Day 28 Soaring with Owls of Dijon, through the Loire Valley to Da Vinci's Ambois (8 Jan 2023)

 Day 28 Dijon to Ambois

8 January 2023

Waking up in our cozy bed in the monastry-hotel, did not ask for the little jog Arno and I have planned for our early morning activity...before the teens wake up!! So we dragged ourselves to freedom form the fluffy duvet, and set out into the empty cobbled streets of the sleepy Dijon.

      

 

It was misty and frosty, but so quiet.  A real treat, to witness the French town waking up.

We swung by the local french patessarie and took our special NOW-it's-TIME-to-wake-up offerings to the STILL sleeping teen-commune.

Our activity for the morning started with a visit to the Tourist Information. Here we purchsed a little Owl Route walking guide, and set off on the owl route. You can walk as wide and far as time allows. The owl is the symbol of Dijon, and the Dijon Owl Trail is the city's way of leading visitors past the 22 main sights. (You will pass 1600 little owls set in the sidewalks of the Old Town)

 We had two hours and picked the route, which would lead us pass the famous bell-tower at 11am to witness the moving clock. The Jacquemart, which can be seen on the south tower of the façade of Notre Dame Cathedral, is the metal automaton of one of the first sounding clocks, manufactured from about 1350. 

The clock and its Jaquemart were the pride of the city of Courtrai in Belgium, placed on the tower of the halls, and reputed to be the most beautiful. The Duke of Burgundy Philip the Hardi, launched a campaign against a rebellion of towns in Flanders and plundered Courtrai in 1382. He offered the famous clock with his Jacquemart and bell to the city of Dijon, which had supplied him with more than a thousand men-at-arms.

 At that time, France had only three such clocks. Before installing it, the commune bought metal and another bell to recast them with that of Courtai and have a new much heavier, it weighs 3400 kilos. Only one character rang the hours, a companion, Jacqueline, was added in 1651 with the mission of "relieving the stamp, which is always struck in the same place, makes a lot of use". The bellor is replaced at the same time, and following a contemporary poet of a "short-sized man, rather badly made" he becomes a "strong man, like a Roland, a Hercules". The couple Jacquemart and Jacqueline welcomed a child, Jacquelinet, in 1751 to ring the half-hours. In 1884, during the restoration of the church, a daughter, Jacquelinette, was added to strike the quarter of an hour with her brother.

We started our walk, with the mandatory petting of the owl-statue, nestled in the left corner of the Notre Dame....with our left hands, just so we can be 'fully protected form the evil spirits of Dijon'.

We stopped for a while at the gallery of modern art, enjoyed the cobbled streets, lined with old stone high-walls - the ones with the crazy BIG doors, painted in wonderfully bright colours. Back in the square, we were just in time to witness the little figures announcing the hour. Not so spectacular as I was hoping for, but if you take into account that they dated from the 18th century...quite impressive!! 

We reached our cozy little airbnb flat in Ambois just after dark. It was a bit of a struggle to understand the hostesses' french instruction. Luckily we had two helpful learners of the language amongst us, so finally we got access to the flat. 

Yes....That's how teens relax.....

After a long day on the road, Arno treated us with a great dinner in a traditional crepe's restaurant at the foot of the Royla Chateau-de Amboise.