Sep 04

Peking Duck in Lyon

La Cuisine Lyonnaise is pretty heavy on the cream and pork fat. After several days we were in need of a soy sauce fix. We found a Chinese restaurant on the east side of the Rhône called Engimono. It’s a small place with more tables on the outside than inside. We ordered the menu for two.

The menu started off with the house cocktail, plum wine with a lychee on the bottom. The first course was a spinach and cellophane noodle salad with a sesame dressing. Then came two types of steamed dumplings. The main courses were a steamed bass with lots of ginger and Peking duck. The duck arrived sliced and deboned, with the pancakes, hoisin sauce, and shredded leeks and cucumber. Everything was well prepared, and came out at the appropriate temperatures. The buns were right off the boiling water in their bamboo steamers.

The restaurant was quite busy, as most establishments close on Sundays. Perhaps later this week we’ll satisfy my fish sauce fix. It’s hard on the waistline (and liver) to eat Lyonnaise food alone. This week we head into Provence, where I hope to eat lots of veggies and fruit as an antidote of sorts to our conspicuous overconsumption.

Permanent link to this article: http://ediblethoughts.com/2016/09/04/peking-duck-in-lyon/

Sep 04

Swan One, Dog Zero

Swans are known to be quite territorial. My pre-grad school boss used to be terrorized by the swans on the lake abutting his property while he was mowing the lawn. Last night as we were walking on the quay back from dinner, we saw a Jack Russell Terrier (resembling the late Uggy of The Artist) attempting to go after a swan. Said bird, which was about twice the size of the pup, was having no part of this insolence. Finally the dog’s owner had to intervene before violence ensued.

Permanent link to this article: http://ediblethoughts.com/2016/09/04/swan-one-dog-zero/

Sep 04

Equal Time

Cute shoes for men. Don't ask how much they cost.

Cute shoes for men. Don’t ask how much they cost. 

It occurred to me that there may be male readers of this blog who count themselves in the Cult of Cute Shoes. Granted, none of you has fessed up, but I’m posting this just for you. This is the display of a shoe store around the corner from our hotel in Lyon.

Permanent link to this article: http://ediblethoughts.com/2016/09/04/equal-time/

Sep 04

More for my Cronies in the Cult of Cute Shoes

Don’t drool over these too much, ladies. These are 1/3 to 1/2 scale models that reside in a museum of miniatures and film.

Miniature shoes.

Miniature shoes.

On our way back to the hotel last night we passed a store with these boots for sale:

These boots are made for...damned if I know.

These boots are made for…damned if I know.

Note the relatively diminutive heel on the furry ones. You can tell this shop is in Lyon.

Permanent link to this article: http://ediblethoughts.com/2016/09/04/more-for-my-cronies-in-the-cult-of-cute-shoes/

Sep 03

Paris vs. Lyon Smackdown!

Our previous two visits to Lyon were only two days each. Now that we’re in the midst of spending five days here, we can start to compare and contrast Lyon with Paris. Here we go:

Rivers. Paris has one, the Seine. Lyon has two, the Rhône and the Saône, which meet at the southern end of town.

Traffic: No contest. You’re much less likely to wind up as a hood ornament in Lyon than in Paris.

Dress: Parisians dress up to get the mail. Les Lyonnais are a more casual lot.

Footwear of choice (for my friends in the Cult of Cute Shoes): Parisian women wear heels to walk the dog. Women in Lyon wear sensible shoes; flats, sneakers, flip flops. You will occasionally see a woman wearing platforms, but rarely will you see someone in spike heels. Let’s face it: Who wants to risk their ankles and Christian Loubouttin pumps on the cobblestones in Vieux Lyon?

Cuisine: Paris is all about très haute cuisine. Lyon, even though Paul Bocuse is a major presence here, is a bit more working class. The keepers of the flame for cuisine Lyonnaise are the bouchons. These restaurants are known for snout to tail cuisine, particularly of pork. You’ll get Salade Lyonnaise with bacon, lentils with sausages, and assorted offal (liver, kidney, chitterlings, tripe).

Tourists: Sometimes you’ll meet more tourists than natives in Paris. Lyon has much fewer tourists, and many of them are French.

Now lest you think Lyon has it won over Paris, there are a few drawbacks. Paris has only one ugly skyscraper, the Montparnasse Tower. Locals say it’s the box the Eiffel Tower came in. Lyon has several ugly skyscrapers in the city. One is a Radisson Hotel that is known as “le crayon” (the pencil) for its shape. I’ve also noticed some modern buildings that don’t integrate well with their older neighbors, especially up on Croix Rousse. Just goes to prove that no place is perfect.

Permanent link to this article: http://ediblethoughts.com/2016/09/03/paris-vs-lyon-smackdown/

Sep 02

Lollygagging around Lyon

We landed in Lyon mid-day on Thursday and successfully negotiated the trains from the airport to the rental flat. Once we dropped off our luggage, it was time to explore.

The city is very walkable, in some ways even more so than Paris. On the Presqu’Ile (the peninsula between the Rhône and Saône Rivers where we’re staying) and in Vieux Lyon, there are very few two-way or three-lane streets. Several streets have been converted into pedestrian and bicycle boulevards, such as the Rue de la République.

Rue de la République.

Rue de la République.

Other streets are barely big enough for a Fiat to pass through.

Yesterday’s travels were concentrated around the apartment. We located the local Monoprix (supermarket) and found assorted cafés and shops. We got dinner at a traiteur (takeout deli) of duck à l’orange terrine and green beans. Today we took the Metro up to the Croix-Rousse neighborhood and walked downhill. The way down from Croix-Rousse is where we saw the Star-Wars-related plaque. We had lunch at a nice little North African restaurant. Julian had the grilled sardine special, while I had the mechouia salad. We were both happy with our choices.

On our way over to Vieux-Lyon, we saw a fresco on a building that depicted luminaries of Lyon history. Chef Paul Bocuse was represented, along with the Lumière brothers, Antoine de Saint-Exupéry, and the Little Prince. If Julian’s photo comes out, I’ll post it; in the meantime, you can go to the above link.

Walking can build up an appetite. We stopped at a gelato stand in Vieux Lyon to have some sorbet. Both of us had a scoop of pink grapefruit sorbet; Julian had a second scoop of mango, while I had a second scoop of white peach. As it happened, the outdoor eating area of this gelato stand was the exact spot where the below photo was taken last year:

Julian, hard at work in Lyon,

Julian, hard at work in Lyon,

On our previous trips, we went to the Basilica of Notre Dame de Fourvière. It’s a relatively modern church that got built with contributions from local silk industry barons. The Cathedral of Saint John (St. Jean) is much older, but has more historical significance.

The Cathedral of St. Jean in Lyon.

The Cathedral of St. Jean in Lyon.

Two historic church schisms were reconciled in this church. In addition, the cathedral holds the heart of St. Vincent de Paul. As with the church of Saint Gervais in Paris, St. Jean got damaged by war; in this case, World War II. This is a panel of stained glass that replaced the earlier window damaged in the war.

Modern stained glass, Cathedral of St. Jean.

Modern stained glass, Cathedral of St. Jean.

In a side space of the church, there’s a mini-museum of tapestries, chalices, censers, and vestments from church history. Here’s a sample of the clerical apparel:

From the collection of the Cathedral of St. Jean.

From the collection of the Cathedral of St. Jean.

Tomorrow we start museum-hopping.

Permanent link to this article: http://ediblethoughts.com/2016/09/02/lollygagging-around-lyon/

Sep 02

Seen on a Building in Lyon

This goes out to all my Star Wars geek friends. You know who you are…star warsFor those of you who’ve forgotten your high school French, it says: “Anakin Skywalker was not born in this house, never lived here, and didn’t die here, either.”

Permanent link to this article: http://ediblethoughts.com/2016/09/02/seen-on-a-building-in-lyon/

Sep 02

Gallows Humor

The French have an interesting relationship with their heritage. Witness this product we saw in a Lyon kitchen store window yesterday:

The Sausage Guillotine!

The Sausage Guillotine!

Julian said it should have been designed vertically so the blade drops and the slice of sausage drops into a wicker basket.

Permanent link to this article: http://ediblethoughts.com/2016/09/02/gallows-humor/

Sep 01

En Route to Lyon

We made it to Lyon, but not without a little suspense: Would our luggage be joining us? We started off at Sea-Tac Airpot. When we checked our luggage at the Air Canada desk, the attendant said that we’d have to claim and recheck it in Vancouver or Montreal. We asked several other people before we took off if that was the case, and nobody could give us a straight answer.

The Vancouver Airport gives Dallas-Fort Worth and O’Hare competition in the unnavigable department. You walk, walk, walk through a maze to get anywhere; then you do more walking. Signage sucks. How anyone can navigate that airport with a mobility impairment to make a flight is beyond my comprehension. To be fair, Vancouver is the only West Coast hub airport in Canada. Growing pains are a part of life; however, hiring someone from the Franz Kafka School of Airport Design is not a good idea to stimulate repeat business. An Air Canada person in Vancouver assured us that the luggage was checked to Lyon, but we were still dubious.

After the wild chase in Vancouver, the Montreal airport was an island of sanity. We found our gate for the flight to Lyon without issue. I was hoping to get a Montreal smoked meat sandwich, but Julian couldn’t find a restaurant that served it. Instead, we had a Korean pulled pork sandwich. Our friends at the Korea House in Bothell would have said it lacked enough gochujang, but it wasn’t bad.

We got to Lyon on time and, miracle of miracles, so did our luggage. More (mis)adventures to come.

Permanent link to this article: http://ediblethoughts.com/2016/09/01/en-route-to-lyon/

Aug 24

Map App Muddles

Map applications can be a godsend in unfamiliar areas. We relied on one last year when we were driving around France, and will do so this year. However, map apps aren’t perfect. They often don’t warn you about road construction, or they direct you on a bizarre route. They also may not give you an inkling of the direction you’re going.
This morning on my walk to work from the bus stop, I encountered a woman staring at her cell phone ahead of me. Finally she stopped and asked me, “Where is 700 Broadway?” She was walking in the opposite direction from Broadway. Did she not see the street sign because her nose was glued to the phone?

Permanent link to this article: http://ediblethoughts.com/2016/08/24/map-app-muddles/

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