Lunch at Le Bouchon du Palais, Dijon, 27th June

On Tuesday morning, there was just time for a final trip to Mes Bourgognes to pick up some goodies to take home, and then we packed up our belongings and travelled slowly in convoy down to the station, fortunately only a five minute walk. We caught the train to Dijon and then attempted to make sense of the left luggage situation. Fortunately the boys had prior experience of this, which involves buying a ticket at the station but then depositing the actual luggage at a hotel a couple of minutes' walk away.

Duly unburdened, we strolled into town to our lunch destination, Le Bouchon du Palais. ACC and G discovered this place last year, and had raved about it, so I was intrigued. It's tucked away in a sleepy little square behind la Place de la Liberation, and there were tables set outside, so we decided to sit at one of those.

First up were some aperitifs. I foolishly went for a glass of cremant, while G ordered a Pontarlier which turned out to be an extremely superior anis and much research since we've been home reveals that it's not available in the UK, sparking dreams of starting an import business.

We had a pot of white wine with our starters.

G had this house terrine...

...but I was thrilled to get this fried camembert which was absolutely huge, in case you can't tell. And this was a starter! It was cooked to perfection, all gooey inside.

For our red, we had this Beaujolais Le Ronsay 2015 from Jean-Paul Brun, which is one of these very pure, natural Beaujolais which I particularly enjoy.

As a main course, I went for this chicken dish which I'd heard was the thing to have. The waiter asked me if I knew what it was, and as I wasn't entirely sure, he then explained it to me. It was a chicken supreme swimming in a cheesy sauce made with three different cheeses. Amazing.

For pudding, G had ice cream, while ACC and I went for profiteroles, which was scarcely necessary in my case, but I justified it to myself on the grounds that we weren't going to have time for dinner that evening.

We lazed around for a bit in the sun and watched a little dog wandering around the square. I had spotted a sign for "Luxury Flat in Dijon" on the wall behind us and it appears that they have three flats right next door. The temptation to pack it all in and just move there was very strong!

We also spotted an open window into some legal offices and ACC reminded me of the scene in Engrenages when Monsieur le Juge had his diary stolen. I was just waiting for Josephine Karlsson or Pierre Clement to walk past, but we were a far cry from that gritty series.

In case it's not obvious from the above, I loved everything about Le Bouchon du Palais. The drinks, the food, and the relaxed yet charming service were all perfect and this was possibly my favourite meal of the entire trip.

There was time for a wander round Dijon before catching the TGV back to Paris. I'd made the schoolgirl error of booking the Eurostar before booking the TGV and then finding that there wasn't a TGV that gave us a comfortable time to get across Paris, so there was a crazy rush involving the dystopian RER system, followed by the dystopian passport control at the Gare du Nord, but fortified by cheese, chicken and profiteroles somehow we made it onto the Eurostar train with seconds to spare!

Many thanks to ACC for organising yet another fabulous trip. We packed so much in to a short space of time and as always it was great to be in Burgundy, the place where the magic happens. Until next time...