As residents of New York City, my wife and I have lost count of the number of times we have been to France--but I once counted that I myself have been to Paris more than 20 times. We've also been all over Normandy (Rouen, Caen, Omaha Beach), to Strasbourg several times, to Lyon (4 times), to Bordeaux, Marseille, and Aix en Provence.

And Dijon.

In the fall of 2018 my wife and I decided we would like to actually try living for a couple of months in France--with a view to possibly moving there permanently, i.e., becoming expats. For a whole host of reasons, we decided to do our test-drive in Dijon even though we had never been there before. We wanted to live in an apartment, go grocery shopping, cook at home, walk our dogs (more about dogs later), meet neighbors, get haircuts, go to the dry cleaners--in short, actually reside in France instead of just being tourists in a hotel.

That's when we discovered Le Pasteur, one of the Les Apparts' "self-catering" apartments owned by Viviane. You can see pictures here on this website.

In short, we thoroughly enjoyed our two-month stay--October and November. It was, in many ways for us, a life-changing experience. Certainly an experience we will never forget.

My sense is that most people only stay for a couple of days, or at the most a week. So we had some special needs. We needed a weekly cleaning and change of linens, for example. And we wanted to bring our two small dogs. Viviane and her assistant, Alexia, were most gracious, responsive, and accommodating. Since our dogs are small, Viviane said we could bring them. In the Le Pasteur building there is also a group of "notaires," which is not exactly the same thing as what we call notaries in America. Be that as it may, one of them had a big white dog named Ice. A real sweetie, and our dogs became quite friendly with him.

Full disclosure, if you are thinking about bringing a pet be sure to check with Viviane first.

The apartment had everything we needed--especially two things that we absolutely cannot do without. WiFi and plenty of hot water. The Wifi was excellent and we only had to log-in once, not every day as one has to do in many hotels.

Also, there was no extra charge for the WiFi, something that totally annoys me about many hotels. And a good shower with instant and plentiful hot water! I loved it. There was also a telephone with free calls to most international phone numbers, but we never used it because we both had our own cell phones. (Don't forget to change your SIM cards.)

We did not have a car with us, but there are places nearby where one can apparently park for a very reasonable price.

A lot of European apartments have clothes washing machines (which is the case at Le Pasteur)--but no dryers, unless you consider a rack a dryer. This can be annoying to Americans. But again, we were in luck. There is a laundromat right across the street from Le Pasteur. So even though I hadn't been inside a laundromat since I was in college, we went there every week or so and actually enjoyed ourselves--again, just another chance to meet new people.

The apartment is very conveniently located in central Dijon. One block away (to the east) is a delightful Moroccan restaurant and a few steps away from that is an ATM. Next door to the apartment is a bakery that we visited almost daily. A pharmacy is about one block away. And two blocks away is the Monoprix, where you can get almost anything you need, including groceries. Public transportation is good, but the city is not large enough to have subways. However, we loved the trams.

If you would like to see more pictures (with descriptions) of our stay in Dijon you can check out the Dijon page on my website, listed in the URL above.

I highly recommend this apartment if you are tired of staying in hotels and I’m confident Viviane will do her best to make sure you have everything you need for a most enjoyable stay.

Un séjour découverte de Dijon surprenant car nous ne nous attendions pas à une aussi belle ville, chaleureuse et gourmande...
2 gros points forts:
- l'appartement Le Loisy chic, fonctionnel et très bien placé
- les musées gratuits!
Merci pour l'accueil et l'attention.

Nous sommes ravis de notre séjour dans ce très bel appartement Le Loisy, décoré avec beaucoup de goût et qui dispose d'une situation centrale.
Nous reviendrons très certainement.

Thank you for a lovely place to stay in!
We will miss you and Le Pasteur, Merci
Kind regards

My wife and I are juste completing one week in this lovely apartment Le Loisy.
Many of the previous comments speak to the cleanest, well appointed and great location of the apartment. We found them all to be true.
To us, the location is the best. It would be difficult to stay anywhere else in Dijon.
It is a great sleeping bed. We also were comfortable with all the other amenities.
Dijon is a fun town to walk around in with so much history. The location is convenient to visits to Burgundy wine producers. We engaged a private guide that was with us for 5 days and took us to incredible wineries. Such an experience would not be possible on ones own. While we had arranged that on our own, Viviane would be able to assist with making such arrangements. She has please us with our needs and request. Should we be lucky enough to return to Dijon, we will definitely plan ahead to return to "Le Loisy".
Thanks Viviane

We had a very nice there night stay here in Dijon at Le Loisy, loved to experience urban living in a French city.
We highly recommend Bistrot de l'Amiral for authentic burgundian cuisine, low-key, relaxing and great food and service.

An excellent and comfortable apartment in a perfect location and in a wonderful town with helpful and friendly staff.
Thanks for making our stay at Le Pasteur such a pleasant experience!

It's a super apartment and location. The owner, Vivianne was attentive and concerned about our needs and ver flexible with our arrival time. The two bathrooms and separate sleeping areas worked very well for us. The apartment is located on a quiet pedestrian way and beautifully constructed and appointed. The living room sofa and chair legs were short and a bit uncomfortable. The seating accommodated three of us. The fourth sat in a dining room chair. That said, we would highly recommend this apartment and we would definitely consider staying here again.

Viviane replied to our emails and enquiries very promptly and booking of the apartment was made very easy. Viviane was very patient waiting for us to arrive as we were late and explained everything about the apartment. We were in Le Loisy for a full week. It is a very well furnished, comfortable and elegant apartment. We enjoyed our stay and the location was fantastic. Right in the middle of everything but with double glazing it was very quiet in the apartment. Dijon is a great location to base yourself in to enjoy much of the Burgundy region. We would recommend to anyone to stay in Vivian's apartment.

Three of us stayed in the comfortable, well-equipped and conveniently located Le Pasteur.

Best to get around Dijon on foot as there's a one way system. Besides which, everything you need is within comfortable walking distance. The bakery (Maison Roger) is next door, Le Déclic (2 Place des Cordeliers)
Bistro/brasserie just around the corner and So Restaurant (15 rue Amiral Roussin) serving beautiful Japanese/French fusion bistro dishes and an abundant wine cellar a few mins walk away. There's a supermarket on the top floor of Monoprix (Rue Piron) - go into the clothes shop and up the escalators.

Two items to be mindful of are: no onsite car parking and feather bedding (which could bring on hay fever).

Dijon’s rich history, abundance of museums and interesting sites warrants at least two days to explore the city. There's a lot to do! Here's my top five: follow the owl trail, explore the medieval heart of the city, visit nearby vineyards (especially Patrick Pougeoise (34 Rue de Chalons 51130 Vertus), take a train to Beaune and shop at La Toison d'Or (Route de Langres, 21000) the massive shopping centre with Carrefour, Primark etc and reasonably priced petrol.

Would recommend a stay to anyone.

Appartement confortable, bien équipé. Accueil chaleureux.
Un excellent choix pour un séjour à Dijon en famille.
Je recommande

We had a lovely stay at Le Pasteur in Dijon. The hostess Vivane is wonderful! She was extremely insightful with information about the city and surrounding area and had great recommendations for us (sites, dinning). We had our 1.5 year old son with us and she was extremely accommodating with regards to what he might need (crib, highchair, child dishes, etc) and had everything we needed. Good location to everything in Dijon. Would happily recommend to anyone!

We had an incredible stay at Les Bons Enfants. The location was perfect - we were able to walk everywhere in town. We also had a car for day trips and left it at a local car park for a reasonable fee. We also enjoyed some wonderful meals in town thanks to vivianne's suggestions. All in all we had a wonderful time. The apartment was spacious, very clean and well appointed with everything we needed to make our stay pleasant. We traveled with our 3 year old and he enjoyed Dijon so much. Vivianne was also extremely lovely and helpful - she was so responsive to all my questions while we were planning for our trip. Thank you vivianne for helping us enjoy our vacation in Dijon!! We can't wait to come back soon.

Dear Viviane, thank you for the lovely apartment! Our family really enjoyed the feeling of home after a month away. We loved the 'boulangerie' next door and enjoyed the 'owl walking tour' and the museums! Thank you also for your very direct assistance with finding the local shop on a Sunday afternoon. Regards, Samantha, Shaun, Harrison, Sienna, Olivia' Melbourne - Australia, Oct 2013, Le Pasteur

We stayed in Le Pasteur for a week and loved it. From the moment we met the delightful, friendly Viviane who welcomed us, everything was perfect: the flowers growing just outside our dining room window, spotlessly clean, comfortable rooms and all the facilities you could want. Our apartment was an ideal base to explore the beautiful town of Dijon and a day trip to the extraordinary Beaune. The advice Viviane gave us on restaurants, all within walking distance, was extremely valuable: we had some wonderful meals. This an ideal apartment for a couple and I give it my highest recommendation. Peter and Jenny, Adelaide, sept 2013, Le Pasteur

Super séjour dans un appartement agréable où tout a été pensé pour passer de belles vacances. Nous avons notament apprécié les jouets à disposition des enfants! Merci beaucoup. Les Tessier, Arras, France, Avril 2014, Le Pasteur

My mother and I had a wonderful stay at Le Pasteur in Dijon. The apartment was beautiful and very comfortable. Dijon itself was also wonderful and the apartment was so close to everything. We wouldn't hesitate to recommend Viviane's apartment to anyone it really was a wonderful place to stay. I think it was my mothers favourite part of the trip. The host Viviane was great, she made herself available if ever we needed anything. Please don’t feel like you had to do more for us, we truly enjoyed ourselves. We will definitely contact you to stay at your apartment when we come back and recommend your place to people we know. Thank you for your hospitality. Julieanne and Kathleen, sept 2013, Le Pasteur

We stayed at 6 rue Bon Enfants for a week in august and found it to be absolutely fabulous! It is centrally located just around the corner from the Palace of the Dukes of Burgundy and the large plaza there has many outdoor restaurants and cafes. From this apartment you can walk everywhere you want to go in Dijon - no need for a rental car.
The apartment is in an historic old building but completely modern inside, with washer, dryer, dishwasher, television, a/c, excellent and well-equipped full kitchen - we cooked several times with great food from the nearby big market - and loads of space.
The views of the rooftops and buildings of Dijon were charming and l heartily recommend this apartment, which is also well positioned for day trips to the vineyards of Burgundy, Beaune and other nearby sites. Bill, Vancover, August 2013, Les Bons Enfants

Dear Viviane, we enjoyed our stay in Dijon very much. The apartment was just what we needed and in a perfect location. Best, Allyson, USA, July 2013, Le Pasteur