once my classes started later. Before grocery shopping, I would go to one of my favorite cafes or actually go cafe hopping and drink an expresso, a syrup d l'eau (water with flavored syrup), Orangina or a diabalo (French style limonade with flavored syrup). Sometimes I'd also go to the little mall where Monoprix was located and have a crepe from the little creperie inside. There was also another store I would frequent in there, normally during the weekends, called Nature et Decouverte (Nature and Discovery) which included camping materials, science toys and experiments, movies and books as well as wellness and new age remedies, films and supplies. It just always smelled of incense and the selection was incredible. If I wanted to buy CDs or movies I'd either go to a little music store near Place de la Cathedral and also the Palais des Ducs (behind it) or FNAC, which is France's major electronics store, like Best Buy in the US. Since I had very little entertainment when alone, I began to buy more French language music CDs and also books. There were several book stores I would visit to buy my books, some of which I'm still reading today. The first was one nearby the CD store I would visit in Place de la Cathedral and near the Palais des Ducs. The other, was in front of the Post Office in Place Darcy. I also found a foreign language book store located in the Quai Des Antiquitais (The Antique Neighborhood). I would often frequent the antique stores, as well as those owned by local artists, the cute toy store located here as well as the book store. I was a normal customer in the foreign language book store, because sometimes I wanted a break from French language media. The owner came to know me by name and would recommend books to me. There was also an Italian grocery store that I would frequent where I would buy proscutto, bresciola and other Italian delights that was on a side street near Les Halles. There was another shop in the street in front of the Cathedral de Notre Dame where I would go and buy pasta, and there was also a greetings card place that I would go to on that street. For beauty products, I would shop at Yves Rocher. Nearby I would go into the chocolaterie (chocolate shop) and buy some chocolate and also go visit the gift shop next door.

On Rue de la Chouette, there was a Pain d'espice (Ginger Bread) shop that served the best in the city. There's also a really great shop that sells pain d'espice and has been in existance since the 18th century. I fell in love with the local pain d'espice, so much that I also ended up sending it home to my parents as a Christmas present along with a huge jar of Dijon mustard from the Maille boutique along Rue de la Liberte. Clothes shopping is a must along Rue de la Liberte, which I often did, primarily at Jenifer and Pimkie as well as Etam. There were several stores along Rue de la Liberte that sold local wines, sauces and ingredients to make local specialties like pain d'espice and escargot.

Sometimes I would pick up take out from a Chinese take out restaurant near the Cathedral de Notre Dame. I would also go to shop at Les halles and the Friday market that surrounded it, which would sell everything, including more fresh vegetables, fruits, meats cooked in the rotisserie, etc. I would also shop in the butchers shop across the street from it and eat dinner sometimes in the restaurants surrounding it. I would either buy bread from Galerie Lafayette or from my local boulengerie down the street from Park des Sport. Sometimes, I didn't have enough time to go downtown for my grocery shopping, so sometimes I would just go to the Petit Casino (which is just a little mini mart) and I was a regular at my boulengerie next door, whom I swear made the best bread, cakes and pastries of the whole trip. During Christmas time she came out with the bouche de noel (Yultide Log cake) which is very traditional for French people to eat at this time of year. I was buying one from her like every other week, because her's were superior to Monoprix's over manufactured version. I also went to buy her gateux de roi (King's cake) after New Years, which is also a traditional thing. Her's was one of the best, but her other pastries, her eclaires, religieux ( a creme puff concoction topped with glaze) and her cakes were the best of the trip I felt. Sometimes for dinner I would treat myself to dinner at the Chinese restaurant, which served really good food and had a nice full bar. there was also a take out only pizza place that did French style pizza. the French tend to use a lot of toppings, and like to use creme fresh, onions, bacon, sometimes even seafood. I would go for the chicken one normally.

On my way home from whatever I had done that day, whether travel, shopping, or dining out, I would see on my way home at the Parc des Sports, a group of 20 men and boys of all ages playing boule. they always played it in the evenings, beginning at 6 PM and end really whenever. They were out there, every night.

My social calender was bleak. I did however meet people in the communal kitchen and my Brazilian neighbor in the dormitories always made an effort to greet me and ask how I was doing. I think this was because he explained to me that his first year in Dijon was lonely and miserable because making friends was a beast. He didn't meet people until his second year, so I think he felt sorry for me and figured he would help me out by being friendly. We would talk about the food we were cooking and also about our studies. I also became friendly with a law student from Besancon, with whom I began to assist with her English by giving her conversation practice in exchange for French practice. Starting in November leading up to my move down to Aix-en-Provence in January 2007, I would meet weekly (on Fridays I believe it was) with a friend of mine I had made through my French classes back at my undergraduate institution in the US. We would always meet at the Alice in Wonderland Tea salon, located near St. Benigne if still there, and we would drink tea and try her lovely English inspired pastries and savory tarts. The proprietor would always talk with us, and came to know us by name because we were regulars. Occasionally, my friend and I would go shopping together and I was also invited over to meet her host family, which was a lovely couple who lived within walking distance from the University of Burgundy.

I would make attempts to go to mass at St. Benigne however I will admit I did not go regularly. Near St. Benigne there was a lovely music store I would go into called "Le Cle de Sol" which sells a wonderful collection of musical instruments, as well as academic books about music theory and also a wonderful array of sheet music for the classic instrumentalist. It was the best I had ever seen and I'd recommend this place for anyone visiting Dijon who is a musician. I unfortunately didn't get the chance to attend musical performances in the grand theater, but I did see Rameau's statue in the square nearby. In the same neighborhood there were also a few sandwich shops that I would stop in, and there was also a major one I would go to on Rue de la Liberte. I also liked going to the cafes along Place de la Liberation, in order to watch the dramatic fountain performance and light show during the afternoon and evening.

However, I would continue to travel throughout my 9 month stint in France throughout the country and also in Europe, as will be demonstrated in the upcoming entries in this blog.

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