Category: Travel

Words from the Wiseacres, 2017 Edition

So you want to come to next year’s Fête des Lumières? Based on our experience this year, here’s what you need to do: Book flights and hotel rooms EARLY. Julian did so back in February. The Fête is centered around December 8, so you may want to try for a room between December 6-10 next …

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La Fête, Jour Deux

We didn’t get a very early start on Friday. We had a pasta brunch at the restaurant across the street, then did laundry. After that we took the tram up Croix-Rousse. Dinner options on the hilltop were spotty, but we found a Japanese restaurant, Yoshi. Most of this place’s business seemed to be in takeout …

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Dirty Laundry

At some point on a vacation. one must do laundry. Some very light travelers advocate doing hand washing in the hotel sink and drying things overnight. This may work well for undies, pantyhose, and summer shirts, not so much for jeans, heavy socks, and sweaters. There are several options to get clean clothes while on …

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La Fête, Jour Un

La Fête des Lumières started December 7. We started the day by taking the subway and tram down to the Musée des Confluences, where the Rhône River meets the Saône. There were numerous student groups in attendance. Julian took pictures of lycéens (high school students) with their teachers on the Only Lyon sign at the …

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La Moule, Toujours La Moule

Mussels (or moules in French) are the least expensive bivalves around. We make them regularly, either with a standard French prep of white wine, garlic, and parsley, or with Chinese black bean sauce. Penn Cove, off Whidbey Island in Washington, grows the bulk of the tasty critters for West Coast consumption. One of the few …

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Lyon Pre-Festival

As I mentioned earlier, we timed this trip to Lyon to coincide with La Fête des Lumières. It’s held every year around December 8, the feast of the Immaculate Conception of the Virgin Mary. As the story goes, her intercession prevented a 17th-century plague epidemic in the city. We figured that we’d have a better …

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Permanent link to this article: http://ediblethoughts.com/2017/12/06/lyon-pre-festival/

France in Mourning

I opened the New York Times website on my computer this morning and saw that Johnny Hallyday had died. For those of you unfamiliar with the name, Hallyday was a popular singer and actor in France. Most of his works were covers of others’ tunes. The Times obituary links to a 1970’s video of him …

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Permanent link to this article: http://ediblethoughts.com/2017/12/06/france-in-mourning/

La Fête de Fracas

I proposed the title of this post as the theme of our vacation. Little did I know that the fracas would start before we got on the plane to Paris. We got to the airport and turned in the rental car with plenty of time to spare. I opened my purse and found no baggie …

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Permanent link to this article: http://ediblethoughts.com/2017/12/05/la-fete-de-fracas/

Blasts from the Past

Going back east brings back lots of memories. It also brings up the used-to-bes. Two examples: That house used to be where one of my high school friends lived. That vacant lot used to hold the factory where my mom and brother-in-law worked. Since I haven’t lived in Hannibal for nearly 40 years, the used-to-bes …

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Permanent link to this article: http://ediblethoughts.com/2017/12/02/blasts-from-the-past/

Hitting the Road

The skies, actually. Edible Thoughts is heading east. First stop: Hannibal, with a side trip to Ithaca. We then fly to Paris and grab a train to Lyon for the Fête des Lumières (Festival of Lights). Then we go to Colmar for a couple of days before finishing up with a week in Paris. Keep …

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Permanent link to this article: http://ediblethoughts.com/2017/11/28/hitting-the-road/

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