One perk of living in Beaune: one block from our house we can hop on a train to Dijon and be there in 20 minutes. And next to the train station in Dijon is an enormous new sleek museum and more called the La Cité Internationale de La Gastronomie et Du Vin. (which is a mouthful on its own). Everyone’s been chatting about it, so off we went. And while we were at it we visited Les Halles, another Dijon foodie destination.
In France, “les halles” refers to a permanent indoor food market, usually enormous and typically, the joint is jumpin'. The traditional ones look like giant greenhouses with glass roofs. We've visited beautiful halles in Paris (the original one, I believe), Lyon, Colmar, and other cities.
Les Halles in Dijon, here and above
We started the day at Les Halles. As expected, it was busy and bustling and had every kind of delicacy that you can possibly imagine. And what’s really hard to imagine is: who could possibly eat all that food?
The contrast between the gritty and glorious Les Halles and the slick new Cité could not have been greater. After an exuberant morning, we fell into the quiet of the food and wine museum. The Cité is aptly named: there was a Bistro, a restaurant, and a pavilion of very chic shops, with kitchen wear, gourmet foods, and even some pristine looking vegetables and breads. There was an old chapel on the campus, a Cave de Vin for tastings, and then the museum itself.
The new Cité is an ambitious project, but our impression was, it just missed the mark. There wasn’t much deliciousness to be had, no buzz, not much of a soul. To me it looked a rather extreme modern architect had gotten hold of it. There was a huge entry pavilion with nary a tree, and the bistro terrace at the entry it was so stark looking we actually missed it when we walked in: not a parasol, plant ,or a flower to be seen. I guess it’s the new generation? It was beautiful in a minimalist sort of way, but sadly, we had the place mostly to ourselves. Still, it was worth a visit--the museum part was great-- and we hope it gets livelier.
Take a tour of both with me, and see what you think.
First up, Les Halles
Beautiful veggies, of course, including some very fancy mushrooms
There's a café in the center of the hall
The poultry counters are not for the faint of heart
Aile de raie is a French specialty which I've not seen in the States
Lots of cheeses...
...and beautiful breads and pastries, bien sûr
And then, Le Cité Internationale de La Gastronomie et du Vin:
La Cave de Vin
Le Village des Artisans is a sort of boutique gourmet shopping mall
And in the Museum:
There were maybe a dozen of these gigantic (about 6' tall) photo murals by Denis Rouvre, depicting the different types of celebratory, and ordinary, French meals. Not glamorized, but provocative in their contemporary realism. They had titles like The Marriage, The Birthday Lunch, The Business Lunch, etc. I thought they were a bold addition.
There was a whole display on how to cut cheese properly at the table (you can read my post about French cheese etiquette here).
I think this display captured the essence of France's relationship to food, though I'm not sure I quite believe they don't think their food is the best.
They had plenty of cartoons about food from famous cartoonists on display. Here are a few of my favorites:
The Cog au Vin (Go ahead, jump! You're not risking a thing, it's a Margaux 2005!)
The (plastic) cake below was an art installation. The artist says, "I thought to challenge our ideas of desire, success and beauty...playing with the taboos around food, exploring the darkness of the veneer". Hmm...
"The Collapsed Cake", by Vincent Olinet
There was an interesting display about all the "rules" of French eating, like this one about the French aversion to eating with fingers. Non to french fries and pizza! (they left out asparagus though, that's permitted).
There was a display about pâte à choux, those famous pastry balls used in profiteroles, or stuffed with cream. They make an appearance at French weddings too--this is a typical French wedding cake.
Another artistic display: gâteaux fashioned from paper.
And finally, a display of some famous French food quotes, illustrated with French masters:
"The Aperatif is the Evening Prayer of the French"--Paul Morand
"I only drink champagne on two occasions: when I am in love, and when I am not"--Coco Chanel
In the COMMENTS: Wow! If you don’t usually read the comments, you still might want to dip into these. Such interesting discussions about how the French view us—and vice versa. Some of you offered some of your grievances about the French. We have a few of those, but not many—and maybe I will do on post on that sometime, though I am very sensitive about complaining about a country where I’m a guest, and which I love. Still, it’s true that cultural differences, good and bad are an endless source of fascination.
Monique, Francine, and Vagabonde added something important to the list of things the French don’t like or understand, which is the intertwining of religion and politics. They fought a war to get rid of that, after all. And Tom, our lack of universal healthcare is another thing the French don’t approve of, and neither do I.
Bonnie, I laughed at “really, couldn’t take turns keeping the bank open?” And Bonnie, when you figure out the French, let me know.
Tom and Miss Bougie, the situation in France is dire when it comes to tradespeople, but as Monique points out, they are having the same problem in the States.
When we renovated our house 15 years ago, it was not hard to get good workers. But those days are gone, I fear.
Marcia, it’s so true that the Europeans are drawn to places in the US which seem like strange choices to me.
Vicky, I agree: the French could not have been more welcoming to us, even though we are foreigners and even though we haven’t mastered their language (though we try!). And to the other Vicky: There are very few Brits in our area, so I think the Brits who do settle here are looking for more of an French experience than most. And you are right about the Dutch!
Aryn, you wanted to know more about the French reluctance to display their wealth. (It may come from the fact that there is a wealth tax in France, which is to be avoided if possible!). An example: We went into the garden of A french village house recently. There were beautiful grounds, a pool, a pond, walled gardens with tall stone walls. The house was imposing from the garden, all terraces with pergolas and roses. But viewed from the street? A modest stucco building right on the road, with peeling paint. You would never give it a second glance. This is quite common. It is also rude here to ask someone what kind of work they do, until you know them well; it would be considered a marker of class. In the States, “What do you do?” is the first question strangers ask of each other.
Christine I hope that wasn’t US you sat next to—would that have been at the Café de la Fontaine in La Turbie, one of our all time favorite restaurants? Ha! But we do try to talk more softly here, like the French. We love the quiet of the restaurants here.
I was amused by the discussions of the French “Non” as a starting point, as we have learned that lesson well!
Favorite READS: In keeping with the above discussion, our reader Anne Marie has written a book you may want to check out, called Falling in Love with France.
