DETAILS

Dijon, France

GETTING THERE: Dijon is about 180 miles southeast of Paris. High-speed train service between Paris and Dijon (about 1 hour 40 minutes) runs several times a day. First-class train fares start at about $45 each way. View schedules and reserve online at the travel agency Voyages-sncf.com, http://www.voyages-sncf.com/ .

GETTING AROUND: The center of old Dijon is best explored on foot, nearby vineyards or canals on bicycle. Bike rentals are available through the Office of Tourism's Place Darcy location (see below) for about $20 per day.

WHERE TO STAY: The Sofitel Dijon La Cloche (14 Place Darcy, 011-33-3-80-30-1232, http://www.hotel-lacloche.com/ ) is a 19th-century hotel whose guestbook is signed by stars and heads of state. Double rooms start at about $225 per night in high season (April through June, September and October), $200 in the off season. For the charm and value of a small hotel with bourgeois decor, reserve well in advance at the Jacquemart (32 Rue Verrerie, 011-33-3-80-60-0960, http://www.hotel-lejacquemart.fr/ ). Rooms about $60.

WHERE TO EAT: For fine Burgundy home cooking, head to the edge of town and Chef Bernard Minot and family's Ma Bourgogne (1 Blvd. Paul Doumer, 011-33-3-80-65-4806); fixed-price menus run about $25 to $40. For gastronomy and fine service near the center of old Dijon, try Les Oenophiles (18 Rue Saint-Anne, 011-33-3-80-30-7352); fixed-price menu about $43.

WHAT TO DO: The Dijon Office of Tourism (see below) offers guided tours of the city in English and French for about $8.

In the Palace of the Dukes, explore the Fine Arts Museum (011-33-3-80-74-5209, free admission) with the marble and alabaster tombs of Burgundy's first dukes, and climb the stairs of the Tower of Philip the Good (admission about $3). One of the masterworks of medieval Dijon, "Moses' Well," can be visited from Fridays at 11 a.m. for about $8 at Chartreuse de Champmol (1 Blvd. Chanoine-Kir), where the chapel once stood that held the tombs of the Valois dukes. The site is now home to a psychiatric hospital.

Discover local traditions and sacred art at the Museum of Bourguignon Life and the Museum of Sacred Art (15-17 Rue Sainte-Anne, 011-33-3-80-44-1269; free) in an ancient monastery.

Everything you never even knew there was to know about mustard can be learned at the Mustard Museum in the modern Amora-Maille plant (48 Quai Nicolas Rolin, 011-33-892- 700-558). Entry is by guided tour (about $4) at 3 p.m. every day but Sunday, from mid-May to mid-September, Wednesdays and Saturdays only the rest of the year. The museum will be closed in 2007 for renovation.

INFORMATION: French Government Tourist Office , 212-838-7855, http://www.franceguide.com/ . Dijon Office of Tourism , 011-33-892- 70-0558, http://www.dijon-tourism.com/ .

-- Robert V. Camuto