Day 8 in Lyon

 [17 April]

More rain today, of course. But we've been pretty lucky so far -- we've had great weather for most of our time in France, and in particular for visiting the châteaux in the Loire Valley, so we can't complain. 

This morning we splurged a bit on breakfast: I made scrambled eggs and toast while we watched the steady rain. 

A little after 10:00 am we walked across the street to U Express where we exchanged our block of cheese that was suffering an identity crisis (Emmental wanting to be a fancier blue) for one that was comfortable being a fake Swiss cheese. From there we strolled through the steady rain to Place des Jacobins and the Nespresso store to pick up another sleeve of coffee. 

After dropping off our cheese and coffee we headed back out this time to the Cordelier bus stop. Our only plan for the day was to take the no. C3 bus across the Rhone to Les Halles and find a place for lunch. Oh, and Susan wanted to pick up another bag of praline rose for her next blog note project. 

After exiting the bus at the Les Halles stop and dashing through the rain we learned that the one vendor, Sève, did not in fact sell bags of the pralines but we found them at nearby Paul Bocuse. Now - where to have lunch?  

Since neither of us is keen on oysters and the like -- and many of the restaurants in Les Halles cater to such clientele -- we settled on a Lebanese restaurant, Bahadourian. Run by the same folks who also operate the large food pantry in the building. 

Susan had couscous with chicken which she felt was way too much and of uneven quality. I had chicken broquettes with couscous and it was delicious. All washed down with a glass of Lebanese white wine.

After a relaxing meal we made our way back through the rain to the bus stop - fortunately just across the street from the Les Halles entrance -- and walked home from Cordelier.

That evening I popped next door for a pizza from Nobile Forno. The place was hoppin' with orders to go, delivery guys coming and going. But I only had to wait a few minutes for the pizza to come out of the enormous pizza oven and I was back upstairs in a flash. We were thoroughly disappointed in the pizza: doughy and rather bland -- it was a 4 cheese, so whaddya expect, eh?

Tomorrow the weather is predicted to be clear but chilly. We hope to see one or two more murals and who knows what else?

Day 6 in Lyon

 [15 April]

Well it was bound to happen. Rain pretty much all day and a chilly rain at that. Also we experienced no small amount of washing machine angst, but that's the risk you run by renting someone's apartment. We've run across a wide variety of washing machines over our years of renting in Europe and Susie has pretty much figured them all out - but this one had us stumped. We could not get the damn thing to start; we went online to search for answers but to no avail.

Finally I contacted the co-host (i.e. property manager) and she walked us through the process, which was exactly what we had been doing! And still nothing. She said she would come by later this afternoon so off we went into the rain to Les Halles to pick up a couple of praline rose tarts for Susie's next blog note.

While we were out for the afternoon, I got a message telling me the machine worked fine and our co-host even sent a photo of her doing what we had been trying to do for the better part of the morning, or so it seemed. Anyway, she got the laundry going for us and that's what counts. Still, we are mystified.

Our first visit to Les Halles was a few days back when everything seemed to be winding down, particularly since it was after the lunch rush. Not this time - the place was, as they say, hoppin'! The various eateries are only open for lunch, and now we're determined to go back to enjoy a midday repast before we leave Lyon for Annecy on Saturday.

The sheer array of food offered, both raw and prepared, is simply incredible. 

paella

making paella

whole fois gras with cherries (left) and figs (right)

Limousin beef

 It was pouring rain when we left Les Halles but we didn't have to wait long in the covered shelter across the street until our bus came. A few minutes later, traffic snarls not withstanding, we got off at Cordeliers and walked to our boulangerie. A few moments later we were back out in the drizzle with a poulet baguette sandwich in hand and were soon in the warmth of our apartment.

After a light lunch Susie tackled photographing the red praline tarts which are quite the thing here in Lyon. One example from Paul Bocuse's Les Halles stand and the other from Sève's shop also in Les Halles of course. I'll let her tell you more about that later on her blog, but we definitely concluded the Bocuse was the better of the two. Both very different and probably appeal to different tastes.

One thing we often like to do in a new city is to take the hop-on-hop-off bus. We've had good luck with them in the past, and they're an excellent way to get a picture of a city. And being able to hop on and hop off can be an efficient use of one's time. 

In our case we naturally chose the first truly serious rainy day to do this but since a ticket is good for 24 hours we timed it so we can get back on tomorrow morning or early afternoon, assuming the weather cooperates. We did get to see quite a lot of what we had seen from the boat cruise but from a different perspective. And we also had the opportunity to get dramatic views of western Lyon (not photographed due to rain).

Anyway, we did get to see a couple of the other major murals that aren't too far away from our apartment so getting a closer look at them tomorrow is on our hit list. Although we started the tour up top, between the rain and cold wind we, like most everyone else on the bus, moved downstairs to the warmth and dry seats.

the hop-on in nicer weather

After the bus returned to Place Bellecour Susie and I walked back home stopping at U Express to pick up some groceries for the next couple of days. Chicken hobo packs with fresh haricot verts from Les Halles and leftover rice. Yum! With a red Menetou-Salon (Pinot Noir)!

Tomorrow we hope to get back on the hop-on/hop off bus plus more wall paintings!

Day 1 Lyon

 [10 April]

Our first full day in Lyon began as so many have on this trip - just relaxing and easing into the day. 

We began the day by showering (always a good move), sipping coffee and discussing what our moves might be for the day. 

First we popped over to U Express for more groceries. Once those were dropped off we headed over to the main TI office on Place Bellecour. We had a short stroll over to rue de la Republique - a pedestrianized street full of shops and eateries - proceeding down to the Place along with hundreds of other folks going this way and that. Not chaos but damn busy!

The Place, a large space dominated by a massive statue of King Louis XIV, is presently undergoing serious updating/modification (like so much of the city itself).

The TI office was easily located -- in fact it's the only building on the Place itself. Once inside we waited in a queue to meet with an agent.  

Place Bellecour

the TI office

the Lyon City card 

Eventually our number was called and we ended up purchasing the 72-hour Lyon City Card (24-, 48- and 96-hour passes are also available). This gives us unlimited access to the public transportation system as well as a river cruise, one guided tour and entry to several dozens of museums and other tourist venues.

From the TI office we walked home, relaxed for a bit, then back to the TI office to reserve two spots on the boat cruise for Friday afternoon. 

Our next objective was to make our way to  Les Halles de Lyon Paul Bocuse. Named for the local boy who made good, really good, in the culinary world,  this is a well-known indoor market with numerous eating venues as well. 

We strolled over to the Pont de Guillotiere where we crossed over to the left bank of the Rhone River. Passing some lovely amphitheater like seating overlooking the river, we made our way up to the Pont Wilson bridge. Here we turned east, just north of the Lyon Part-Dieu train station, our point of arrival just the previous day.

Pont Wilson in the background - our apartment is just a block to the left

left bank of the Rhone

the Basilica de Notre-Dame de Fourvière in the distance

Along the river we walked past one of the city's numerous open air food markets. If we hadn't planned to be out and about for awhile, we would have snapped up some beautiful fresh produce!

After about another 15 minutes or so we found our way into Les Halles.

The market was truly wonderful, for those of us who like to eat, and perhaps even more so for those who like to cook. Nearly all the vendors were open for business and we were faced with many temptations! 

While most vendors sold fresh meats, fish or cheeses along with a fair amount of prepared foods, savory and sweet, we saw no fresh produce. A few vendors sold wines, several dealt only in pastries and one stocked an enormous selection of spices, sauces and other pantry items, most from around the world. It was here that we stopped to pick up a packet of black curry powder, a spice combination we discovered when we grabbed a sandwich in Tours which used this ingredient. (Susan talked about black curry in her post of 6 April.)

salmon options

pistachio sausage baked in brioche

prepared foods such as . . . . .

pork in wine sauce (center)

Leaving the market we made our way across the street and waited for the C3 bus to take us back to presqu'île ("almost an island"), the peninsula separating the Saône and Rhone Rivers where our apartment is located. In fact the presqu'île is probably the busiest and some might argue coolest part of the city. 

After our bus crossed back over the Rhone we dismounted at Cordeliers and walked several blocks down to Picard, France's well known frozen food store chain. We first learned about Picard many years ago in Paris when Susan was in school at Le Cordon Bleu. We wanted to give some of their frozen savory products (fish, rice and vegetables) a try. 

From Picard it was a short 3-minute walk to our apartment where we relaxed until suppertime (we're doing a lot of relaxing!). I blanched a package of fresh haricot vert (green beans) from Morocco, and we microwaved part of a bag of Basmati rice with veggies. Not too bad! We're learning that when functioning in an unfamiliar kitchen, we like to keep it easy, both with preparation and clean up.

Tomorrow the plan includes boating on the Saône and perhaps a visit to the Basilica.