Lost days in Lyon

Written 7/1

Train ride catch up. Let me fill you in on the two days in Lyon.

June 26:

I woke up bright and early in order to explore the city. But first I wanted to skype my parents. Turns out wifi is 4 euros at this hostel and cuts off at midnight. I decided to get the most out of my 4 euros so despite the early beginning to my day, I didn't actually leave the hostel until lunch time.

And for lunch? I had read about this place where you can cook your own meal with a chef. With Lyon being the gastronomic capital of France, it seemed perfect. I made my way to the little shop knowing that not making a reservation was bound to leave me implementing a Plan B. And it did. They were booked but the receptionist was really nice and pointed me in the direction of a bouchon, which is a traditional Lyonnaise restaurant that serves traditional French food. Works out fine since I was intending to have dinner at a bouchon anyway. I sit down in this little family run, homey looking, French version of a diner. I end up sitting for quite a long time as there is only one menu that the owner explains to each person. Of course it was a little more difficult for him to explain it to me as I speak minimal French. Luckily, in all the time that elapsed between me sitting down and actually getting a glimpse at the menu, a couple sat at the table next to me (more like AT my table since they were so close) and their English was impeccable. They went through every dish for me and explained exactly what it was and how to order. Another French guy sat down at our table also. He, however, spoke no English but he spoke French so slowly that I actually understood most of what he said. Anyway, we all ended up ordering and eating together.

I started off with escargots, no better place to have a traditional French dish than at a traditional French restaurant. For my entree (or plat in French. Entree actually means the first course) I had this backed fish biscuit thing. The couple tried to tell me that this fish dish was a sausage but that thing was a big biscuit. I could barely even taste the fish. Either way, it was pretty good. It was in this really rich red sauce which turned out to be creme, wine, and lobster sauce. Now the snails? They were yummy. This is probably because they were in the richest creamiest buttery garlic sauce. *note on my palette* I swear my taste buds are not build to admire subtlety. Give me sweet, salty, buttery. That is all I really want. I will not taste the hint of tarragon. I have no clue what tarragon really tastes like. But know deliciousness. It is usually bold and it makes me happy when I eat it. *end note on palette* My main dish, the sausage fish biscuit thing came with a huge side of potatoes au gratin and some diced and sautéed veggies. The meal was polished off with espresso (as it should be). In addition to quite a meal, the owner took the whole restaurant on a little tour of the traboule outside. A traboule is a secret passage way and they are all over Lyon. Apparently, they used to use them to transport silk throughout the city in the rain. Seems as if this secret passage came into a different purpose. Thanks to my new bilingual friends, I was informed that a brothel used to be in the building behind the restaurant. The secret passage was a way for men to get in and out without being seen. The owner gave a lot more details in French (far to quickly for me to keep up with) and my lunch mates did their best to summarize his narrative. We went back in and had a glass of wine. And about two and a half hours after I originally sat down, I was finally heading off to see Lyon.

I had stopped by the office de tourism on my way to lunch so I had a map. I had also checked out some of the options for tours but decided that I would just go see the main points of interest to me. These were the Vieux Lyon, Fourvière, Cathedral St. Jean and the traboules and bouchon which I had just crossed off my list. I also added macarons to the list and the couple suggested that I go to the huge city park. I hopped on and off Lyon's subways and trams making my way to the sights. The Basilica Notre Dame on Fourvière was GORGEOUS. The view from this hill was also pretty cool. As I stared up at the Tour de L'Observation (an Eiffel Tower looking structure) I was hit by a sudden and intense need to relieve my bladder. Finding an appropriate place turned out to be quite a difficult task. Luckily my bladder is fairly resilient because it wasn't until about an hour later that I found a Starbucks. (Granted within that hour I had to walk down the hill and of course I wandered upon other sites like the Hotel de Ville that had an exhibition on the murals of Lyon. I added these murals to my list. I also saw the opera house and quite a bit of Vieux Lyon on my hunt for a bathroom.) Once that matter was sorted, I stopped at a couple of shops. Lyon is quite cheap by French/European standards. With 13 euros I got a striped tank, very French, and some pants. *Hammer time* it seems as if parachute pants are trying to make a comeback and have taken a foothold in Lyon. In every shop there were these things, in ever color and varient of style. Luckily, I didn't see anyone actually wearing them.*Hammer time over*

After shopping, I decided to grab a sandwich and have dinner at the park. This turned out to be more difficult than finding a kabab the day before. Patisseries in Lyon don't seem to stay open past 5. I searched fruitlessly for an hour before I decided to just go to the grocery store and buy sandwich supplies. Baguette, garlic cheese spread and Italian ham in hand I went to the park to dine. I found a spot by the lake and made supper. One good thing did come of my hour of searching for a sandwich, I found maracons. I had them for dessert and they were divine. I do not know why I waited until Lyon to try them. I think I will be loading up on them in Paris when I return.

By this time the US/Ghana game was well underway and I really was quite interested in watching. I had seen a bit of the last Ghana game and they were pretty beasty. Plus in my conversation with the couple at the bouchon, the husband informed me that the US and Ghana teams have the same style of play and it should be a really interesting match. It was! I found an Irish pub at Place Paccard right by my tram stop and watched the second half of the match. It was so intense and very entertaining. After that match, I finally understood why people bother watching soccer. As you know, the US did not emerge victorious so I settled my tab and made my way back to the hostel for the night.

June 27:

I had debated staying in Lyon an additional day since the train strike had stolen a day from me. Rather than stay over night, I decided to get up early and see the final things on my list before catching a 3pm train. Despite my list being very short (Lyon Confluence, murals, traboules at Place Colbert) it took all morning. I did also stop at the train station to purchase my reservation for the TGV which took about an hour. And I got distracted by all the Sunday markets around the city (I bought 2 pair of ballet flats for 5 euros, like 2,50 each!) Anyway, I ended up rushing to my train and if it had not been late, I would have definitely missed it. The train was over an hour late (but I wasn't complaining) and then the stop in Marseilles was also extended by about a half hour. I didn't end up arriving in Nice until about 10:30. And this is when I met the Pink Lady I told you about earlier.