Dec 09

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 and delivery. I had udon soup with beef skewers and two shrimp nems (egg rolls), while Julian had a bento box with duck.

The purpose of going up to Croix-Rousse was to go through the fête installation going down the hill by Le Montana, the North African restaurant where we had lunch earlier. This was a nightmare for a claustrophobe like me. The crowd was funneled down a narrow stairway with movie music and mirrors on either side of the path. The safety side of my brain was thinking that if someone panicked, there could be some heavy duty injuries. Luckily, nobody did.

We continued down the hill along with several thousand new-found friends. It seemed as if each block had several entrepreneurs selling vin chaud (hot red wine), cocoa, and snacks for the crowd. The French aren’t much for street food, but they made an exception for the Fête.The most interesting display of the evening was the Spider Circus, light tubes set up to resemble spiders scampering around a circus ring to appropriate music. Very cute. We wandered back to the hotel to have some pastry I’d bought in the morning and crash.

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Dec 09

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 the road::

  • Have the hotel do it for you. This can be costly, but if you’re more focused on sightseeing than laundry this can be worth your while.
  • Sometimes hotels have coin-operated washers and dryers for patrons to use. The hotel we stayed in in Lyon had that option.
  • If you’re going to be somewhere for a week or more, rent an apartment that has a washer and dryer. Vacation apartment rentals can be comparable in price to a hotel, especially if you factor in the price of eating out and doing laundry.
  • Find a laundromat. Most laundromats have the ambience of a Medieval dungeon.They’re hot, humid, dirty, and often windowless. The reading material, if any, dates from 1997. Sometimes in Europe you can find a laundry where you can either do it yourself or the proprietor can do it for you. On our first trip to Seattle in 1994, we found a laundromat/restaurant called Sit and Spin in the Belltown neighborhood. Unfortunately, it’s long defunct.

It was a pleasant surprise last week when Julian and I did laundry in a laundromat near my mother’s apartment. Mom has a small washer, but no dryer. There were windows on three sides of the building. The tables and chairs were clean. There was even a television on site so we could watch the football game while our clothes were spinning away. We were impressed. Chances are we’ll never see that anywhere else.

Permanent link to this article: http://ediblethoughts.com/2017/12/09/dirty-laundry/

Dec 09

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 museum. He also took shots of the architecture. The glass and metal structure of the museum is reminiscent of the Seattle Public Library, but the architects were not the same.
We went to three temporary exhibits at the museum: the Lumière Brothers; the history and current uses of poisons; and the Tuareg people of north Africa. The Lumière brothers invented the public movie projector in Lyon, and many of the installations at La Fête pay homage to this heritage. Most of the items on display were from the Lumière Museum, which we visited last year; however, the exhibit was much more interactive. The poison exhibit included the usual suspects: the Borgias, chemical warfare, poison darts, and the like. It also went into some of the science of poisons, including the discovery of anaphylactic shock (extreme allergic reactions that can be deadly) and finding beneficial drugs in snake venom. The Tuaregs have a history of poetry, geometric jewelry, and reserve in dealing with other people. The men are actually veiled to prevent displaying their emotions. (The veils also keep sand out of their teeth.)

After a quick dinner in the neighborhood of the hotel, we set off to see the lights. Our first stop was at the Place des Jacobins, where the statue had been enveloped in a plastic bubble to imitate an old clock. At precisely 8 pm, the “clock” came alive with lights and music. We then went down to Place Bellecour, which was awash with illuminated flowers, cattails, and butterflies. A ferris wheel kept churning, and provided a light show of its own. Some of the illuminations were little more than lights synchronized to beat boxes; others were much more imaginative. The Théâtre des Célestins had a colorful display on its façade, but no music when we were there. By far the most ambitious display involved the Basilica of Notre Dame de Fourvière, the Cathedral of St. Jean, and the Palace of Justice. Every ten minutes or so, lights would pulse in synchrony from these structures and the hill below the Basilica to music with a distinctly Middle Eastern flavor. The last display we saw was set in a fountain on the Rue de la République. Two puppeteers manipulated smaller versions of Macy’s Thanksgiving Parade balloons resembling birds. I thought the birds looked like starlings; Julian said they looked like giant slugs with wings. The rain had held out for most of the evening, but started in earnest at the end of this last stop, so we decided to hike back to the hotel.

Permanent link to this article: http://ediblethoughts.com/2017/12/09/la-fete-jour-un/

Dec 09

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 restaurants we’ve visited repeatedly in France is Léon de Bruxelles, a chain that specializes in mussels and fries. Last night we went to a branch around the corner from our hotel for a quick bite. As with many of the restaurants in Lyon, it had “special prices” for the Fête des Lumières. We opted for the Lyonnais prep, with local sausage, bay leaves, parsley, shallots, and crème fraîche. It was quite good. In addition to ketchup and mayonnaise, the table had a “Sauce Samourai” for the fries. It was basically sriracha mayonnaise. The menu also came with a waffle for dessert, festooned with powdered sugar and whipped cream.

Making mussels at home is very easy. First, make sure you’re getting live ones. Tell the fishmonger you don’t want any “yawners”, i.e., dead ones with open shells. Two to two and a half pounds of mussels will feed two people amply. Get them home reasonably fast and store them in the fridge until you’re ready to cook. Chop up some garlic, shallots, or onion, along with some parsley. You can also add some tomato, bell pepper, or hot chile. Uncork a bottle of dry white wine. Wash the mussels and pull off the beards with a small paring knife. Now heat some olive oil in a covered pot. Sauté the alliums and other vegetables in the oil, then throw in the mussels with a little white wine. Cover the pot and let the mussels steam until the shells all open, about 5-7 minutes. Discard any mussels that remain closed. Sprinkle in the parsley and serve with pasta, crusty bread, and a salad. If you make French fries at home (we don’t), you can have those. Mayonnaise is not required. Bon appétit!

Permanent link to this article: http://ediblethoughts.com/2017/12/09/la-moule-toujours-la-moule/

Dec 06

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 chance at a hotel room and restaurant reservations by getting here a couple of days in advance of the festival. So far, so good.

Last night we had dinner at a very traditional Lyon restaurant, Café Comptoir Abel. This establishment has been in business for nearly 90 years. La Cuisine Lyonnaise is hearty, working-class chow. It utilizes all of the offal parts of cattle and swine. We went here last summer and the food was a little heavy for my appetite in warm weather; however, it works well in winter. I started out with an artichoke bottom with green beans, while Julian had the terrine. Dinner was crawfish gratin for him, tongue with a tomato, caper, and cornichon sauce for me. (That sound you just heard was my sister and niece moaning “EEEUW!!” in unison.) I’ve only had tongue a few times before, but this was the tenderest I’d had. Julian’s mother made tongue years ago for him, but he said hers was more like shoe leather.

Café Comptoir Abel.

About to bite my tongue.

Today we took the cog-rail train up to the Croix-Rousse neighborhood in search of a North African restaurant we visited last year. We found it: Le Montana. Julian had hoped to get some fresh sardines like he had there last year, but the proprietor said that was only a summer menu item. So he got a chicken tagine with olives and preserved lemons, and I got a lamb tagine with prunes. I also got a small tumbler of mulled wine, which was very tasty.

Tonight’s dinner was in Vieux (Old) Lyon, at a place called Daniel & Denise. This is a traditional-with-a-twist Lyon restaurant, heavy on the sausage, offal, and eggs. I had pumpkin soup with ham and a poached egg, followed by a veal dish and floating island for dessert. The latter was a huge puff of meringue shot through with traditional Lyonnaise praline atop a pool of custard. Julian had salmon sashimi with a remoulade sauce, sausage in brioche, chicken with morel sauce, and lemon sorbet.

Preparations for the Fête des Lumières kicked into high gear this afternoon. It’s the equivalent of dress rehearsals for a play. Huge light arrays are positioned throughout the city to flash onto various façades. The walk leading downhill from Croix-Rousse is festooned with numerous light displays. The statue in Place des Jacobins is enveloped in a clear dome to resemble an old clock. On our way back from dinner, we waited to see if the light show on the façade of Cathédral St. Jean would be practiced. Unfortunately, no. Julian struck up a conversation with a fellow photographer who took the train down from Paris this evening and will return there tomorrow morning. (Okay, dear, you’re not the most obsessive-compulsive person in town.) We also talked to a Lyon local who was trying to avoid the crush of well over a million people descending on the city. On our way back to the hotel, we watched the light show on the Basilica. It was coordinated with lights on the Palace of Justice and spots on the hill in between. At one point the lights were pulsing like a beating heart.

Despite the preparations and the crowds about to appear, Lyon strikes us both as a working person’s city. It was the center of the French fabric trade, thanks to the invention of the Jacquard loom here. Julian characterized Paris as more of a Disneyland city – everyone seems to be a tourist, especially in certain neighborhoods. Lyon’s also more human scale than its sister to the north. We’re still going to Paris at the end of our trip, but Lyon has grabbed a prominent place in our affections.

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

Dec 06

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 singing “Blue Suede Shoes” in a very Elvis-esque style, down to the sequined jumpsuit and swiveling hips.

As we were walking around Lyon today, I heard and saw numerous homages to Hallyday. A grocery store was playing Hallyday tunes, including his version of the Beatles’ “Got to Get You into My Life.” A music store set up a display window devoted to his work. And the table at the downtown tourist office had a sign: “Merci, Johnny.” France has lost two icons this year; first Jerry Lewis, now Johnny Hallyday. Who’s next, Brigitte Bardot?

Postscript, 12/8/17: Another French icon has passed, but not Bardot. Jean d’Ormesson, who was a member of L’Académie Française, died on December 5. The “Quarante Immortels” (40 Immortals) of the Académie are charged with protecting the purity of the French language. (So how come I see French-English mashup signs all over town?) This Washington Post obit offers an explainer.

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

Dec 05

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 of contact lenses, solutions, and prescription eye drops. I’d left all of them on Mom’s dining room table. I couldn’t get hold of my niece to ferry them to the airport until it was too late. I called my optometrist to see if I could go without the eye drops until I got back to Seattle. He said I wouldn’t go blind, but perhaps I could find a pharmacy that could dispense a prescription if he emailed it. I ordered a spare pair of lenses to pick up when we returned to town. So I’ll be using the No BS glasses for the balance of the trip.

There was a happy ending to this episode. On our way to dinner our first night in Lyon we walked into a pharmacy and asked if I could purchase some of the eye drops without a prescription. The pharmacist sold me a package of three vials. One bonus: These vials contain the non-generic version of the drug that’s stable at room temperature.
After the chaos died down, Julian asked if he’d get a pass next time he lost or misplaced something. Nah…

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

Dec 03

Birthday Dinner

There’s a reason we decided to stop in New York on the way to France rather than on the way home. My mother celebrated her 85th birthday today. We took the family out to dinner at Canale’s in Oswego. I figured everyone would be able to find something to eat there. My sister, nieces, and nephews were all in attendance. The youngest members had a good time. Julian had a pasta with pork ragú, while I ordered bucatini with sage and hazelnut pesto. My dish was interesting – I’d never thought of using sage as a pesto herb. Mom got plenty of loot from her descendants. A pleasant evening and plenty of food were had by all.

Permanent link to this article: http://ediblethoughts.com/2017/12/03/birthday-dinner/

Dec 03

Future Festival

Tomorrow we fly to France. The first stop is Lyon for the Fête des Lumières. For an advance look, check out the official website.

Permanent link to this article: http://ediblethoughts.com/2017/12/03/future-festival/

Dec 02

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 have grown exponentially with time. On the other hand, some developments have been more positive. My sister and niece’s family have a nice new home outside town, on land that my brother-in-law cleared before he was diagnosed with cancer.

Yesterday we had a full day in Ithaca. We had lunch with my former roommate, Suzanne. We spent the afternoon wandering around the Commons, a pedestrian mall in downtown Ithaca that’s undergone numerous changes over the years. Some of the stores that were extant when we lived in town years ago are still there; others have been replaced with new businesses. After happy hour with our friend, Mike, we had dinner at a Turkish restaurant with other friends from Julian’s distant past.

The nostalgia continued this evening with dinner with two of my high school classmates. They’ve lived in town for much of the last 40 years and keep in touch with others. Since my family tends to forget to pass on local news, I used dinner to catch up on Hannibal happenings.

Monday we take off for France.

 

 

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

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