The Month Of Travel Begins!

Drew's visit at the end of March actually kicked off a month of guests and travel all over France. (I didn't have a chance to sleep write while I was away, hence the total dearth of posts in April, so now it's time to catch up!) After Drew left, my first visitors were his mother, Marty, and her best friend from college, Jinny.

Marty arrived late afternoon on April 1st (no joke!), and after she got settled in, we headed out to the Wednesday market right down the street at Place Carnot to pick up a few essential dinner items: cheese, wine, fruit, and bread. We also picked up a sausage wrapped in brioche for something a little more substantial. Pleased with ourselves, the two of us caught up while waiting for Jinny to arrive a few hours later.

We had decided to spend a few days together in Lyon before driving down to Provence for a long weekend. So, after class for me and a slow morning for the two of them on Thursday, we headed out to explore Lyon. We started out with a hike up to Fourvière, where we admired the elaborate interior of the basilica and took in the panoramic views of the city.

From there, we decided to stop next door at the Gallo-Roman museum, which overlooks the ancient Roman amphitheaters. I had visited the museum once on a class outing last semester, but I was excited to go back because it has a really great antiquities collection. In particular, it has some of the best ancient mosaics I've ever seen.

Having had our fill of Roman history, we made our way back down the hill to the bank of the Saône to explore Vieux Lyon, the Renaissance quarter of the city. We walked through the cobblestone streets, peeking into a couple of Lyon's famous traboules, until we came to La Boulangerie du Palais, which is supposed to be one of the tastiest bakeries in Lyon. Figuring that we probably needed a snack before dinner, we picked up a praline brioche (praline pastries are a Lyon specialty) before heading back to their apartment to rest up before the evening's main event: dinner at a bouchon!

Discovering the traboules

Lyon is famous for its bouchons, but I had only been to one so far back when Drew first arrived in France in December. This was the perfect occasion to try another! After getting some opinions from friends and reading reviews online, I landed on Le Musée. The owner of the place was adorable, greeting us with a hearty “bravo!” when I told him I’d made a reservation and sitting down at the table with us to explain the menu and give his recommendations.

As expected, the meal was incredible. I started with a creamy carrot soup laced ever-so-slightly with anise, Marty had a mushroom and lettuce salad with a mustard vinaigrette dressing, and Jinny tried the terrine du chef, made of pork and filet mignon. Our next course, a surprise slipped in by the kitchen, was pommes de terre dauphinois, which are basically potatoes in a delicious, creamy sauce. Then came the main dishes, quenelle (pike dumplings) in a lobster sauce, lamb, and joues de boeuf (beef cheeks). The owner told us the biggest problem with this last dish is that it would make us cry with joy, leaving mascara all over our faces. He was only half-kidding. As Marty put it afterwards, this dish was"the tenderest, savoriest morsel ever to find a plate." (Have I mentioned that Lyon is the gastronomic capital of France?)

 

We were already stuffed, but somehow we found room for dessert: chocolate mousse, crème brulée, and pain perdu au chocolat (like french toast with chocolate sauce drizzled on top). It was a decadent ending, but it was worth it! Then, just as we were finally getting to ready to leave at the end of our meal, the restaurant had one more surprise. Beckoning us towards the back of the restaurant with a few other English-speaking tourists, the owner proudly showed us the traboule and inner courtyard tucked behind the building. Since they aren't normally open to the public, it felt like he was letting us in on a little Lyon secret. All in all, it was a wonderful meal and a lovely night!

Les Gorges de L'Ardèche

After finishing class early Friday afternoon, I hopped right into the car, which Marty and Jinny had retrieved from the rental company and valiantly steered through downtown Lyon. Armed with maps and a GPS, we got on the highway headed south to Arles. Despite our fears of Easter weekend traffic, we moved along steadily without any significant backups. In fact, we were making such good time that we decided to take an unplanned side trip to see the Ardeche Gorges, a region a classmate had mentioned to me a few weeks earlier.

Marty masterfully guided the car along the windy road through the park, pulling out at lookout points along the way so we could take in the view. Everything was gorge-ous (you knew this joke was coming), but the Pont d’Arc was particularly impressive! 

Pont d'Arc! If we had had more time, I would have loved to go kayaking under the bridge!

After our stop at the Gorges, we finally made it to our home base for the weekend near Arles. Famished, we drove to nearby the nearby town of Fontvieille (our place was out in the country) and found a pizza place for dinner. Then it was off to bed to get a good night’s sleep before starting to explore Provence!

Rhône-Alps and Au Revoirs

Apparently, taking a field trip to the World Trade Organization in Switzerland is no big deal when you study abroad in London. Lucky Drew, you might think. But I say, "lucky me!" Geneva is pretty close to Lyon, so Drew was able to hop on the train at the end of his class trip Friday evening to spend the last weekend of March with me.

We had discussed traveling somewhere together that weekend, but I wanted to be in town for a friend's birthday/going away party Saturday night, so we ultimately opted to stay closer to home. We decided to make the most of the weekend by renting a car to explore some of the less accessible spots in the Rhône-Alps region.

We picked up the car Saturday morning and hit the road, stopping first in an adorable medieval village about an hour north of Lyon called Pérouges. We spent a lovely few hours there, meandering through the little streets and enjoying a picnic lunch.

Just imagine how pretty with sunny, blue skies!

We tasted a Pérouges galette, a regional specialty. Surprisingly, it has nothing to do with either the rustic pies called galettes in the States or the buckwheat flour-crepes in Brittany. Instead, these galettes were more like thin tarts with a layer of custard on top. Very simple, but a tasty post-lunch dessert!

From Pérouges, we decided to take a little detour to the Parc des Oiseaux, a bird park that we had read about online. Yup, a bird park! We were pretty excited about it, too. And, judging from the number of cars in the parking lot, we weren't the only ones! It turned out that it was opening day, so plenty of families had decided to take advantage of the free price of entry (usually around 15 euros per person!) during the first few days while the staff finished getting the park ready for the season. The park was much larger than we anticipated – we spent a good couple hours covering the grounds, stopping every few feet to gawk at a different type of bird!

We enjoyed the park so much that by the time we left we were already cutting it a little close to get back to Lyon for Flor’s party. Despite my pitiful navigational skills, Drew masterfully guided our manual car (he was a pro, even after 10 years since he had last driven stick!) back to the rental car lot for the night. Parking is a pain in Lyon, so we decided it would be easier to just pick it up again the next morning to head back out the second day.

Driving stick like a boss

The party Saturday night was a multi-purpose event. We were celebrating Flor's birthday, but we were also saying goodbye to her, Laura, Marko, and Bruna before they left Lyon, having finished their coursework.

I was thrilled that Drew had a chance to meet everyone (he had only previously met Laura and her mom, who was in town to help Laura move back to Germany, on our trip to the Black Forest), but I was also sad to say goodbye to the people who made my time here so special. This was one of those times when “Au Revoir,” or “Until We See Each Other Again” is really the perfect thing to say.

Mes loulous from left to right: Florenzia, Maria Daniella, Leila, and Laura

The next morning, we decided to take advantage of having a car to go for a hike in the Parc Naturel Regional du Pilat. After poring over a few maps online, we settled on a hike called "Les Trois Dents," which translates to "The Three Teeth," named after a series of small mountain peaks that look like, well, teeth. Although it was cloudy and threatening to rain, it felt so nice to be outdoors!

See the teeth? I count four, but apparently there are only three.

Before leaving for the park on Sunday, we had done a mini Lyon markets tour, admiring the displays at the artisans' market and picking up some fresh vegetables to use for dinner that night at the produce market. Arriving back at the apartment after our hike, we put the vegetables to good use. Quiche, salad, and a bottle of Côtes du Rhone wine. Not too shabby!

With that, our short weekend visit had to end. Drew caught a super early flight back to London Monday morning and made it there in time for his 10:30am class, while I had a few days to get ready for my next round of visitors...Drew's mother, Marty, and her friend, Jinny!