Ooo La La in Lyon!

Bonjour.... from the Wandering Berkmans!

Month 1 in Lyon is proving to be a memorable experience in French life.  We're staying outside of Vieux Lyon in Point du Jour in the 5th arrondissement in an Airbnb that is spacious but with a wee bit too much street noise (note to selves- check bus routes when booking).  Thirty minutes on the noisy bus has us in the city but we love our local main street with cafes, shops and a twice weekly farmers' market just a 5 minute walk from our place.  Do we hum the song Belle sings as we walk to the market, baskets in arm?  You know we do!  Here are the spoils of our first visit.  

But first we like to fortify ourselves for the experience with an espresso (or an allongé - basically a small Americano) and maybe even a lactose pill-worthy tarte aux pommes before we take on the market.  This was Don's expression even before taking a bite of its lusciousness!

Lunch that day included a purchased roast chicken and potatoes with a homemade bread and tomato salad. Magnifique ! 

Since we're on the subject of food (and Lyon is known as the Gastronomic Capital of France), let's continue on this vein with some of the delicacies we've encountered.  A caveat-- we should have done more research into the type of food popular here--  cheese, cream, organ meats, pastries.  Between Don's lactose issues and my general "meh" for heavy food, we admittedly have not indulged in some of the more famous Lyonnaise offerings.  For example-- we have yet to partake in a meal at one of the infamous bouchons, small local restaurants, that serve these local treats.  We did not in fact make a reservation this past Friday at our local bouchon Les Marionnettes  when the plat du jour was cuisses de grenouilles (frog's legs). 

I'm pretty sure we had vegan burgers at HANK (Have A Nice Karma) that night.  And they were tasty.  

Food Traboule worked out well for us.  A cool food hall in Vieux Lyon with small kitchens of various cuisines, bars and cafes, Don was able to order ramen and I had grilled octopus over a bean hummus, loaded with cumin.  He was not amused.  

  

We do a lot of cooking at home.  This lovely plate of grilled peaches,  chévere , nuts and balsamic glaze over mâche greens was, yes, that delicious.  

This was a tasty meal for Don, a risk for me as I ordered quenelle de brochet , a dumpling made with fish and served in a rich cream sauce.   I would have been fine with the quenelle in a lighter sauce but overall the taste was meh and it was just too heavy.  But sample we must for our loyal readers!

A side note-- the above meal was served at the whimsical Nutopia.  A vegan restaurant, you say?  No, just a restaurant/club named after the "country" invented by John Lennon and Yoko Ono when John was having some immigration issues.  Check out the Nutopia national anthem here and sing along.

 

Some fellow nomads clued us in on the pot Lyonnais.  At 46 cl, it's the local carafe of house wine that is still a delicious wine because all the wine here is delicious.  Check out the history of the thick-bottomed bottle and why 46 cl and not 50 cl here.

Brioche aux pralines is the marriage of all things buttery, almondy, pink and sweet.  Be like everyone in Lyon and buy them at Pralus so you can sport their signature rainbow shopping bag.  Lyon a bit too far?  Try your hand at making them yourself.  Then watch your fillings-- they are toothsome!

For the person on your holiday list who has everything and has a thing for handbags and chocolate, the perfect marriage of the two can be found at our local patisserie Délice des Sens.  

My new favorite drink-- syrop d'anis avec l'eau gazeuse .  When you want a little something different and tasty but sans alcohol.  Think Pastis for a lunchtime tipple.  Don thinks it's barf. ( Also shown-- eggs stored out of the fridge.  They can do that here-- it's magic!)

Off to the city!   Lyon is not only known for its production of silk--  its traboules are storied as well.  They are passageways through buildings to get from one street to another and they number around 500!  Most are private but some allow nosy tourists to take a peek.  They were used, among other things, to protect bales of silk from the rain as they made their way to the Rivière Saône for transport and by the Resistance during WWII.      This traboule featured an interior courtyard with this stunning architecture.  

 

The Opera National de Lyon is perhaps the best of all performance worlds-- the facade is old world stunning and inviting, the interior is Matrix-modern, red and black, with a glass bubble atop it and undoubtedly maximized for the best possible acoustics.  And plenty of restrooms.  Christmas comes early as we took in a fantastic orchestral performance of the Nutcracker.  Don was humming it for weeks afterwards.  

One is never without a restroom nearby.  These automatic-cleaning kiosks are everywhere and free.  You step in, do your business, walk out and the interior is sprayed clean.  Stay longer than 20 minutes and the door pops open.  Continue to stay inside and you have a free shower!  Are the interiors always spotless? No..but neither are Starbucks' bathrooms.  A happy Don gives this baby 2 thumbs up!

We spent one sunny day renting bikes with the citi-wide Vélo'v and hitting an admittedly very small portion of the great 750 km bike path La Voie Bleue , this part along the Rivière Saône .

We love a day spent in the wonderful French act of flâneur, (de Balzac called it "gastronomy for the eyes") when you basically walk around and let the day take you where it will.  This time we stopped to look at a Jewish temple and from across the street we saw an older person waving us in.  Samuel, this proud caretaker, told us of the history of the Grande Synagogue de Lyon , of the Jewish community here in Lyon and of his wife, Monica.  (I'm sure she's just lovely.)

Nighttime is our favorite time to walk around and take in the sites. The Sanctuaire Saint Bonaventure leapt out at us, so beautifully illuminated.    

Not to be outdone, La Palais de la Bourse gave us a wink and a yoo-hoo on our evening  stroll.  

The exterior of the Basilica de Notre-Dame de Fourvière is impressive from any vantage point of the city but what caught my eye were the incredibly detailed mosaics inside.  Zoom in to catch the 1" square tiles on this one of many scenes featured inside, each scene about 20 x 10 feet.   

The street artist Ememem took it upon himself to secretly fill in cracks in the pavement with these beautiful mosaics.  Then the city of Lyon asked him to continue and he now has 350 and counting around the city.  Check out this article for more samples of his beautiful work.  

Fancy a drink on the Rivière Rhône?  Barges like this one, La Passagère,  have become fun little bars with outdoor seating on the river.  

We took a self-guided walking tour of the many murals of Lyon and some, like the Fresque des Canuts, are trompe de l'oeil.  At 1200 square meters, it's the biggest one in Europe.

A candlelight  piano concert of Ennio Mariconi's work in the Chapelle de la Trinité  was a highlight.   It may have been "Gabriel's Oboe" but it sounded so beautiful on a piano bathed in candlelight.  

No doubt Don's favorite area in Lyon, the site of the Théâtre Antique de Lyon, Odeon and Musee Gallo Roman merited two visits from him.  The museum is intentionally built into the hill so as to not take away from the ruins-- eagle eyes may spot the two viewing windows that look out onto the theater.  And yes, you can walk all over these ruins from 15 BC.  

We came to Lyon knowing no one and ended up meeting a good amount of people, local and tourist! 

We met Valerie, on the left with three of her 8 dogs in her purse, on our first morning in Lyon.  She and her daughter Alexandra (shown here in the middle) are our neighbors-- we just happened to walk out our door at the same time as Valerie.  When she found out we were heading to the market on foot, she very kindly walked us most of the way there via a shortcut  through the park to get us there in time (everything closes at 1 pm on Sundays in our neck of the woods.). The following week she and Alexandra (and pups!) drove us to the overlook near the Basilica for a sweeping view of Lyon and a cup of coffee.  Great neighbors to have-- and we don't even hear the pups next door!

Facebook is good for something-- we're able to get in contact with other travelers as we prance about, share a local tipple and exchange travel tips and experiences.  Fellow nomads Marc from West Orange and wife Monica (there aren't many of us out there!) and Sheri and Rod from San Francisco were great fun and 3 hours later we all walked away with some new travel locales to add to our wishlists.  

  

This meeting blew my mind.  Liangela (here with husband Kieran) and I counted at least 12 things we have in common (both worked in print production! both married to gringos! both broke the 5th metacarpal on our left foot! ).  And they introduced us to the pot Lyonnaise mentioned above-- what's not to like??  Another great Nomad meet-up.  

This meeting was purely organic.  They were a cute couple sitting next to us.  He sneezed, Don said "Gesundheit!" and the rest is history.  Hideki and Mimi were traveling around France following the Japanese Rugby team (did we mention we didn't know the Rugby World Championship was going on in Lyon the first week we arrived??) and just so happened to be taking a break at the same cafe.  Suffice it to say we are now WhatsApp friends and have an open invite when we're next in Japan.  Nice!

This post's SOL is for those who have that fresh fruit craving at 3 am and nothing is open (you know who you are).  Never fear-- Lyon has you covered with this automated kiosk on the street.  Pears? Mais oui !   Fruit juice ? Bien sûr !  Potatoes?  Voilà !

In our next post we'll chronicle the rest of our Lyon stay, including a great weekend spent with our NJ friends the Wornings in Bordeaux  and our weekend to come with friends in Marseille.  Until then, be well!

Thanks for following along!

Don and Monica