Tamara Colloff-Bennett

What’s In A Name
No sooner did I see the name ‘Dijon’ on our map in the car as we drove to the town from Lyon in May than I could almost taste the delicious, grainy mustard for which the town is so well known. 

Having decided to take ‘the slow boat to China’ to travel from Lyon to Dijon in the eastern part of France by opting for the side roads and delightful country sights versus the far quicker autoroute, we passed mile after mile of vineyards as we got closer to Dijon.

Here is a photograph of the center of this town which is the historical capital of the province of Burgundy:

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Under the Spell
A hot spell was gripping the region, and the vineyards gleamed in the baking temperatures along the roads leading to Dijon.

The vineyards were dotted with people here and there who were tending the grapes, and we felt concern about the workers as we watched their bent figures.

The Wines of Burgundy
We read in our guidebooks that this Burgundy region was one of the premiere regions for wines. I don’t know much about wines, but of course I recognized Pinot Noir, Chardonnay, Chablis, and Beaujolais – the names of some of the world-famous wines created in the area.

‘Mellow Yellow’ It Isn’t
As well as seeing vast rows of ripening grapes on sturdy vines, we saw swatches of shocking-yellow rapeseed carpeting the fields as you can see in the photograph below:

 

One can also see such rapeseed crops in the countryside around our home in England at this time of the year. Whenever I see rapeseed blossoming in England or in France, I have the same reaction, time and again: I gasp at its startling, unbelievable (as in ‘un-believable’) beauty.

Van Gogh’s Genius
I immediately thought of Van Gogh’s paintings when I first caught sight of rapeseed.

When Van Gogh painted such scenes, I had reasoned before I moved to England ten years ago, surely he was exaggerating reality. 

Ah, but once I saw the color for myself as it is in nature – then I understood that it was Van Gogh’s genius that enabled him to relay such explosion of color on his canvasses.

Hunting for Mustard
Now that I was traveling in the Burgundy region close to Dijon, I wondered if mustard plants looked as vivid as rapeseed does. Living most of my life in cities and new to learning about nature, I was ignorant as to what we could find.

In fact, we didn’t see anything yellow other than the rapeseed on our travels from Lyon to Dijon, or at least what we could identify.

The Canadian Connection
So when we finally reached Dijon, we visited the Maille mustard store that has been in existence since 1777, and it was natural for us to ask where the fields of mustard plants were in the Dijon outskirts through which we had traveled.

We spoke in French and English to the amiable, friendly store employees. 

So imagine our complete surprise when theytold us where the mustard plants grow that Maille uses for its delicious mustard: None other than in Canada!

Canada, you may ask (as indeed we did too)? 

About Mustard Crops and Jean Naigeon
I have since found out from various sources that indeed 85% – 90% of the world’s mustard crops are grown in Canada, Montana, and North Dakota.

Most mustard producers purchase seeds from farming cooperatives that maintain huge quantities of seed for the mustard market.

I wonder what Jean Naigeon – credited with the recipe for Dijon Mustard more than two hundred and fifty years ago – would think about such modern ways?

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Viewing Ceremonial Cavalry in Modern-Day London
Walking in Whitehall in central London one day several months ago, we caught sight of a troop of Queen Elizabeth II’s Household Cavalry.

There in the midst of modern-day streets that were cordoned off and guarded by police officers, we saw lines of magnificent horses groomed to a T ridden by men who were resplendent in heavy coats crossed with sashes.

On their heads they wore high, polished helmets that reflected the cold winter sun, each one bearing thick plumes made from horse hair that cascaded to the bottom of their helmets.

From King Charles II to Today
According to the Household Cavalry Museum, the Household Cavalry was formed in 1661 under the direct order of King Charles II.

Today in 2009, it consists of the two senior regiments of the British Army – the Life Guards, and the Blues and Royals.

Each day they exchange duties and the regiment that is stationed at Buckingham Palace rides down the broad avenue called the Mall and ceremonially hands over its responsibilities to the other regiment which they rides back up the Mall to Buckingham Palace.

Gloved Hands and Shining Swords
That day we saw members of the Blues and Royals, dressed in their navy-blue capes with red collars and red plumes on their helmets. We also saw their fellow members from the Life Guards, and they were dressed in red capes with black collars and white plumes on their helmets.

All of these men of the cavalry also carried shining swords in their impeccably white-gloved hands.

You can see here in this photo when these two groups were ‘changing the Guard’, as it is called:
 

The Household Cavalry’s Two Roles
The cavalry has two roles: as a mounted regiment (on horseback), it guards Queen Elizabeth II on ceremonial occasions in London and across the United Kingdom. It’s also an essential element of the royal pageantry in England.

Its other role is as an operational regiment. There the regiment’s horses are replaced by armored fighting vehicles, and its men serve around the world, including units that are currently deployed on active service in Iraq and Afghanistan.

Along with its members being deployed in active service, the Household Cavalry also prides itself on its mission to further international peace keeping and humanitarian operations.

The Daily Ceremonial Procession To Buckingham Palace
The regiment holds its ceremonial Changing of the Queen’s Guard daily on the Horse Guards Parade which is adjacent to St. James’s Park.

After the ceremony, spectators like us on that cold winter day can watch the regiment proceed in all its pomp up the Mall to Buckingham Palace.

A linguistic footnote:
The Mall – the avenue that leads up to Buckingham Palace – has a special pronunciation in British English that rhymes with the word ‘pal’.

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The Train Station on the Banks of the Seine
For its Exposition Universelle of 1900, Paris hosted a record 50 million visitors who came to see its world’s fair. The fair was grand in size, featuring 76,000 exhibitors and covering 1.12 square kilometres (277 acres) of Paris.

A number of Paris’s most noted structures were built for the Exposition, including the train station called Gare d’Orsay which was located in the center of Paris on the banks of the Seine.

Its Second Life as the Musee D’Orsay
Gare d’Orsay eventually became the location to house Musee d’Orsay, a wonderful museum whose doors opened in 1986 with its collection that focuses on artistic creation in the Western world between 1848 and 1914.

The soaring, arched ceilings and the museum’s lighting design provide an airy, uplifting ambiance to see some 54,000 items from architects, photographers, sculptors, and French painters that are on display there.

The Café with the Huge Clock
When you want a break from all that beauty to rest your feet for a while, I recommend the café on the top floor of the museum.

What’s so striking about the cafe is the huge clock first used in the Gare d’Orsay which hits your field of vision as soon as you enter.

Peek between the clock’s large metal spokes that divide its hour demarcations and you can look out as David and I did beyond the River Seine towards the Sacre Coeur, the famous Roman Catholic basilica located at the summit of the butte Montmartre which is the highest point in Paris.

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Impressive as that view is, the vista from street level of the River Seine is equally striking.

For example, here you can see the Pont Royal (the Royal Bridge) straddling the Seine, with buildings on the riverbank that are part of Louvre Museum:
 

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