Today was my last day in Lyon. Sad 🙁 I’m really going to miss this city. I’ve been here many, many times and people wonder why I still continue to travel here. It’s simple. I love this place. It’s an enchanting city with good food and good wine. It’s dynamic and traditional. As the inhabitants say, “Paris is Paris, but Lyon is France.” I could not agree more.
City Tour
For the second time, I boarded the Lyon City Tour Bus – you know, the two decker buses with the open tops that take tourists around with the option to hop on and off. I love these tours. I’ve done them all over the place including Paris, Rome, and Mexico City. If you have never gone on one of these, I highly recommend them. You can buy a ticket when you board the bus and they are good for 24 or 48 hours, meaning you can keep boarding the bus until your time runs out. You can hop off at any stop and also board at any stop. It’s a great way to get the lay of the land.
This was my second bus tour in Lyon. This time it was a different route. So I bought some café allonge, wrapped my coat around me, and sat upstairs while I listen to the guide tell me about the city for the next hour and a half.
Institut Lumiere
Lyon is credited to be where cinema was born. The Lumiere brothers invented the cinematograph here and shot their first movie. The first movie was nothing fancy. It was a short film of their workers leaving the factory for the day. It was probably the length of a tik tok. That same film was projected in Paris in 1895 and it was the first time a film was projected to an audience.
In Lyon you can visit their old house which has since been converted to a museum as well as a film institute. There you can learn about the life of the Lumiere brothers, about the history of cinema, and watch some interesting movies.
For me, this was an important visit. Sure, I love movies, who doesn’t? And yeah, I wanted to pay tribute to the Lumiere brothers, but for me, the visit was more of a pilgrimage in honor of my grandfather. My grandfather passed away last year. He worked in the movie industry all his life and had a profound love of film and cinema. When I was young, he had a room filled with VHS movies that lined the walls. In a way, I was paying tribute to him.
Aux Merveilleux de Fred
My friend Cyril – who lives about 25 minutes from Lyon – came to visit me while I was here. We walked through Vieux Lyon and up Fourviere Hill. We would have taken the funicular, but someone (me!) forgot their mask, so we could not enter the metro. So we had to climb… a lot! But the view from the top was worth it! Cyril also introduced me to some interesting foods, including Aux Merveilleux de Fred. This shop makes pastries called Aux Merveilleux. It’s a pastry made of soft merengue and whipped cream. They are the size of a baseball and come in all kind of flavors like coffee and white chocolate. Truly magical. And perfect when you pair them with champagne. Shops of Aux Merveilleux de Fred can be found in various places around France. There is one in the Centre-ville in Lyon, and I found one in Paris in the Gare de Lyon train station.
Other Interesting Foods
Cyril also introduced me to other interesting foods:
Aspic – this is not a dish for everyone. I think everyone would like this dish, I just don’t think many would try it. This is basically a savory jelly with bits of ham, herbs and a hardboiled egg. The ham, herbs and eggs are suspended in this cold wiggly jelly. At first, I could not bear to look at it, but at Cyril’s insistence, I decided to try it…. And it was amazing!!!! It was sooo goooood. We paired it with some champagne and we had a very nice apero. I looked up a recipe online and it does not look hard to do… I just don’t know if my friends will try it. Oh well… all for me!
Liver – Cyril stopped at the boucher (butcher) and brought three slices of raw liver. He took a few tablespoons of butter, dropped them in a heated skilled and allowed it to melt. Then, he sautéed the livers. However, he only sauteed them for a few seconds each side. So the outside was cooked, but the inside was raw. After a few seconds of hesitation, I cut a piece and chewed it. Mmmm…. Before I knew it I had finished my portion and Cyril shared some of his.
In the Train to Paris
I’m in the train back to Paris where I will spend the rest of the day and then take the plane home tomorrow. Sitting in first class with only an hour left before we reach the Gare de Lyon in Paris, I have been reflecting on my trip to France, and I can only think that I am blessed. Blessed that I have the economic means to make this trip, that the worse of the pandemic is behind us and that borders are opening, that I have the valor to go on my own, and that I have family and friends that have been following me in my adventures through Instagram, Whatsapp, or this blog.
