Yesterday I arrived in Lyon by train. I left Colmar in the morning and took a train to Lyon. The journey lasted 3.5 hours and made a few stops. I left the vineyards of Alsace and then transversed through the vineyards of Burgundy. On my right the rolling hills of the Burgundy Grand Crus and to my left, the Saone river. During the trip, I spent my time eavesdropping on the two women in front of me. They were grandmother and granddaughter who spent the time discussing, conspiring, criticizing members of their family, and getting out to smoke while the train made a stop. I smiled. I thought of my own grandmother and of my recent trip to Mexico City were we spent the time going to museums. I’m sure if someone where eavesdropping on us, we would sound similar to these two women. We reached Lyon just after 1pm and I took a taxi to my AirBnB. Once I had dropped off my luggage, I rushed out of the apartment and into the city I love. Six years ago, I lived here for a few months for a study abroad. This place to me feels like home.
Time for Some Shopping!
The first thing I did in Lyon was to go to Rue de la Republic (which is located a block away from my apartment) and find my favorite shops. Camaieu, Mango, Pimkie, Naf Naf, and more. I bought a nice coat for the winter in Naf Naf which I cannot wait to use. Today, I went back to do some additional shopping, but this time in the fnac where I bought some books. Oh, yeah, I also ventured into Printemps where I got a makeover from the sales lady at the Dior makeup counter. Sometimes a girl just needs to feel as glamours as Natalie Portman, even if it is just for a minute. đ
The Capital of Gastronomy
Lyon is known as the French capital of Gastronomy. It has a long history of extraordinary chefs like Paul Bocuse. The food here is incredible. In fact they just opened the Cite de la Gastronomie, a place where there are cooking demonstrations, classes, and history of French gastronomy. Today I stopped at one of my favorite spots. It is called CafĂ© de la Ficelle. It is by no means a Michelin star restaurant, but I used to go to that place once a week when I used to live here. I would always order the Quiche Lorraine. In fact, when I used to go there for lunch, they would ask, “Quiche comme d’habitude (Quiche like usual)?” This time, the plat du jour was a saucisson chaud a la lyonais. This dish is a sliced warm sausage with a delicious Beaujolais wine reduction that was out of this world.
I’ve basically been eating my way across Lyon. Tartines, chocolat chaud, poulet roti sandwichesâŠ
The Birthplace of Cinema
Lyon has a special place in the history of cinema. The brothers Lumiere had their factory here where they produced photography film and later developed film projectors. They also did movies. In fact, the first film that was publicly shown was a short that showed their workers exiting their factory in Lyon. It was exhibited in Paris and it is considered the first public projection of a movie. In that spirit, I decided to go to the movies. There is a movie theatre on the street behind where I’m staying. I watched a French movie called Eiffel. It is about Gustave Eiffel and the building of the Eiffel tower and all the professional and personal challenges he faced. There were worker strikes, financial issues, public displeasure at building the tower, and of course an affair with a married woman.
Hot Chocolate in Vieux Lyon
Last night I met my friend Cyril. He bought me a chocolate chaud and a café allonge for him and we walked through the winding streets of Vieux Lyon. He even found a Traboules, a passageway in the buildings which were used by the French Resistant to elude the Nazis during the occupation. We visited the little shops and stood at the walking bridge watching the Saone river. For dinner we got some poulet roti sandwiches and continued our sortie through Rue de la Republic.
Super padre seguir tus aventuras Loli. Me encanta tu estilo al escribir.