Salut...... from the Wandering Berkmans!
Month 2 based in Lyon has us renting a car and taking advantage of all the beautiful small towns around us.
But before we get to that--
With two rivers winding about Lyon, we had to take in a boat ride but instead of the tourist trap we took the 20 min Le Vaporetto, a river taxi that brought us from the ultra mod museum La Confluence (seen above) to just short of Croix-Rousse, the ancient "city" on the hill.
Just 2 hours away to the southwest is the beautiful city of Nîmes, the city where denim hails ("de Nîmes"-- denim!). This little jewel of a city took us by surprise for its sights, both Roman antiquities and "modern" late 1800's architecture, to its narrow cobblestone streets, squares small and large, and the relative quiet and lack of tons of tourists. It still has all the stores and infrastructure the locals need on a daily basis to make it a living city, not just one with souvenir shops. It's a city we would consider returning to for a longer stretch of time.
The Arena from 27 BC was impressive during our day tour inside but blew us away illuminated at night. It's still used for events today -- bullfighting unfortunately but both Sting and Metallica (Pete D!) , among others, have performed there as well.
Aptly named hallways to disgorge patrons from the arena. This design is still used in arenas today. I want to see a sign like this in
Lambeau Field!
La Maison Carrée
La Tour Magne
Esplanade Charles de Gaulle at night-- what a beauty.
The Esplanade leads right to the
Gare de Nimes , the train station. Look close and you can see the train passing through on the 2nd floor!
The (not really-- read the link)
Temple of Diana where I caught Don doing something he does best-- offer and then take pictures of other tourists with their camera. This time, a family from Peru was so happy to get this money shot. What a nice guy (:
Don loved every part of the covered market
Les Halles... except for this alley hailing the spice he despises most.
Ironically, that same day we went into a real live Indian restaurant,
Taj Majal, and I took my sweet time in eating this delicious
dal palek. How on earth did we accomplish this, you may ask? All it took was exceptional ventilation in the restaurant, take-out
poke for Don and a very accommodating restaurant owner.
A long awaited reunion with the Wornings had us travel together to Bordeaux with an overnight in the wee town of San-Astier . A decidedly Town of Clinton-esque view greeted us from the window of our charming little hotel, Les Rives de L'isle.
The kitty on the left stood watch daily.
And the delicious breakfast on this beautiful china added to the ambiance of a quintessential stay in a small French village.
Our shared
Airbnb in Bordeaux was definitely a step up from our usual stays-- this terrace says it all! We loved it so much we opted for dinner here most nights rather than go out.
Bordeaux is a big, stunning city by all accounts. It was easy to go from busy, full streets, construction galore, to narrow alley streets with nary a sound.
Here Anna and I casually stroll in front of
Porte Cailhau as if we own the place.
Don was a trooper at the fantastic local indoor market
Marché des Capucins, where he sampled oysters (ok, one oyster-- let's not go crazy) and lived to tell the tale. Sort of.
In the land of wine we took in a tour of a cave and a wine tasting at Art and Wine. Decidedly more tasty for Don.
Thank you, Mikael, for teaching me the proper way to drink the mysterious
Pastis. Never on its own, always with water (still or sparkling) and watch it go from clear to cloudy as the water is added. Magic! And magically delicious! And thank you, Anna and Mikael, for a terrific trip together!!
Don and I hit a number of textbook- pretty towns in our little Fiat. Here are but a few-
The medieval town of
Pérouges gave us a citadel, cobble stones galore, an exhibition on mushrooms, crepes purchased from a couple with a cafe out of their barn, and the lovely bit shown below--
gallette de Pérouges- the sweet marriage of thin-crust Jersey pizza and sugar. Bliss.
Val d'Oingt is one of the villages of the
Pierres Dorées, or golden stones, as the city takes on a golden hew because of the local stones used in construction.
Vienne, with Roman ruins and a memorable tapas lunch!
Another highlight of this month was a wonderful visit with the Saunier and Rossini families in the suburbs of Marseilles. It was great to spend time with our french family again!!
Speaking of family and friends, we head to NJ on Sunday and then NM later in the week for Thanksgiving to spend time with both. Lyon and the environs have been great but we're looking forward to spending time with you all!
Until next time, know that we are grateful for all your friendship and love!
Thanks for following along!
Don and Monica
Gorgeous pictures!
ReplyDelete