Dole (not the banana people)
August 17th
The Louis Pasteur Museum has been on our list of things to do in Burgundy for a while but every time we have been in Dole the museum has been closed. We lucked out because it is open just until the 19th of August when they are taking a vacation, as most of the French do in August.
Louis (1822-1895) grew up in Dole, the son of a tanner and decided that was not the life for him. He actually struggled in school but he persevered and became a world famous scientist. He is best known for his development of the vaccine in humans for rabies but also discovered the process of fermentation which is widely appreciated by all those who love wine. He of course discovered pasteurization so we can drink milk safely as well (if you like drinking milk?). He had a stoke at 42 that caused weakness on his left side. The museum contains artifacts from his life and is located in the actual home where he lived.
The city of Dole is located on the Doubs River and the Canal du Rhone au Rhin and is a lovely place just to walk around.
Apparently now you have to have reservations for lunch not just dinner in some places here so we had a little problem finding a spot. We sat down and ordered not realizing the portions were "Americanized" not the usual smallish French size so I had a giant salad and Jay a gigantic burger. Both were fantastique, so no complaints here!
