So today I had deep-fried camembert and roast lamb for lunch – what did YOU have?
Ross and I ventured off on our own today to check out Dijon. We decided to walk, following the path along the canal into town.
Dijon is a nice city – and while larger than most of the other places we've been to, a lot more manageable than Paris (gosh, I sound like a true Canberran!). The lady who served us our coffee seemed to know everyone, and the main part of her job seemed to be to stand on the footpath and greet everyone warmly as they went by.
Following the narrow streets in all directions we ended up finding the main part of town, with shops lining the cobbled main pedestrian street. Definitely nicer than Westfield Woden (which I'm not missing in the slightest!).
Feeling a bit peckish we found the laneway that seemed to have the restaurants and cafes everyone wanted to eat at. Having read a little bit about Le petit roi de la lune in the Lonely Planet (although this can be no recommendation) I was keen to see if it lived up to its reputation.
Being hungry does not render me very patient with translating the french menu, and the waiter kindly went through the finer points in english with us. After looking around at the plates of food on the tables around us, we were pretty excited at the prospects before us.
Our entree.... where to start. I'm not sure I know enough adjectives to describe how delicious this was. Crumbed and deep-fried camembert with blackberry jam and onions. Your knife just slid through it, and the combination of the cheese and the jam on the bread was just incredible. Washed down with the nice red Ross had picked out for us, and we were off to a cracking start.
And then came the mains. After living in a campervan for two weeks with reasonably limited cooking facilities the thought of a well cooked piece of red meat was making my mouth water. Luckily, the plate put before me did not disappoint. Three large pieces of roast lamb – cooked perfectly to medium – and baked potato pieces, served with rosemary gravy. Happy place!
Ross's was no less spectacular – Salmon Tartiflette. Tartiflette's closest Australian comparison would have to be potato bake – but in France, as with most of their food, it has a lot more cream and a lot more cheese.
Deciding to walk off our lunch we headed for Le Musee des Beaux Arts – a free museum in Dijon with some Manet paintings, some original Rude sculptures, and 'Adam and Eve in Paradise' (the painting on which the opening sequence of Desperate Housewives is based). But as with lots of indoor places we've encountered so far – poorly air conditioned! Lift your game, France :)
