Fall 2019 Day 2

Sorry about the color of the writing yesterday, I think I’ll be able to fix it today!  Still having some minor issues with keeping the pictures in order and it all coming together the way I want but I’m getting there!  Today we slept in!  We were exhausted after that long travel day. Our bed is comfy, it’s on the ground in the loft so it’s very firm, but nice!  We have had much worse!  We woke up and had a lovely French breakfast of quiche and financiers from our favorite patisserie in France, Eric Kayser. They are all over France now and we have one a block from our apartment. I got my financier recipe based off of his. His are the best!  After that we took a little nap because we were so tired still. But after that, it was time to start exploring Lyon. First we walked all around the square we live off of, Place Bellecourt. It’s huge and beautiful with a big King Louis XIV statue in the middle of it. There’s tons of high end shopping and amazing places to eat. Lyon is famous for Bouchons. That’s Lyonnaise home cooking apparently. We will be eating at mostly those from here on out while we are here. We really enjoyed seeing the more modern center of Lyon. It’s like a smaller version of Paris that’s less crowded while still being a big city. After that, we went to Vieux Lyon or the old town. We did a walking tour and saw all the neat things that were recommended. It’s very charming!  If I were going to live in Lyon, the old town is where it’s at!  Charming renaissance buildings. The most intact renaissance buildings in France. It shows how this really was the border area between France and Italy 500 years ago. After finishing our walking tour, which included one Treboules, or secret passageway. We looked online for a map so we could go on a scavenger hunt for more. They’re really cool and a ton of fun to hunt for. It wasn’t easy, but we found probably 5 more. We were pleased because we ran into people who were doing the same thing we were and they weren’t near as successful!!  That was a blast!!  We are still recovering from our long day yesterday so we took another quick cat nap before heading out for our reservation. We got to the place that we were really looking forward to eating at, and apparently, they changed their phone number since the card that was in our Airbnb was printed and a new restaurant took their number over, because the place we wanted to go to didn’t have a reservation for us. So, instead of trying to figure out where we ACTUALLY made a reservation for, we went around the corner to a Chinese restaurant I saw in my research that looked amazing. We always love Chinese food!  But, alas, it wasn’t meant to be, they were closed due to a vacation. So, there we were a half mile from our place in a nice area with no clue where to go!  Rolling with it is definitely a big part of travel, sometimes, things just don’t go as planned and you need to be able to roll with it and think on your feet and make a new plan that is just as exciting instead of just getting frustrated and settling for a bad meal. BAD MEALS ARE INEXCUSABLE!!!  With all the resources we have at our fingertips you should never have a bad meal. If you do, it’s your own fault!  So we sat down at a nice brassiere for an aperitif and regrouped! We found a nice bouchon that took reservations back in Vieux Lyon which was about a 15 minute walk away. We finished our drinks and headed over there to a street that a customer told us to go to to find a bouchon and just eat there. It ended up that we did exactly what she said. Now, I have a confession to make.  I know it seems like we eat all this exotic food and are total foodies and we are and we do. But, as my family and close friends will tell you, I actually have always been a pretty picky eater. I’ve been trying really hard to get better about it, and I have, but it still can be challenging!  Lyon is famous for using the leftover parts of animals like livers, stomachs, heads, intestines and other bits and pieces that I tend to avoid like the plague!  They are also famous for these pike dumplings. Yes, fish dumplings. I’m not much of a fish eater. I like shellfish, but fish is not my strong suit. But, those are the things they serve in Lyon and Bouchons are famous for these things. So, we ordered pike dumplings and a steak for dinner. I figured, if nothing else, I’ll eat mostly steak but I’m gonna try and share it all with Emily. Dinner came and the steak was very good and Emily really enjoyed the pike dumpling. She said it was great and that I’d like it. So, it was time to switch. I took the plate from her and looked at it and tried to figure a way out of it, but hey, you only live once and one bite won’t kill me I’m sure!  I took a fork full and went for it!  It tasted slightly fishy but really was more like creamy mashed potatoes in a yummy sauce. It was very good. But my silly brain still had trouble getting over the fact that I’m eating a fish dumpling!!! So I was struggling, all the while telling Emily how mad I am at myself that I’m eating this really delicious specialty of Lyon and all I can think of is that its weird, instead of focusing on how good it really tasted!  Even as a seasoned traveler, I still have work to be a citizen of the world like I would like, but I recognize my problem and I’m really going to try and work on it!  I may not eat the head of a calf like they had on the menu, but I’m going to strive to get better and better from here forward!  After the main dishes we had delicious desserts!  I had a Pain Perdu which is where we get French toast from in America although there is zero sweetness in it so it’s hard to see how we took it and made it into what we do with it. It was amazing, with pineapple, vanilla ice cream, hazelnut whipped cream and caramel. SO SO good!  Emily had a Mille Feuille which is a bunch of layers of this delicious fried crunchy stuff with banana cream all over it. Whatever it all was, it was equally amazing. Tonight’s desserts were fantastic!  We finished the meal and capped it off with a digestif

called Chartreuse, a very herbal anise tasting drink. It was CRAZY strong and definitely wasn’t what I’d call delicious! But it does help settle our stomachs and digest the meal so it was worth it. We walked home through the beautiful streets of Old Lyon back to our apartment, up the 4 flights of stairs and now, it’s time to get to bed. Hope you’ve enjoyed today’s adventure. We sure did!  Tomorrow more exploring starting with looking for a great coffee shop and a great patisserie!  Until then, Goodnight!