la vie est belle

STILL LOVIN’ LYON

We were last in Lyon in 2017 during a month-long trip to France. Mark and Shannon were teaching at Toulouse University for a semester and that was the perfect excuse to explore the south of France. We started that trip in Paris, then explored the wine region of Bourgogne from the lovely town of Beaune (near Dijon). The next stop on our journey from Paris to Toulouse was Lyon where we fell in love with the graceful beauty and delicious food of France’s third largest city. We’ve often talked about visiting Lyon again, and here we are!

PICTURE PERFECT

The Rhône and Saône rivers weave through Lyon creating a picturesque setting that is perfect for leisurely strolls along the river and across the many charming bridges. This is exactly how we spent our time in Lyon – wandering about exploring shops and galleries of the lovely Ainay area within the Presqu’ile district (the narrow peninsula that is bordered by Lyon’s two rivers).  

COMFORT FOOD

Our first morning, we discovered a charming little café offering a simple breakfast menu. As were leaving, a quick peek into the kitchen revealed a chef preparing the lunch menu: round,16-inch diameter, double pastry tarts filled with duck, herbs, and cheese almost ready for the oven. How long till lunch?

Based on our previous trip to Lyon, we were looking forward to dinner at one of Lyon’s famous bouchons. A bouchon is “a restaurant where people enjoy Lyon specialties, washed down with a pitcher of regional wine, in a warm and welcoming atmosphere.” Sounds good, right? Originally, these restaurants were a byproduct of the silk industry, providing rustic, hearty fare for the workers and traders. There are about 70 bouchons in Lyon today of which 24 have achieved the “Les Bouchons Lyonnais” certification. One of the certified bouchons, Le Poêlon d’Or, was just a 5-minute walk from our hotel and we enjoyed an amazing meal there.

Ed started with the classic Lyonnaise Salad which is frisée tossed in a warm vinaigrette and topped with crispy lardons, croutons, and a poached egg. His second course was an ancient Lyon specialty, Andouillette sauce mortar de à l,anciene, which is a coarse-grained sausage made with pork offal, wine, onions, and seasonings, served with a red wine sauce. My first course was Salade de Saint-Marcellin sur toast. Saint-Marcellin, Lyon’s most famous cheese, is a soft cow’s milk cheese that is served warm. Yum! While I respect the Lyonnaise culinary tradition of turning improbable meat parts into homey, hearty masterpieces, for my second course I opted for the less adventurous Filet de boeuf, sauce aux Morilles (morel mushroom sauce) served with gratin de pommes de terre crémeux (creamy, delicious potato gratin). It was another dining adventure!

FRENCH PAIRINGS

We did book one activity in Lyon – a wine and cheese pairing marathon. Hugo, a French sommelier, provided a wonderful 2 1/2 hours of education and tastings of various wines and cheeses from around France. We learned a lot and had no need for a dinner reservation that night.

“How can anyone govern a nation that has two hundred and forty-six different kinds of cheese?”

Charles de Gaulle

JAZZ FOR THE SOUL

Our last night in Lyon was spent at La Clef de Voûte, Lyon’s favorite jazz club in an 18th century vaulted cellar. The club’s resident musicians, all in their forties or fifties, invite young talents to share the stage one night each week. A young trombonist was featured the night we were there along with the resident musicians playing  saxophone, drums, bass, guitar, and piano. A respite from the ever-present digital reality of our lives, we treasure time like this when we can listen to acoustic music in a venue allowing such intimacy with the artists. It’s a time of communion that is good for the soul.

We had such fond memories of Lyon, and it didn’t disappoint on our second visit. Lyon may turn out to be one of those places we must visit regularly. After three lovely days, we boarded a train for Marseille.

MELTING POT ON THE MED

Marseille, sometimes referred to as the Naples of France, is an ancient city founded by the Greeks. Also, like Naples, it’s a port city with a rich history and a stunning Mediterranean coastline. Marseille is a big city (France’s second largest) and has an energy and vibrancy that was reminiscent of our time in Naples. Known for being a melting pot of cultures, the influences of Italy, Spain, Armenia, Maghrebi (Northwest Africa), sub-Saharan Africa, and the Middle East are all evident in the architecture, street life, bustling markets, and cuisine. It’s a dizzying and intoxicating environment.

IS CONGO FUSION A THING?

We had just two evenings and one full day to spend in Marseille. Our first night, we had dinner at a fine dining restaurant called Kin. The chef, from the Republic of Congo, has been in Marseille for five years and his restaurant has been included in the prestigious Michelin Guide. There was no written menu because the only option was to enjoy the six dishes prepared by the chef that day. As the first course was set before us, the server offered a detailed description. Her English was limited, and her heavy French accent meant we didn’t have any real idea what we were about to eat. Once we tasted the dish before us, we looked quizzically at one another, trying to discern what the unique ingredients and flavors might be. Having finished this first plate, we still weren’t sure what we had eaten, so we decided to relax, go with the flow, and enjoy the creative food. Each dish that evening introduced us to a delicious, new, and unexpected flavor we had never experienced before!

“In France, cooking is a serious art form and a national sport.”

Julia Child

WALKING AND EATING . . . AGAIN!

We spent several hours of our one full day in Marseille on a food tour by Culinary Backstreets. This seemed like an appropriate bookend to our first day in Naples four weeks previous. It was another wonderful experience of eating and shopping like locals. We started the morning with what our guide declared to be the best croissants in Marseille and a cafe crème which is basically a cappuccino. Later we stopped by the small bakery where our croissants had been baked that morning. We wandered about for five hours tasting and learning about various foods that were distinctly different than what we think of as French food. One of my favorites was msemen which is a lot like a savory crepe with an added punch, perhaps from red chili pepper. When filled with vegetables, it’s called mahjouba and we stopped to watch them being made. 

It was Saturday morning and the visual, auditory, and olfactory stimulation of the several street markets was exhilarating!

SO MUCH TO LEARN

The highlight of the walking food tour was the markets. We stopped at one family run store that specializes in foods from Armenia and the Caucasus region, along with Russian and Polish specialties. Later, we visited the mother of all markets where we marveled at the largest assortment of ingredients that we have ever seen (including the Grand Bazaar in Istanbul). To give you an idea, there were more than 40 different types of salt and an equal number of peppers. It was clear how little we know about foods of the world as we tried to identify the many ingredients and spices that we had never seen or heard of before. And it was clear that here in Marseille, our Congolese chef from the previous night had no problem finding anything he might need to recreate the flavors of home.

It turns out there’s a lot to love about Marseille. The physical beauty is stunning, and the diversity of the population makes for a colorful tapestry and way of life that is enchanting. Thinking back to our dinner at the Lyon bouchon, I was struck by the challenge of finding a balance between the comfort and sense of stability found in honoring tradition, while embracing new ideas and diverse cultures, and being open to the richness that diversity and change bring to our lives. As Ed says, this is why we travel.

Good Night, Marseille.

Next Stop: Our beloved Valencia!