More shopping and exploring in Lyon!

Saturday, 26 December 2015

Hello!

In hotel lobby waiting for dinner

R at dinner!

When I finished up the blog yesterday, I wasn’t sure whether I would be up to going out for dinner.  Fortunately, strong prescription meds plus a nice nap enabled me to even contemplate food once again. 

My poached eggs and chorizo with veggies

R's mushrooms soup

My chicken supremes with roast vegetables

R's duck breast with polenta

So, about 6:15 pm we went out and walked two blocks toward the Gare St. Paul (Station) where we only had to wait a minute or two to catch the C3 bus.  And, while we traveled over the Saone as well as the Rhone, we were able to get very close to the restaurant – just two or three blocks south, which was nice.  (R is really great at figuring out buses, for which I am profoundly thankful!)

We found Le Garage (which means just what it sounds like!) with no problem.  It is attached to a Mercure Hotel, which made it very convenient, as we were early and the restaurant wasn’t open yet.  So, we sat in their very comfortable lounge and R had a glass of champagne, and I had some sparking water.  At 7, we were shown to a very nice table and provided with menus.

They did have a menu in English, but we both preferred the one in French.  (Why does food sound so much better in French??)  I ordered poached eggs with chorizo, and R ordered mushroom soup for starters.  (Not sure if he knew it was mushroom soup when he ordered it, but that was definitely what he got!)  Then, for mains, I ordered their supremes of chicken (boneless, skinless chicken breast) and R had their duck breast.  Wow!

My starter came with two whole poached eggs, which were perfectly cooked.  Then, around the eggs were small stacks of toasted bread (without the crusts) with slices of chorizo between, decorated with pearl onions and slices of grape, in a red wine sauce.  Wow again!  R’s starter seemed to be a soup within a soup, but it was really delicious.

Our meat market in Les Halles

More food ... and like my cart?

My chicken came wrapped in green herb crust (R thought the green came from pistachios but is not so sure) served on roasted vegetables with a white wine sauce.  R’s duck breast was perfectly cooked (a poin) and came with a container of creamy polenta.  (Hope the photos do it justice!)

By this time, my head was beginning to make itself felt yet again, so we decided to do without dessert and coffee (which I can ALWAYS do without – the coffee, that is!)  Back outside, and only a few minutes wait for the good old C3 bus back to Gare St. Paul, with our flat literally less than 10 minutes away.  So…home for the evening about 9:30 pm and when I say I was “out” quickly, it is an understatement.  I slept until 6:30 am this morning.  Up, saw what time it was, and went back to bed until 8 am.  Really seemed to do my headache a lot of good!

So … up finally, with the necessity of finding beef today (for dinner tomorrow) as well as a few other groceries.  I had read about Les Halles Paul Bocuse, so we decided to start there first.  (Named after Les Halles (the halls) in Paris and then after the famous chef, Paul Bocuse, it sounded interesting.)  Again, the wonderful C3 bus was easy to catch, and took us right to Les Halles.  What a fun place!  It’s a huge indoor food market – lots of cheese, meat, seafood, etc.  

Our lunch restaurant in Vieux Lyon

We found the beef first thing.  There is a very strict protocol in France about waiting in line for service.  So, we found what looked to be the line for the meat man, and eventually he cut a ½ kg of faux fillet for us; it’s really lovely.  Then, however, you take the receipt that he gives you to the Caisses (cashier), pay for your purchase and the ladies find your particular item/s and hand it/them to you.  This time we had brought along Clothilde’s rolling basket, which made things very easy!

We toured the rest of the market, but were really in need of just an ordinary grocery store.  I spotted a very nice Franprix right across the street, so over we went.  There we were able to buy new potatoes for tonight (along with butter), jam, water, O.J., T.P. and, a small bouche de Noel that I have been wanting to try! (My French Club friends and I had made a bouche de Noel years and years ago, and I wanted to see how a “real” one would taste!)  The cart being pretty much full by now, we decided to go back to the flat, unload, and then go out again.

So…we did, stopping this time at a large (3 story) Monoprix where we were able to find shampoo and soap and a few other things that we needed.  Back once again, for a brief sit-down before we commenced our sight-seeing program for the day.

My goat cheese and honey salad

R's Italian salad

As it was just after lunchtime, we started walking toward the Cathedral, and found a very nice restaurant Le Gourmande de St. Jean for lunch.  R ordered their Italian salad (mozzarella, pesto, tomatoes on greens) and I had their salad with warm goat cheese and honey.  That was fantastic!  The honey just cut the tang of the goat cheese perfectly, and the salad dressing – a balsamic vinaigrette – was just perfect.  There were lots of mushrooms and tomatoes included as well. 

After lunch, we resumed our stroll toward the Cathedral St. Jean.  It was such a lovely, sunny day, that the glass in the windows just glowed.  We took some photos, and then headed across the street to the funicular to the Basilica Fourviere.  

Again, seeing the inside of the Basilica was amazing in the sunlight!  They used a lot of turquoise and gold in the ornamentation, and wow, the interior decoration is truly beautiful.  We walked all around, taking lots of pictures, and then headed outside to look at some of the exterior marvels. 

Inside Cathedral St. Jean

More Cathedral

What is really interesting is that it seems like they stopped when they ran out of money.  So some of the decoration outside has never been completed!  You can tell where there were supposed to be angels, or other things, but now they’re just large pieces of stone waiting for somebody to come along and carve them!  I don’t recall seeing any other church like it!  We then found our way into the crypt, which again, was beautifully decorated. 

Cathedral rose window

Cathedral astronomical clock

It seems that many of the different ethnic populations in the area – the Portuguese, the Spanish, etc. have decorated some of the various altars to Mary in the crypt.  Some were truly unique and beautiful.

By that point, we were in need of a sit down, so decided to head back to the flat.  To say that there was a LINE for the funicular heading up is putting it mildly!  There were so many people in line that they were backed up into the street outside!  Once again, our timing was perfect, and we weren’t even there at the crack of dawn!

Back in the flat now and probably we’re in for the night!  So, more later and lots of love!

m

xxx